Stress Cracks In Transom

[Biglittle8]

Looking to buy my first glass boat, I have looked at two Rangers both from the 80's that had stress cracks in the transom area. The cracks we're almost identical. Is this a  common thing for the "V" series boats?  Or is it common on all glass boats? I am now looking at 90's models after finding out about the wood in the floors on pre 1989 models. But those two boats were cherry condition except for the cracks. Any comments? Has anyone ever had a transom repaired? What were the costs? Just curious. 

[slonezp]

Is the transom cracked or is it spiderwebbing in the gel coat?

[Biglittle8]

48 minutes ago, slonezp said:

Is the transom cracked or is it spiderwebbing in the gel coat?

The gel coat is actually peeled or separated if you will. Not a perfect line, but irregular. I'll see if I can find a picture of it. I would call it a crack as it is through the finish.

[gim]

That's why they shouldn't be using wood in any components to build boats anymore.  I don't know if any of the manufacturers still are.

[TnRiver46]

Grab the lower unit with your hand and torque  around and wiggle it. If you see the transom flex don’t buy it or buy it with massive discount. There is no work like replacing a transom 

1 hour ago, gimruis said:

That's why they shouldn't be using wood in any components to build boats anymore.  I don't know if any of the manufacturers still are.

The whole world is made of wood, it’s how white men crossed the Atlantic! 

[gim]

5 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

The whole world is made of wood, it’s how white men crossed the Atlantic! 

 

Primitive materials in the modern era

[TnRiver46]

8 minutes ago, gimruis said:

 

Primitive materials in the modern era

Your walls and roof called, they said take that back 

[Jigfishn10]

I can come down @TnRiver46 and we can go repair it? It will be a good learning experience for me.

[Way2slow]

I don't think I've ever owned a used fiberglass boat that didn't have stress cracks in the corners of the splash well and transom.  My old 1989 285 Pro had actual cracks in the fiberglass in each corner, but I still ran a 325hp motor on it, and it was only rated for 175.  

You just need to make sure the wood is still strong.  There are three things you do to verify a transom.  

The first thing I do is trim the motor all the way out, then stand on the mid section near the anti-cav plate and bounce up and down on it.  The boat is going to be bouncing on the trailer, but the transom should have absolutely no movement.   If you are a feather weight, take along a 200l b plus friend.

The next thing I do is tighten the lower mounting bolts.  If they start pulling the washers down into the transom, it's junk  They should not be able to compress the transom.

The next thing I do is drill a couple of 3/16" holes on the inside in a few locations to examine the wood that comes out.  Should be light and dry.  Be sure to squeeze a little silicon into each hole to reseal it.  Also, be very careful not to drill all the way through, it's best to have a stop collier on the bit.  

Now, you might have to depend on the first two test if the owner won't let you drill holes but you also might want to walk away if he doesn't, it's not hurting anykkthing.

 

[WRB]

Ranger stopped making bass boats with wooden transom in 1987. Look at the boat serial #/ mfr date and give it another year to clear inventory, to be safe 1989 and later.

Tom

[NoShoes]

34 minutes ago, Way2slow said:

I don't think I've ever owned a used fiberglass boat that didn't have stress cracks in the corners of the splash well and transom.  My old 1989 285 Pro had actual cracks in the fiberglass in each corner, but I still ran a 325hp motor on it, and it was only rated for 175.  

You just need to make sure the wood is still strong.  There are three things you do to verify a transom.  

The first thing I do is trim the motor all the way out, then stand on the mid section near the anti-cav plate and bounce up and down on it.  The boat is going to be bouncing on the trailer, but the transom should have absolutely no movement.   If you are a feather weight, take along a 200l b plus friend.

The next thing I do is tighten the lower mounting bolts.  If they start pulling the washers down into the transom, it's junk  They should not be able to compress the transom.

The next thing I do is drill a couple of 3/16" holes on the inside in a few locations to examine the wood that comes out.  Should be light and dry.  Be sure to squeeze a little silicon into each hole to reseal it.  Also, be very careful not to drill all the way through, it's best to have a stop collier on the bit.  

