replacing transom on glass boat

[foxhunter]

does anyone have any experiance with fixing a broken transom on a glass boat? how to do it or someone that does this kind of repair? thanks

[marine_man]

I would talk to Steve Bakken at Bakken's Boat Shop. They specialize in this type of work. I'd also do a search for Steve's posts ( Click Here ).. he's offered up lots of information on transom repairs.

marine_man

[overdalimit]

I have done this before and all I can tell you is it is a messy, sticky, itchy, unpleasent job. The first thing you need to do is get the old wood out of the glass encapsulation. This is the itchy part as there will be alot of fiberglass dust from cutting and grinding. Next you need to laminate a new transom (usually 1 1/2 thick plywood) Now you need to fit it and it has to fit tight, smooth and flush to the old glass, Now to figure out some way of clamping the new piece to the transom while the resin cures (this is always fun). To install the piece you will have to saturate enough glass mat to take up any imperfections between the old glass and the new wood. You put saturated mat over old transome glass (this is the sticky, messy part) and then place the new wood over that and place clamps (oh I forgot to mention you only have a limited amount of time to work with the resin before it starts to set up...so work fast). Now that the wood is attached and the resin is cured you can remove the clamps and cover the new transom piece with about 5 layers of glass making sure to overlap onto the old transom by at least 8-12 inches. A paintbrush is good for dabbing out any air bubbles from the mat. That is all there is to is!

[Steve Bakken]

Whatever you do, DON'T cut the exterior fiberglass or splice new wood to the old. This will seriously weaken the rear of the boat and set it up for premature failure-usually at the worst possible time. The boat is assembled with an upper half and a lower half. The only safe way to remove the old wood is to seperate these halves and pull the wood out. Then you can replace the whole piece as one unit. I'm not trying to scare you, it most certainly can be done at home, I've just had too many boats come into our shop with missing rear ends because the transom was spliced in and I don't want to see you get stuck in the middle of the lake with a boat full of water.

[trackerbrent]

I am going to be replacing my transom as well this fall on my old Tracker/Nitro fiberglass hull. I have read up on it and I should be able to do a descent job myself, fingers crossed. I can not see paying thousands of dollars for a repair on a boat that is not even worth that much. I just want to get a few more years out of it.

Now not to highjack post here, but I have a question. Why can't I cut the top cap so I do not have to remove the entire top? I have a set back transom and it seems it will work with my hull. I have been following a repair on a bass boat forum that was done at a professional shop and they cut the top cap as shown in the picture. That was on a Ranger 373, but my transom design looks similar. Can I do it the way in the picture and reglass and mat where it was cut from underneath and reclear/polyflake top cut lines? Or should I remove the entire top cap of boat? I am trying to save time on a boat that is not worth much, but also I want it to be safe. Thanks for the help!

[Steve Bakken]

Yes, you can do it that way. As long as the wood can slide out and the new wood can be slid back in, in one piece you should be just fine. Good luck with your project. If I can help with any other questions, I'll sure try.

[trackerbrent]

Thanks for the quick response Steve! Hopefully it works the way I have it planned out and good to know I can probably do it this way. Sorry for stealing your post foxhunter.