Transom bracket on a 88 Wellcraft V20

[saltlife728]

Hey guys,

Well I am new to the forums. Right now I am in the process of taking off the sterndrive and the engine and I am going to be putting a transom bracket on the boat with a 115 outboard on the back. I was wondering if anyone would have a ideas of how I would go ahead and build this bracket on the back. I was thinking about using fiberglass since I am in the Navy and I have experience working with it. I was thinking about doing a 30" setback on the bracket. I also need to know at what height would I mount the bracket. I was thinking about getting a outboard with a 25" shaft. Any help would be greatly appricated.

 

[nphilbro]

Re: Transom bracket on a 88 Wellcraft V20

I have a similar thread going right now with a pic of the plate I pulled from a boat on my property (it was supposed to be hauled away last week but the guy didn't show). I have all sorts of things going on with my outboard boat it seems like the next best step.

Anyway, the inside of the transom was plated with 3'x3' of 3/4" plywood sandwiched and sealed between two pieces of 1/8" aluminum with another 3x3 piece of aluminum directly glued and caulked to the outside of the transom. I didn't do the install but my guess it was done in '82 since it showed signs of age (but not deterioration) and supported a '82 80hp mercury. I don't have the actual bracket dimensions in front of me but I could get them later. The bracket is made of steel and weighs a hefty 60-70lbs but I can tell it was well designed since the motor height and angle were perfectly set.

30" is a lot of setback for an inboard transom since they are not usually much thicker than the rest of the hull. You'll for sure want to determine how well supported the transom joints are to the rest of the hull because a big jolt to that motor could put 3000-5000 lbs of kinetic force against the bottom edge of any bracket when you consider your hanging 300# out nearly 3ft out. I'd just hate to see it look like a fiberglass banana when you pull over to the side of the road to investigate that unsettling noise coming from the back. Bring it in 15" and kinetic potential is cut by ...I think 2/3 to 3/4... but not sure off the top of my head. If you're set on 30" you're likely looking at a full wrap-around set up. I've seen some nice ones but they are very costly.Take a look at the pics on my post (click my name to see my posts).

I've never built one either but just seeing how well the one I'm pulling apart held up and the abuse it endured give me a good idea of what I'm willing to try.

You can google "glasply transom extension" and you'll see the link for site I ripped the pic from and it shows how they reinforced the transom.

 

[sphelps]

Re: Transom bracket on a 88 Wellcraft V20

I was going to build something like this but I chickened out . That would have been a 24" set back. I was worried about how the boat would perform with porposing but mostly the cost.

Don't laugh to hard but I made a scetch on how I would build making the stringers with seacast..