Transom and Stringers
 

Looking at a boat that may need a new transom, What am i looking at for cost? 31 foot boat with twins. Can stringers be partially replaced. As in if they are good up front, but moist in the eng compartment, is this a job that can be done without tearing the whole boat apart, and what type of $$ am i looking at?

Thanks Steve Jr

Re: Transom and Stringers
 

So... is it a Chris Craft or a Formula? :D

(A scarab would have been 30' you said 31)

Off the top of my head I would say that you are looking at 7 or 8 thousand if you have them do the whole job. 3 or 4 thousand if they only do the glass work.

Unfortunately... the boat needs to be un-rigged and re-rigged.

Add a couple thousand if your stringers are really bad.

There are a couple great threads on the subject. Big job.

Re: Transom and Stringers
 

Thanks-

When you say whole job, is it possible to replace the stringers from the transom up towards the bow to the end of the eng compartment, as long as the existing stringer past the eng compartment arent in terrible shape, and what about the hull of the boat, can you replace past the engine compartment both the hull and the stringers without taking apart the deck and the rest of the boat, any ideas of $$$$ to replace the stringers and hull only in the eng compartment

Re: Transom and Stringers
 

We paid $3,000 for just a transom rebuild on a single 25 Checkmate.

Re: Transom and Stringers
 

i wouldn't buy a boat knowing it needed this much work unless this is the kind of work you can do yourself.... just my .02

Re: Transom and Stringers
 

I would pass on this boat, you will never have closure, it will never be the same and if you want to do it right you need to split the deck and replace all the bulkheads, stringers and transom. The hull is out of the question, you could never make the boat structurally sound if you tried to piece the hull together. If you could do this yourself it would be thousands, have someone do it and it is 10s of thousands, like I said, you will never have closure, there will always be issues. i tried this on a 33 Donzi and learned my lesson. I was forced to do this due to being screwed by a dealer. It was a nightmare and all I did was do a ton of work just to sell it and get it away from me. I had nightmares over it while repairing it. I say run away, spend the same amount on a dated or sound project boat, there are millions of them out there.

Re: Transom and Stringers
 

Ditto. A project boat is not a good deal unless your capible of doing it yourself.

Re: Transom and Stringers
 

boomer35, there are so many good deals on boats right now I wouldn't even consider something that needed that kind of work. Right now it may look like just the transom and the ends of the stringers are soft but once you start tearing it apart their could be a lot more :eek:

Re: Transom and Stringers
 

Art is right on the money. . . you will never have closure if the boat is very bad. a rule of thumb i use is you only see about half the actual damage the rest will surface as you get into it. what kind of boat is it?

Re: Transom and Stringers
 

run Forrest ..... RUN

Re: Transom and Stringers
 

Fuhgetta bow dit !!
Not a good way to immerse yourself into the world of boating.
You will be a very unhappy camper. These nightmare jobs are sometimes un-avoidable when you already own the headache, but you don't, so keep it that way. !!! :D

Re: Transom and Stringers
 

still curious what kind of boat and what kind of money are they asking.


Art i asume you are a glass guy and know that can of worms all to well. . . :D . . . been there, under estimated a few jobs in my day. :drink:

Re: Transom and Stringers
 

Me too. Wanna know. :D

Are we all thinking mid eighties Formula or Chris? (31 foot)

Re: Transom and Stringers
 

Its a 1988 Bullet i offered 6K, boat is in good shape minus motors and drives, comes with Gimbals, gaffrig gauges, not sure i wanna get into it tho, called a guy today in VT who can replace the bulsa core with some sort of product, but just to do that, (no stringers or transom) im looing at 12-14k, the deal is, im not sure if it even needs it, but the more people i talk to, the more that say run

Re: Transom and Stringers
 

Art-

ive had a survey done on the boat and the Hull read anywhere from 70-35, is this they type of project you take on? And if so, how much to replace the balsa core hull, i hear there is a new product out there that makes the hull stronger than original, just a little costly, i like this boat so much because i can afford it cash, then chip away at the repairs slowly, tho it might cost more, i will still have a nice toy in the end without going into debt,

Re: Transom and Stringers
 

p.s. if anybody else can help on repair work or has any input i also made a post in the fiberglass section

Re: Transom and Stringers
 

amen brutha Artie :D . . . i buy tyvek suits and grinding disks by the case. actually the bulk of my work now is in custom finishes (graphics) and fabrication. dont do much repair work anymore but back in the day when i was cut'n my teeth . . .boy. . . .did that suck. my suit of choice is 1 short sleeve T shirt 1 long sleev T shirt followed by a long sleeve sweat shirt than the full Tyvek suit. learned long ago to dump in a bunch of baby powder at the first layer, really helps alot. it must have been cool working at Skater, any pics?

