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outrage transom
carpenterscott	#1  Posted on 03/04/09 - 6:48 PM
Member Posts: 1 Comments: 0 Joined: 03/04/09	i have a 89 20 ft outrage the transom is rotted and needs new wood has anyone gone through this? any advice would b greatly appreciated scarpenter
Little Tunny	#2  Posted on 03/05/09 - 6:57 AM
Member Personal Page Posts: 33 Comments: 0 Joined: 06/21/07	It's a very rare condition with these boats, so there aren't any hard and fast rules. I went through this a year ago, and feel your pain. After discussing my options with Chuck Bennet, I ended up glassing 3/4 plywood on the inside of the existing transom and then more or less wrapped the entire thing with multiple layers of biaxial and vinylester resin. You may be able to get a sense of it form my personal page pics. The whole project cost me less than $1,000. I did however end up with a transom that's roughly 4" thick, which didn't bother me since I wasn't concerned with creating a factory-original show piece. It's had 200 hours of hard offshore use now with no problems thus far. Without knowing more about your boat's condition, it's hard to say what the best approach might be. The problem can be solved, it's just going to take some time and/or money.
jquigley	#3  Posted on 03/05/09 - 8:57 AM
Member Posts: 269 Comments: 1 Joined: 07/17/07	**Disclaimer*** I am not a boat repair professional and this information is only anecdotal. It is not intended to be a comprehensive how-to or law on transom replacement. This said please take this advice at your own risk and verify it with a professional as individual use and conditions etc. require different materials/methods for success. I would not like to be liable in the event of a failure, in other words, so please make sure you are safe when/if you do this yourself. A typical transom replacement involves cutting through the interior skin of fiberglass (the one facing towards the cockpit, not the one facing out to the sea) and feathering out the fiberglass in the corners of the transom to have a place to bond the new glass to. you should have at least 6 to eight inches of overlap of new glass on old glass. (A foot is probably better) Once the interior fibergalss skin is removed you have to remove all of the old rotted wood. Try to keep it intact to use as a template. Scuff sand the old glass' interior skin (the one previously in contact with the wood farthest from the cockpit) and then clean everything well with acetone. Try to preserve the outer shell. On your fiberglass layup table take 2, preferably 3 (depending on the weight you want it to support)sheets of 3/4 plywood and laminate them together. It is ideal if you can get the ply grain running in 45 degree angles against each other for strength. The process here is to cut out pieces for your transom according to the template. Cover your table in wax paper, and then wet out some chopped strand fiberglass mat in a large enough sheet you can set the transom piece on it and have 3-4 inches protruding from all sides. (the mat should be saturated with resin, no more, no less) Also completely saturate the transom pieces with resin. Set them in place and repeat for all three layers. after the final transom piece and the last layer of csm, follow with a layer of 1708 biax cloth. It should look like this... ---------------1708 biax ---------------csm =========3/4" marine ply ---------------csm =========3/4" marine ply ---------------csm =========3/4" marine ply ---------------csm ---------------wax paper ____________wet out table Once you have all of these in place, it is best to have several large clamps at the ready with more wax paper and wood scraps, so you can clamp the pieces as they cure. clamps---\ /---clamps ____________wood scrap ---------------wax paper ---------------1708 biax ---------------csm =========3/4" marine ply ---------------csm =========3/4" marine ply ---------------csm =========3/4" marine ply ---------------csm ---------------wax paper ____________wood scrap clamps---/ \---clamps ____________wet out table Once you have this piece fabricated you need to laminate it to the existing transom skin layer. Make sure you scuff sanded the old glass that is exposed on the inner transom and cleaned with acetone. do the same for the section of the new transom you will bond to it. There are two ways to join it, one is to wet out the old and the new and use the clamp method to hold it in place. Some, however cut holes in the outer skin and the new transom insert to through bolt them as the layup cures. Make sure to use a shim on the gelcoat on the outer transom if you do this as you don't want to mar it. Once you have your bond to the outer skin, scuff the exposed glass on the inside, nearest the cockpit and clean with acetone. Do the same for the area of old glass that the new glass will get feathered into. Put another layer of csm on the interior side going about 4 to 6 inches overlapping onto the old glass that you have scuffed and cleaned. After that is layed up, put a layer of 1708 biax over top, overlapping the new csm about 4 to 6 inches. Doing this will give you nearly a foot of area where old is bonded to new. Once you have that together you are ready to sand fill and fair for final coating of paint, gel etc. I would suggest reading up on some of the boat building forums as there are lots of details, like epoxy or poly resin, what weight of glass cloth to use, what to do about air bubbles and dry lay-ups, laying up wet on wet, recommended width of transom etc. PM me and I can send you some good information resources to make sure you have all the info you need. Believe it or not there is a lot more to it really, and I gave sort of a short version above. I don't mean to say that it is too hard to do, its not. Many, many people do this themselves, but it requires some understanding of the properties of fiberglass and resins. I would study up on this a bit before taking the plunge yourself as this is a major structrual area of your boat and a failure in the transom can result in catastrophic damage and the serious potential for injury.
