lake boat transom repair

demanufactured

Has anyone ever done a transom repair/replacement on a lake boat.
I have a sheelin type huill that the transom is somewhat damaged from what looks like someone overpowering it with too big an engine one time or another.( the engine mounting "plank" is back at more of an angle than it should be relative to the shape of the rear of the hull and it is pushed in a bit if that makes sense)


What I am thinking is to completely cut out the entire transom from the back of the boat including the rear biuyancy tank and replace it with a full marine ply transom which would be fixed in with struts to hold it in place and then glasses in....rather than a weak type you see on most boats...(thin fiberglass with a transom plank to Mount the engine)

fergal.b

It should be a handy enough job, you could also add a transom knee and some corner supports for extra strength. Most transoms are set around 12 degrees but on some of these lake boats the rake can be different for many reasons like to keep your butt dry in a swell or when reversing.

Talent

Once did a complete transom replacement on 17 footer, very similar to a Mermaid. Removed the old one and sent it off to a joinery to make up a hardwood replacement. The joinery even matched the angle of the edge of the thing so that the plank lands were accurate. Was a bit of a novice them but nowadays would feel confident enough to do it all myself. The brackets that Feargal illustrates are, I would imagine, essential and I incorporated similar.

I would have a slight misgiving about using ply as opposed to solid hardwood in that the screws driven though the planks have a better hold on solid timber than the ply, where half the section is effectively endgrain. This is not such a problem if you are using large screws but the fine work required on a lakeboat means that you are often using Number Six screws. Add to that the damage, including splitting, often sustained at the end of the planks (not helped by outboards) where they screw into the edge of the transom and you don't have much room for leeway.

There are three different ways of dealing with damaged, often split, plank ends. One is to cut away the damaged ends and scarf new ends, tricky enough on a clinker boat. A second way is to effectively shorten the boat by cutting the planks to remove the split ends. A common traditional solution is to screw a ledge (slip) to the inside of the transom to which the planks are also screwed, thus removing reliance on damaged ends. A similar solution is often employed at the bow of clinker boats where a false stem is installed.

fergal.b

If you go with a hardwood transom have it made in lyres where the grain runs at 90 degrees to each other this will help stop it cracking with the weight and thrust of the outboard, another option would be to laminate the inner with half ply and the outer in hardwood, encapsulate every thing with epoxy and it should last your lifetime.




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demanufactured

Cheers for the info lads.
I'll posy some pics of my boat tomorrow to see what ye think would be the best approach

Talent

Pictures = thousand words!