Now, you might have to depend on the first two test if the owner won't let you drill holes but you also might want to walk away if he doesn't, it's not hurting anykkthing.

 

Ha you ain’t drilling holes in my boat unless you already paid for it. Shocked any one actually let you do so. 

[TnRiver46]

22 minutes ago, NoShoes said:

Ha you ain’t drilling holes in my boat unless you already paid for it. Shocked any one actually let you do so. 

It ain’t as bad as you think, I just drilled about 30 in one, some of them I used 1/2” drill bit. Floats like a cork, all dry 

[Way2slow]

I haven't kept up with this stuff for several years but the early composite were affected by water intrusion almost as bad as plywood. so being composite was not a guarantee you didn't have to worry about the transom being bad. 

[WRB]

Ranger boats well built in the 80’s were very stronge heavy boats. The issue with glassed over transom wood is dry rote.

If the transom is stronge and solid without dry rote it should good. 

[Biglittle8]

11 hours ago, Jigfishn10 said:

I can come down @TnRiver46 and we can go repair it? It will be a good learning experience for me.

Appreciate the offer but I passed on the boat. You can still come down and fish?

11 hours ago, Way2slow said:

I don't think I've ever owned a used fiberglass boat that didn't have stress cracks in the corners of the splash well and transom.  My old 1989 285 Pro had actual cracks in the fiberglass in each corner, but I still ran a 325hp motor on it, and it was only rated for 175.  

You just need to make sure the wood is still strong.  There are three things you do to verify a transom.  

The first thing I do is trim the motor all the way out, then stand on the mid section near the anti-cav plate and bounce up and down on it.  The boat is going to be bouncing on the trailer, but the transom should have absolutely no movement.   If you are a feather weight, take along a 200l b plus friend.

The next thing I do is tighten the lower mounting bolts.  If they start pulling the washers down into the transom, it's junk  They should not be able to compress the transom.

The next thing I do is drill a couple of 3/16" holes on the inside in a few locations to examine the wood that comes out.  Should be light and dry.  Be sure to squeeze a little silicon into each hole to reseal it.  Also, be very careful not to drill all the way through, it's best to have a stop collier on the bit.  

Now, you might have to depend on the first two test if the owner won't let you drill holes but you also might want to walk away if he doesn't, it's not hurting anykkthing.

 

Thank you for the reply, I've been a little worried about buying a piece of junk. I think I'll just have a marine mechanic check out whatever I decide on. I was really curious what the cost would be for the repair and if it would be worth it for the right price. 

[TnRiver46]

11 hours ago, Biglittle8 said:

Appreciate the offer but I passed on the boat. You can still come down and fish?

Thank you for the reply, I've been a little worried about buying a piece of junk. I think I'll just have a marine mechanic check out whatever I decide on. I was really curious what the cost would be for the repair and if it would be worth it for the right price. 

If you had to pay by the hour to replace a transom it would cost a million dollars. It’s best to have a buddy come over and just start  doing it. It’s not so much a specialized skill it just takes FOREVER . Patience and fiberglass skills would be your most important , the rest is pretty straight forward but exhausting. Also lifting a large engine would be tough, but not if you’ve got a friend with some kind of hoist/lift

[Way2slow]

There are two ways you can go about replacing it.  It just depends on the value of the boat and if you have any plans on getting rid of it any time soon.

 

The right and professional way is to take the cap off and go at from inside the boat so you can't tell it from OEM when done.   This can run several thousand dollars.

 

The other way is to take a chainsaw and start cutting straight down through the top to remove the bad material.  Then you can start stuffing the void with resin coated fiberglass mat or fabric, or a piece of composite that fit's the void.   This can run several hundred dollars but can ruin the resale value of the boat.

 

The thing is, with older boats, if the transom is bad, there is usually other bad areas in the floor, so just replacing the transom is just a Band-Aid if you go at it with a chain saw..  