Re: Transom and Stringers
 

Boomer, ask KAAMA about a balsa core replacement, he will come and shoot you in the head if you even think about doing this. It is like removing sand one grain at a time, there is no hope for this boat and no amount of time or money you could throw at it. On my project it was like this...take one step forward and five back. Every time I opened something I tripled my work. It never ended until i just finished it to sell it. I am not kidding, I had nightmares over this, I would wake up in a sweat, I spent every waking minute thinking of what I had to do and the steps I needed to take to get there. if I had known of this site I would have asked like you and would have never bought the boat. I could have saved 10s or 1000s if i had only known of this site and asked.

Re: Transom and Stringers
 

Yeah, but you'll sink your ass in this one and not have any use of it for a Long time and it will still be worth not as much as a newer boat when you are done.

On the other hand, you could take a loan on a mid to late 90s Baja or Fountain (good deals on those boats) use your earnest money as a down payment, make the monthlies and drop bigger chunks when you have it, USE the boat and have lots of fun and sell it w/o too much more depreciation.

Re: Transom and Stringers
 

Boomer, there are plenty of boat to be had. Go for one that does not have this extent of issues. Just say No to bad boats.

Re: Transom and Stringers
 

Listen to these words Grasshopper, you will thank us forever and have a boat, an ass and some cash left.

Re: Transom and Stringers
 

There is so much work that would be involved over time your just going to get fed-up with it!!! Your most likly going to lose interest and wish you had never got involved & now you have all this money invested in a unfinished boat thats not worth anything... I had an older boat that needed attention every week (nothing as bad as yours) but it got to the point were that boating was no longer fun it became work!!! If a project is what your looking for atleast find one with a good hull. Then you can do the motors, gauges & nice interior . Just my 02.

Re: Transom and Stringers
 

A pig in a new dress is still a pig.

Re: Transom and Stringers
 

Boomer - definitely all great advise. Only situation that it makes any sense to climb the mountain is if a boat had some historical significance or strong sentimental value to keep you pumped, otherwise just a another pile of resin in the shape of a boat . Lot of guys have been there - tak'in in those stray dogs - years go by and you get tired of re-ordering checks.
Car collector I know - never buy a car thats $25k then drop $35k to make it a $60k car - buy one for 45k and invest 5k.

Re: Transom and Stringers
 

Is there a certain moisture content that the gauge will read that will predict whether or not you need to replace the transom or stringers, or is there just no way to tell until you cut her open

Re: Transom and Stringers
 

Well said, for what Boomer can buy my Bullet he would be way far ahead of the game.

Re: Transom and Stringers
 

There you go B, step up to that bullet, it is a way better deal.

Re: Transom and Stringers
 

Boomer: I can tell you that the trip you are talking about taking is a rough one. I am doing it myself (go look at my Stringer replacement thread on my Formula 302. I have not had this boat in the water now for two years. In fact I purchased another boat to have to use while that one is being done. If you REALLY want to do this then you NEED to find out EXACTLY what the extent of the damage is. If it is just a stringer that is bad, or a transom that is not such a bad thing to have done. If you are going into this with your eyes closed and have no idea what the damage is...... well take a look at my stringer replacement thread and you will see what you could be doing.... I have been doing all the work myself and since my business took off and I am building a vacation home in Maine my boat is on the back burner. Now I am paying money to store aboat that I do not even use.... You said that you have a guy in VT that you got the quote from. If Gloucester, MA is not to far away for you to tow the boat you can get a great TRUETHFULL estimate from Joe Berkman at Gloucester Boat Work. He was arguably the best America's cup foil builder in the world up to the point that they started to make them with CNC machines.... Some of these projects are doable, but from what I am seeing I would be very concerned to see you get involved. DO YOUR RESEARCH and be REALISTIC ABOUT EVERYTHING. GlassDave is WRONG (sorry Dave) it is not twice what you think it is more like THREE TO FOUR TIMES!!! :drink: :drink: And Yes baby powder is your first like of defence :D:D

Jon

Mitch, or anybody, how were these transoms constructed? A few layers of ply covered in fiberglass, or was the wood thicker in some areas than others? how was it attached to the stringers, glass only, or other hardware under the glass? Also, were the main stringers directly under the engines also wood, or were they wood only forward of the front of the engines? thanks

transom and stringers in general are laminated marine ply or a composite high denisity foam core like Coosa. somewhere I have a stringer illustration I did as well. I will find it and post it to help explain how they are assembled.

Are you refrring to a Bullet specifically or just construction in general?

boomer your offer was about 6k too high. tell him you will take it for free...and you will STILL regret it in the long run if he says sold! he got all the value there was in that boat when he stripped the power out.

you guys do know this is a ten year old thread dont'chya :D

I would send glassdave to look at it!:faint2:

lol

Ya my boat has not been in the water for 14 years now! LOL

I was just responding to Gasguzzler1's question since it seemed like he had a valid question. I knew it was a VERY dated thread. ;)

I know this is an old thread, but I was searching for stuff about Crossbows, and saw this PTSD nightmare horror paragraph that Mitch guy wrote about one of those boats. so I figured if there is anything to know about the construction of one of those, he would know!

That's why I could not find you boat in the fiber glass section I was only looking back 2 years. LOL

Do you have a Crossbow? I know there was one for sale here in Hampton Roads a few months back. Was wondering what might have happened to it.