Bake	#4  Posted on 03/05/09 - 9:23 AM
Member Personal Page Project Albums Posts: 902 Comments: 8 Joined: 01/30/06	Great post john. I know there are a lot of post with pics on the classic mako site as they all have to replace them at some point. This is not a common problem with whalers but it is bound to happen sometime to someone. My project boat is a 1976 with holes all over the transom. I really considered replacing the wood just because of the age and weather but I could beat on this thing with a sledge hammer and it not budge. I ended up filling the holes with hard wood dowel pins.
jquigley	#5  Posted on 03/05/09 - 10:23 AM
Member Posts: 269 Comments: 1 Joined: 07/17/07	carpenterscott, You have a PM.
Derwd24	#6  Posted on 03/05/09 - 10:28 AM
Member Posts: 1607 Comments: 9 Joined: 05/09/07	There are also pouring products and techniques like this that others have had great success with: http://nida-core.com/english/nordprod...ransom.htm Dave - 1983 Outrage 22
DaveS	#7  Posted on 03/05/09 - 7:03 PM
Member Posts: 69 Comments: 1 Joined: 04/22/05	I too have heard good things about the pouring products, although I forget the name of the one I've read about, with that one, they recommend you removing the rotten wood from the top of the transom using a chain saw...once it's cleaned out, you simply pour the material into void, have it cure, repair the top and off you go... What ever you do, please take pictures, people would love to see how you completed this repair... Good luck... DaveS
Derwd24	#8  Posted on 03/05/09 - 7:50 PM
Member Posts: 1607 Comments: 9 Joined: 05/09/07	This is the one you mean Dave, Seacast. http://transomrepair.com/zk/fullrepai...pair.shtml Dave - 1983 Outrage 22
Binkie	#9  Posted on 03/06/09 - 2:08 PM
Member Personal Page Posts: 2012 Comments: 0 Joined: 12/19/05	I would try the pouring method. i replaced the transom on an 18` Bass boat 3 years ago, onlY did it from the outside, as i couldn't cut the splashwell area out due to the flush type deck.I did it basically like John did but I had to do alot of grinding,sanding and bondoing to get a straight smooth job, it held up will with a 150hp Suzuki sitting on it. Next time I`ll do the pour method though. Get yourself a 24" electric chainsaw to cut out the wood. Actually next time I`ll check the boat out more thoroughly before I buy it. LOL Rich
jquigley	#10  Posted on 03/07/09 - 5:22 PM
Member Posts: 269 Comments: 1 Joined: 07/17/07	Binkie wrote: Actually next time I`ll check the boat out more thoroughly before I buy it. LOL Now that's funny. Its hard to convince someone to let you put a bunch of half inch holes in their transom to sample the core before they sell you their boat though.
Binkie	#11  Posted on 03/08/09 - 5:46 AM
Member Personal Page Posts: 2012 Comments: 0 Joined: 12/19/05	Usually, a rotted transom will manifest itself in other ways. its not necessary to drill holes in the transom initially. Just tilt the motor all the way up and try to rock the motor up and down using moderate force. A Good rot free transom should not flex at all. this is what I meant by more thoroughly checking the boat out before buying it. Unfornuatly many of us become emotionally involved and overlook things that may come back to bite us. This is also good advice when meeting a possible mate. LOL Rich