 

One word of advise, if you take the cap off and the floor out, you had better know what you are doing or you will have a piece of junk.  The hull has to be firmly supported or it will twist and open up like a clam shell, making it almost impossible to put the cap back on and create one ill handling boat.

 

 

[GaryH]

22 hours ago, NoShoes said:

Ha you ain’t drilling holes in my boat unless you already paid for it. Shocked any one actually let you do so. 

 

You'd have a better chance of getting pregnant than drilling holes in my boat.....

[TnRiver46]

7 minutes ago, GaryH said:

 

You'd have a better chance of getting pregnant than drilling holes in my boat.....

Hahaha! Where’s your transducer?? Hopefully not in the pregnancy port 

[GaryH]

1 minute ago, TnRiver46 said:

Hahaha! Where’s your transducer?? Hopefully not in the pregnancy port 

 

Now that's funny.. Touche

[Way2slow]

You might get a big surprise if you do.   I've drilled a number of boats close to be very bottom of the transom and had water come out.   I drill my boats ever year or two.  (Actually, I just drill them once and put a 1/4" screw in them and take it out every year or so.) You never know when one of these holes on the outside for the motor mount or other things attached might start leaking and it's a whole lot better to catch it early than when it's totally gone.  

The only reason you need to seal the hole is just in case the boat gets flooded inside.

 

As I mentioned before, being composite is not a reason to think you don't have to worry about water.  Many have their own issues.  One biggie is it's not that strong if it's not bonded between fiber glass on both side and moisture can make it loose it's bond.

[TnRiver46]

10 minutes ago, Way2slow said:

You might get a big surprise if you do.   I've drilled a number of boats close to be very bottom of the transom and had water come out.   I drill my boats ever year or two.  You never know when one of these holes on the outside for the motor mount or other things attached might start leaking and it's a whole lot better to catch it early than when it's totally gone.  

 

As I mentioned before, being composite is not a reason to think you don't have to worry about water.  Many have their own issues.  One biggie is it's not that strong if it's not bonded between fiber glass on both side and moisture can make it loose it's bond.

Amen brother. I’ve only worked on smaller boats but wood is strong and if treated and installed properly lasts longer than a human being 

[detroit1]

You ran a 325hp motor on a boat rated for 175 ?    Brilliant.

[Way2slow]

I guess you would think running a 200 on a 15' ProCraft rated for a 85 was genius. Did that for a few years.  Even twin 135BHP racing motors on a 16' Allison for a while.

That was nothing compared to the day I was cruising at 65 in that 285 Pro when I had a jon boat blow by me like I had dropped anchor.  I nailed it and caught up with him, he was running just a touch over 78 on my gps.  I meet up with him at the ramp, he was testing his racing jon (looking like about 16') with a 3 cyl OMC cranking over 150hp, he wouldn't say just how much over.  It has a scream to it that made it sound like he was turning at least 10K.

It's not how much horse power you have and how fast you can run, it's knowing how and when to use it (and mainly when not).  I've been doing it since the late 60s when I had that Allison, so I do have a little experience.

[TnRiver46]

On 1/16/2021 at 4:14 PM, Way2slow said:

I guess you would think running a 200 on a 15' ProCraft rated for a 85 was genius. Did that for a few years.  Even twin 135BHP racing motors on a 16' Allison for a while.

That was nothing compared to the day I was cruising at 65 in that 285 Pro when I had a jon boat blow by me like I had dropped anchor.  I nailed it and caught up with him, he was running just a touch over 78 on my gps.  I meet up with him at the ramp, he was testing his racing jon (looking like about 16') with a 3 cyl OMC cranking over 150hp, he wouldn't say just how much over.  It has a scream to it that made it sound like he was turning at least 10K.

It's not how much horse power you have and how fast you can run, it's knowing how and when to use it (and mainly when not).  I've been doing it since the late 60s when I had that Allison, so I do have a little experience.

Allison boats are made pretty close to my house, some folks like to go fast!