transome wood

[holorinhal]

I have a 73 Kona that I am rebuilding.I pulled the wood out to replace it.the wood is only on each side of the pump cutout in the transome,and does not go all the way accross(two seperate pieces).
My question is ,on a jet is it really neccissary to have the wood in it.Could I leave it out? The transome seems to be pretty stiff and strong with it out.At the verry least could I lay up some more glass just in the area where the wood was to reinforce that area?..Thanks ...Hal

[shaun]

I'm by no means any type of expert but i would say no, reason being is i pulled the wood out from behind my dash to replace it and while the wood was out it no longer held it's shape. The glass wasnt crazy thick problably 1/8 to 1/4 or so. The wood back there probably keeps the transom straight and adds a lot of strength.
Just my opinion.

[Hiddenvalley-Kid]

I have a 77 Tahiti.(same hull), I had the thru transoms leaking into the wood and rotted it. I dug it out ground the glass, made a template and cut 2 pieces of 3/8" marine ply. I then cut 1 piece horizontally and the other verticly to fit inside. I then drilled 4 holes through the transome and layed 1 layer of mat between the transome and both pieces of ply. I then sucked all layers together with 2x4's, doweled the 4 holes, recut the jet opening and layed a layer of woven on the inside to seal it. Been there for 5 years with no shift or cracks. Trust me the flimsy glass alone won't support the transome.

[olbiezer]

hey hidden valley.......i am no expert either but i have seen four or five transoms replaced in bass boats and u did it exactly the way the supposed experts did it......sounds as if u got it stronger then it was origenally.... :) :rollside:

[dead_onion]

hi,
I replaced the transom on my Wriedt last winter, it was a bitch.
I used 1 piece of 3/4 inch douglas fir, I had to cut of the top part of the back of the boat to fit it in...I was a novice then.
You should definitley use an Epoxy to secure the new wood to the old glass, epoxy bonds to old poly. better than new poly bonds to old poly.
Before putting the new wood in, cut it to shape, drill all the holes,and drill them a little bit oversize: next paint a coat of expoxy on the wood prior to installation, being sure to coat the insides of the holes you drilled. The reason for this is the epoxy will soak into the wood, making it impregnable to water and water vapor; you will never have to go through this again.
To secure the new wood in the boat mix epoxy with Cabosil and chopped glass fibers, Cabosil is a thickener, mix it till it the cosistency of peanut butter. put the wood in the boat, be sure and clamp it good, I removed the jet drive when I did this so I could clamp around the cutout. I also drilled a few holes through the boat and put some bolts through them to clamp the wood while the epoxy set up, I later filled the holes with epoxy/cabosil mixture.
I don't know ifyou want to go the drilling holes route, it didn't matter to me cuz my boat needs to be painted anyway,I just wanted a functional boat for the summer.
Josh

[old rigger]

holorinhal,
The transom in a jet boat does not need the wood in there, but unless it was originaly layed up like that, the wood should be replaced.
On your boat, just replace it the way it was. It's there to secure stuff to, wire looms, bildge pump hose, whatever the hell's mounted there in the first place.
Never hold the wood in place with cabosil or the like. Always bond it in place with a nice layer of matt, wetted and rolled out and then held in place. In your case, cause you still have the deck on the boat, figure out ahead of time how to rig up some tempoary poles, or 2x4s, wedged against something up in the front of the boat, so there's equal presure applied to the wood. The last thing you want is to have a air gap inbetween the hull and the wood, it might cause a bubble down the road that would be visable from the rear of the boat.
Also, make sure that after removing the old, nasty, rotting, bad wood, that you have the transom as flat as you can, getting rid of any tiny pieces of wood or old glass still bonded to it. Again, you don't want any voids. :)

[holorinhal]

The boat is going through extensive cosmettic work before painting,so drilling hole s is not the problem.I am even filling in the through transome exhaust holes along with all the other through hull fitting holes.
If I am going to put the wood back in I am going to make the transome one solid piece.It will mean a little grinding in the area where the pump hole is to get every thing in the same plane,as there was no wood there.The transome adapter was mounted to glass only.
I just don't see how it could have been very structural if it was'nt one solid piece,but i guess it would be a good idea to reinstall it.I was just thinking that if I filled in the area where the wood was,with fiberglass,then it would be just as strong and there would be no wood to worry about...Thanks for the advice...Hal

[old rigger]

I just don't see how it could have been very structural if it was'nt one solid piece,but i guess it would be a good idea to reinstall it.I was just thinking that if I filled in the area where the wood was,with fiberglass,then it would be just as strong and there would be no wood to worry about...Thanks for the advice...Hal
It's not structural. It's not like a transom on an I/O or and outboard.

[holorinhal]

Hey thank's Old Rigger.You must have been writing You'r reply the same time I was For it to get behind mine couse it wasnt there whenI wrote the second post.
Any way thats what I will do then is put it back exactly the way it was!
The wood was not rotted at all and was still bonded very well,It was just full of holes and I am filling in the exhaust holes so I did'nt want to put a plug in it.It was a son of a bitch to get out,but I managed to get every bit of it out.Its just raw glass now.
I am replacing the wood behind the dash as well and have allready removed it as well.I just wish I could replace all the wood that goes down along the inside of the cap ,also,but the boat is capped and it is near impossible to get at and I do'nt want to cut the boat apart.
Any way,thanks and I will take You'r advice and replace it the exact way it was....Thank's ...Hal

[Wicked Performance Boats]

Hal , fix the transom first before you fill the exhaust cutouts. You can make some clampbolts to hold the wood in the transom thru the exhaust holes. Then fill in the glass. BL

[old rigger]

Hey Hal, replacing the wood along the gunales is a pain in the ass but it's not THAT big of a pain. If you want to do that too, do in now. It's actually the easiest wood, along with the dash to re-do because it's so simple to clamp. It's just tough trying to get up in there, laying on your back and get it nice and smooth. I cheated the last time I did it and cut the deck off and replaced all the wood in the deck too. I had to replace the transom wood, it was an OB, but the wood was kinda old there along the gunales so I figured what the hell. It was a '65 hull, but not capped like yours. I love cap jobs, they look so clean. :)

[Goad]

Never hold the wood in place with cabosil or the like. Always bond it in place with a nice layer of matt, wetted and rolled out and then held in place.
Do you still suggest using epoxy to bond the wood to the transom?
I am about to mount some 3/4" marine wood in the back of my '69 wriedt stinger and I am trying to research as much as I can so I do it right the first time.
Thanks!
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