How worried should I be about my transom

anonymous · Post by **anonymous** » Fri Nov 25, 2005 3:42 pm

at the beginningof the summer my fishfinder bracket broke the day be fore my vacation. I made a temporary fix but ended up putting a couple
of fasteners into the transom. While prepping for winter I notice that one of the screwholes seemed soft. Since this is a trailer boat (OD-16) should I worry about the moisture causing major damage over the winter(New England?
Mark

Mike Adams · Post by **Mike Adams** » Fri Nov 25, 2005 6:17 pm

I wouldn't take the risk for what would seem to be a very quick fix.

Drill out the screw holes using progressively larger drill bits until you are sure that all the soft wood has been removed, then plug the holes with epoxy and refit the bracket when you are ready to use the boat again.

Old E. · Post by **Old E.** » Mon Dec 12, 2005 7:50 pm

good advice. The water will expand in there as it freezes possibly separating layers of ply or glass from the ply. Epoxy may be more resiliant in this capacity than polyester.

tech_support · Post by **tech_support** » Tue Dec 13, 2005 9:49 am

Mike is correct, its easy to fix. Drill out the holes (let it dry) then fill them with thickened epoxy - then put the new screws into the epoxy and not the wood. Doing it this way from the very beginning takes more time, but its great insurance against moister getting tot he wood. It something you should do even ifs a production fiberglass boat with a wood cored transom.

Joel

ks8 · Post by **ks8** » Tue Dec 13, 2005 12:06 pm

I did this drill, fill, redrill, with most holes except the ones for mounting the acess hatches (I wanted to finish the boat before I die! Another 36 holes or more)

Even larger holes for the nav light wiring was done this way...

http://gallery.bateau2.comdisplayimage. ... =26&pos=11

Holes that did not get this thorough treatment were sealed with 4 to 6 coats of epoxy applied with a pipe cleaner, while doing other tasks, to use up left over epoxy efficiently. Of course, the holes were drilled oversize to make up for the build of epoxy filler or plain epoxy coats. On large holes, I drilled a hole through the cured filler, just big enough to fit a dremel barrel sander fitting, and then ground out carefully until about 1/8 to 1/16 inch of filler remained. A large drill bit can crack or rip the filler out of the hole if it is dull or mishandled.

ks

ks

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