Transom replacement on a 1989 Tracker Pro V

[codybuehler]

I am working on replacing my old wood transom in my Tracker. I had a hunch the transom was completely rotten, but was in denial. I literally had this out a week ago fishing on Seneca. I had to share once I started pulling things apart.

The wood really isn't wood anymore, but loosely assembled wood chips and soggy wads of the remnants of plywood. It was unnervingly close to pulling the motor bolts through, also.

I'll post more pictures as the project progresses.

I

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[Frogger]

Cody, just went through a similar process this past winter. Let me know if you need any help or questions. I know how you felt when you opened it up. It sucks I know but you feel glad once she's new again.

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[TileMan Dan]

Wow that really sucks. At least it didn't let loose when you were on the water

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[Sk8man]

In this case better to discover "sooner" than "later". It also makes you wonder how many boats out there have this issue but there is no awareness of it.....one of my fishing buddies discovered the same thing on his fiberglass boat and has replaced the transom and stringers and is still working on it. I believe he thinks the water may have seeped in very gradually through the motor mount bolts. It is one hell of a project but well worth doing right to be safe out there. After seeing him go through this it is VERY important to get good advice as well as select the best possible materials for the job. -new wood, the right (but expensive) epoxy/hardener and matting etc. On the plus side it looks as though you have a pretty open transom area in which to work unlike some boat designs that force you to crawl inside compartments while you're getting high on epoxy fumes.... Good luck with it Cody.

Edited May 6, 2014 by Sk8man

[codybuehler]

Thanks for the well wishes with this!

It turned into a waiting game watching glue dry!

I have definitely learned a few things with this so far.

1. Silicone is not a proper sealant for unused screw holes. I found a lot of spots the previous owner tried to seal up places that looked insane. He must have held the caulk gun on the hole and pumped it in until he ran out.

2. Liquid nails won't work for gluing plywood together. You can clamp it all day and when you unclamp it, it will just pop apart, even if you follow directions.

3. Tracker should have never used galvanized screws to hold the motorwell to the transom, even if they thought it would never see moisture.

4. When the galvanized screws rot off, more silicone will not hold the wetwell plate to the transom.

Those are just a few initial observations. This next sheet of plywood is untreated pine sheeting. I used contact cement to glue them together. It's no cheaper than fiberglass/resin the sheets together, but seems like it is similar to make the plywood. If there is a reason that fiberglass/resin is used, I'll probably make another plywood part.

For sealing, I am going to use spar urethane. The brand name is Minwax Helmsman.

An open thought is about painting bare aluminum. Should it be done? I thought about just spraying it with rustoleum. Something is better than nothing!

Another thing I have been trying to figure out is the bolt holes that go through the wood. Should they be drilled before or after sealing? If I drill before, and make sure urethane gets in them, that is just a bit extra protection. I am going to use 5200 on any bolt or screw that goes into the wood. I really don't want to replace this again anytime soon!

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[TileMan Dan]

Cody, contact cement is not water proof best to use epoxy resin to glue together and seal the wood Follow that with paint or ideally a gel coat as UV light will break down the epoxy or urethane over time

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[Sk8man]

Cody - Tile Man Dan is right.....that is why I mentioned the epoxy etc. This is something you want to get right to be safe out there....I'd speak with some folks at a boat repair place before you "finalize" anything....too important an issue to take chances with.

[codybuehler]

That is good info.

I'll be doing round #3 this week with epoxy! Would resin without the fiberglass between 2 sheets of plywood work or is the fiberglass sheet necessary?

As for UV light degrading, all the wood is covered by aluminum. None of it is exposed to sunlight. But, what kind of paint would work? I'm not sure I want to get into gelcoating. Would an epoxy garage floor paint work?

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[codybuehler]

And as for talking to a boat repair place locally, I live in northeast PA. They would probably charge me to ask questions! 😄

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[Frogger]

• Cody, agree with everyone else on the resin comments and drilling the holes, filling with epoxy prior to putting back in.  I personally would use resin between the ply wood to bond, then coat the entire transom in it.  Also 5200 is great for those bolts when you tighten them up and anything else below the waterline. Dont skimp and use just any regular silicone.   For the paint question, suggest using a primer that has the Zinc Chromate in it for bonding.  Sounds like your on your way.

[TileMan Dan]

Fiberglass mat not needed for what your doing. Just screw wood together until resin cures. coat entire outside with resin also.  If no sunlight hits exposed ares paint not needed, but yeah you can used the expoxy floor paint if you wanted.  Where you located? I grew up in the Kingston area.

[rolmops]

For glue you can use the 100% watertight Gorilla glue. For sealing aand this is very important,use 2 component epoxy in a 3:1 mix. 2 or 3 layers wil serve you well. As for aluminum there is a base layer that you can spray on aluminum (for some reason usually green). It stops corrosion and acid etches the aluminum and it will make most other paints stick to aluminum. if you don't use it almost any paint will just peel off after a few years.

Edited May 7, 2014 by rolmops

[codybuehler]

Looks like I will be stopping on the way home for resin and a new sheet of plywood. 

 

Why the 3:1 mix?  I am assuming 3 parts epoxy, 1 of hardener.  By the sounds of it, I can just use the resin as the glue and to seal the wood?  It doesn't need to look fancy, it'll be buried in aluminum sheeting. 

 

I'll be looking for the acid etching paint as well. 

 

I'll post up some pictures later tonight once I get the process going again. 

 

Thanks all! 

[rolmops]

The 3:1 mix makes for slower drying which enables the mixture to penetrate into the wood. This makes it impervious to water. If you use the faster drying mix,it will not penetrate into the wood. After a while the epoxy cover will crack, water will pentrate and the wood rots inside the epoxy.

As for plywood,make sure to get a dense 6 ply so your transom will be a 12 ply overall. My suggestion would be douglas fir ply.

I have never tried to use the epoxy as a glue ,so I don't know about that.

Edited May 7, 2014 by rolmops

[codybuehler]

I haven't made much progress in the last few days. My work schedule has been insane!

I managed to get almost everything I needed to be able to finish this whole thing off once I get the wood epoxied.

I have a simple question that has to have an easy answer, but my common sense flew out the window. I ordered stainless washers with the neoprene gasket attached for the bolts that run through the transom. The bolts I took out all had them, so I figured they would be good to use again. The question is which side does the neoprene go on, bolt head or transom? When we took them off, they were neo to bolt head. I am going to use 5200 on the bolts as well for double protection.

I hopefully will get the wood cut to shape tonight and fitted before I seal it tonight.

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[TileMan Dan]

I would say water side of boat transom the 5200 is good also. As anal as I am where it comes to things like this I would put a bit of silicone atop bolt heads too after everything back together

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[codybuehler]

Sounds good.

I planned on being generous with the 5200.

I also went just a hair bigger on the new bolts. The originals were 3/16" and I ordered 1/4". I snapped a few of the 3/16" ones off taking them out. Not that 1/16" bigger will make a huge strength difference, but it'll make me feel better. The new ones also have an allen wrench head instead of a phillips head.

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