'98 Lund Pro Sport 1700 Transom Rotten

[jiggin9]

My fear after first reading/hearing about the dreaded rotten Lund transom has finally turned into reality.  I noticed my motor flexing a little more than normal on my last fishing trip and upon doing a little investigating found that my transom plywood is beginning to rot.  I called Lund and apparently they won't honor the problem due to the year of my boat.  They also told me to check for proper grounding on all electrical components to avoid electrolysis which bubbles the aluminum and will eventually destroy the transom wall.  I've been told that Lund had an issue with their transoms for an unknown period of time which apparently includes the 1998 models. 

I'd guess this issue has been beat to death in previous posts but thought I'd ask if anyone has dealt with this before.  I checked google and youtube and some of the pics/videos resembled a low budget horror movie. 

Any info or advice would be greatly appreciated. 

Edited August 11, 2015 by jiggin9

[delcecchi]

I have a 1998 proVee and it didn't seem like the plywood has a problem.  I will have to check more closely.

[marine_man]

Steve Bakken at Bakken's boat shop used to do this work... might be worth touching base with him to see what a repair like this would run.

Good luck...

marine_man

[jiggin9]

Yeah you better take a look del.  Thanks for the contact marine_man.  I am considering taking this project on myself but a quote wouldn't hurt either.  I will try to post pics either way as I begin this adventure. 

Thanks again guys!

[delcecchi]

I stuck my arm down in the bilge and felt the exposed bottom of the plywood for the transom.  It felt hard and totally dry.  Any suggestions on how to nondistructively evaluate the plywood further up?   I really don't want to drill holes to see it. 

[jiggin9]

Try removing a few screws from the cap/cover on top of your transom wall to get a look.  Or try lifting up on the lower unit of your boat motor to see if the transom wall has some flex in it.  When I did this you could see more flex than normal.  I hope you have better results than me.  

[delcecchi]

Thanks, I'll check it out.  

[hitthebricks]

Jiggin9 did you do the replacement yourself?

 

HTB

[Steve Bakken]

The wood won't always appear rotten in the areas you check it. We have had many jobs where the center is soup, but the outer areas are rock solid. If the motor is flexing more than normal, that's usually a fairly sure sign. As for the electrolysis, this in itself won't make the transom weak. However, if it is so bad that it has corroded all the way through, then you are now allowing water to enter through the pinholes, which will of course accelerate the decay of the wood.

 

Steve at Bakken's Boat Shop

[jiggin9]

HTB-

Funny you mention it.  I just got started on my transom repair last week.  Due to several other commitments (i.e.- 2 kids, wife, work, etc..) I finally got around to doing this project.  I would of attempted this project last winter but didn't have access to a heated shop/garage.  Now to the good stuff.  I just finished the plywood removal last night which wasn't easy or fun.  My attempt at salvaging the transom for a pattern was tossed out the window the minute I started the removal.  My transom board was pretty bad. 

My Advice (so far):  Order a lift ring for your outboard.  ($40)  They are easy and worth it.  I hooked it to a come-a-long and it came out real nice.  Have a good shop vac for plywood shaving/scrap removal.  Any tool you deem useful to get rotten plywood out will work.  I had the best luck with a wood spade bit on a 12" extension and a chainsaw (not kidding).  Lund stapled the two plywood sheets together so watch out for those along with the transom screws, which you can expose after enough digging.  I got a large cardboard box to trace the transom profile as my pattern to cut out the new plywood which worked great. 

My Plan:

With the plywood out, I plan on buying a sheet of 3/4" plywood ($70 @ Menards) to get my two pieces for my transom.  I checked with my cardboard cut out and I can sneak two pieces out of one sheet.  I've ordered a quart of Total Boat Epoxy Resin ($42 Amazon) to  seal the plywood before install.  I also ordered 3m 5200, 3m marine silicone for my sealants ($40 Amazon) on all connections, a new transom cap from Lund ($20) and plastic drain tubes to replace my splashwell holes ($10 amazon).  I will order new stainless bolts and hardware to replace all old stuff from Fastenal (Approx $30).  Need to decide on which glue to fasten sheets together with.  PL Premium??   

Ideas:

On my ProSport, you can't access the nut side on about half of the thru transom bolts due to the splash pan/livewell layout.  I am contemplating cutting a 4" hole thru both sides of my battery access compartment to gain access and then install an access cover plate to clean it up.  Cutting these holes will put me into these cavities that are filled with floatation foam so you'd have to get creative again (sheetrock hole saw)?? to get to the nut side of the transom bolts.  I've also read you could avoid cutting these holes and replace the bolts with stainless screw lags to bite both aluminum skins.  Obviously a bolt/nut would be ideal in this situation but not sure if a lag bolt would work instead.  Not sure which option to choose right now. 

In order to install the transom board in one piece, you either have to drill out rivets on the top rail caps or cut the rail caps back and do some welding/fabricating afterwards.  I am leaning towards cutting one side of the rails back and just have an aluminum welding shop repair my cuts. 

I think I've read almost every transom repair post on the internet (Great Info!) about which product to use for your transom.  I am going to replace mine with 3/4" AB marine grade.  There are other products like seacast where you pour the transom out of epoxy.  Looks legit but is pretty spendy.  The bottom of my transom is "open" so forming that up to pour would be difficult.  To each their own on this one.     

I am trying to do this project the right way (hopefully) and within a relatively modest budget.  If all goes well I should have maybe $300-$400 into this repair.  I have yet to add in my welding bill along with some touch up paint, etc. 

Any comments or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

 

 

 

[jiggin9]

Steve is right.  The plywood can be very deceiving.  I couldn't believe that most of it was still heavily saturated and my boat hasn't seen water since last August.  I think Lunds transom design is questionable and some preventative maintenance would help a lot to avoid/delay this problem.   Overall, I've found that replacing your transom is very time consuming and can now see why boat repair shops charge what they do.  It rally does take a lot of time and patience.   

I'm starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel with my project.  I applied the first coat of total boat epoxy last night to the plywood transom.  I believe I will put on another coat tonight to make sure I have good coverage. (I ordered a quart and will have some leftover when finished).  I'm still waiting on some hardware to be delivered as well as my touch up paint.  Once those are complete, I need to get my boat to the local welding shop to repair the cuts I made to get my new transom in.  A little more touch up paint and the old girl should be ready for the water.