SB

iTrader: (1)

The owner of the $4 million dollar boat probably trades it.

DBleil89

I agree with tommy. Support abd the keel and corners of the transom. Leave the hull and the top together. What I did when I did this was cut one side of the stringers fiber glass and the top off. This will leave you one side to position the new stringer. You grind it and adhere the new stringer to it with thickend epoxy. Then wrap the exoosed side up and over the old fiberglass. The nice part of doing it this way is you have a template for where it goes and the height at which it needs to be. So when it goes back together your floor is in the correct location. But i believe you need to get the boat off the trailer and support it properly before cutting anything

Tractionless

Gotcha, thanks for the explanation!

steelborn

you can't leave rotten/wet wood inside of the fiberglass it will start to delaminates, boat that are made with sandwiched wood in between fiberglass they need that wood, can you imagine what would happen if you take out all 3 ply woods from the transom it would be empty flexing shell.

Jimofstuartfl

How many boats hulls or decks are built with sandwich construction of plywood. Only cold molded boats that are epoxy saturated are built this way. The rest may have plywood as a core material in the deck not in the hull. The previous discussion was about stringers not transoms. Solid fiberglass laminates will not delaminate because of rotted wood inside a stringer. As previously stated, if the stringers are where the engines on IO boats are located the core material needs to be replaced. But you still do not cut them out completely. Remove the top of the stringers and remove the rotted core. There are numerous materials that can be used. After, glass over the stringers.

In the transom if the wood is rotted what are you to do? If you leave the rotted wood and you have outboards it will break off. The outer and inner laminates will not delaminate just because the core is rotted. What would cause the delamination. Statements are easily made if they offer no resolution to correct the problem. To fix a rotted transom without removing the outer or inner laminates, do the following. First fill all the holes inside and outside the ransom. Not completely only to seal the holes. Cut as little as possible the laminate on the top of the transom. Maybe a 1/4 to 3/8ths. Once the rotted ply is exposed take a chain saw and remove all the rotted wood. It will eat up a chain so you will probably need 2. Once you have removed the rotted wood clean it all out. Now you will replace the wood with a pourable liquid ceramic that you buy at the fiberglass supply store. It comes in 5 gallon pails and you will need all of it. You catalyze it with mekp. It pours right in and dries hard as a rock. This is what it was designed for. I've done several this way and have never had an issue. Of course this is only my opinion. But beware of opinions that have no experience or solutions.

Jimofstuartfl

I forgot to mention to glass over the top of the transom and finish it with gel coat or paint.

phragle

iTrader: (3)

Can you explain to me how you dig down a 3.5-4' deep transom to get all the wood out with a 20" chain saw? and without either removing the deck or cutting a bog hole in it that will need to be glassed back together, faired gelled and most likely repainted? I could see your method working on junior's 18' boston whaler , but not on a 38 foot scarab.

Jimofstuartfl

I speaking about outboard boats. You can get a chain saw lover than 20 inches. If you want to avoid painting and fairing on a Scarab repair it from the inside. Pull the engines, drives, everything from the engine compartment. Remove the glass and then the core. Don't use plywood again. There's all different types of transom material. Rebed the first later of core into the transom with core bond. It must be hot coated first. Still relief holes to get all the air out . Add multiple layers to get to the desired thickness. Reglass and reassemble. A lot of work but not that hard to do.

steelborn

The fact is that wood didn't got rotten it self or with insect, it got rotten because water got in and it can't get out, so water captured inside of the stringers, floors and transom cause delamination and this is proven of happening thru out the years, ive seen in person what captured water can do to a fiberglass.
Another fact is that most of the old boats that are built with wood and need that wood for the strength especially on the transom side.
Ive seen in person well known boat builders cut the stringers out with one side of the transom get all rot out and fix glass that has started to delaminates, hull moves nowhere as long side, bottom and transom outer shell is connected as one.
And of course I'm talking about derigged boat, you can't have heavy outboards hanging of back of your boat while you cutting the stringers in that case transom might bent.

steelborn

My boat 31' with outboards and I had to replace transom, floors and 2 whole stringers, there's no way we could do what you saying with transom unless we chop off whole top pieces on the back of the boat.
this is how's been done thru out the decades, so there's no reason to reinvent hot water, we are not trying to get to the moon here.
and yes my boat has completely wood core, all around, and please stop saying that water will not delaminate the fiberglass and do some at least reading before makeing such a statement.