Couple hull questions

[Ski213]

Two part question. 

 

1.Wanted some thoughts on this. I pulled the tank on my Stratos 201. The picture is the floor under the tank. It looks like water just kind of sheet drains across the floor in the “cockpit” area then under the tank and then into the bilge. The holes I circled are where they drilled the floor to pour the foam. The carpet that is rolled back extends about halfway under the tank when everything is installed, it’s a sandwiched between the tank and the floor. Moisture is basically trapped under the tank. The boat has been mostly dry for weeks and the carpet and the raw floor were soaking wet when the tank was removed. The foam where it can be accessed in the holes is saturated. I drilled a couple test holes a few inches from the existing ones, that foam seems to be dry. 

 

My thoughts were to remove as much wet foam as possible through the holes. Was going to then let it sit with the tank out for some time to see if what I can’t get out might dry. Once dry (if it does) I thought maybe I could fill where removed with new foam and then seal the holes up to avoid future water intrusion. I suppose I would use cheap spray foam rather than the two part closed cell foam. Bad idea?  I appreciate any input on this. 

 

2   The second pic is one of the top jack plate bolts inside the splashwell. It has been in that condition since I bought the boat. Has always bothered me. As you can see the washer is somewhat crushing the transom. I assume that’s a product of over tightening. I’ve been meaning to put one of those aluminum plates that both mounting bolts go through that somewhat distributes the load on the transom. If I do that though I’ll have that void at the bolt locations behind the aluminum plate. It seems like that would be a poor idea. Was thinking that dished out spot in the glass would need to be addressed before installing the plate. It hasn’t created any issues but it’s been on my to do list for a long time. Thoughts on that also much appreciated. 

[Way2slow]

I doubt you want to hear my thoughts on this but I will say what I think.  I don't think the plate across the top of the transom is OEM.  I have a feeling if you took it off, it will just be covering where someone cut out the top of the transom to get access to do some sort of repair,  Hopefully a good repair, but with those bolts pulled in like that, I'm not too sure.  I think there's a good chance someone had tried to dig out what they could and pour some of that repair compound in.

I don't know when Stratos went to closed cell foam, but closed cell is only supposed the get saturated near the surface, and if left open, it may dry.  If it's open cell, forget it, it would take forever to dry if It dried at all.  I pulled almost 300 pounds out of the Stratos 285 Pro, and went back with closed cell.  On that boat, the floor drain dumped right on top of the foam.  They put a black sealer on top but it cracked all over the place.  When I went back in with the floor, I put a PVC drain pipe in all the way to the bilge sump to prevent that crap.  Wet foam is not good, it adds a lot of weight, and rots any wood that's touching it.  That Great Stuff spray foam won't work.  Large amounts of it can't get enough air to dry, makes a mess and have very poor expansion.  I would strongly recommend using the two part floatation foam.   

Looking at your picks again, I'm not too sure that's not an aftermarket repair.  They normally put the foam in before the caps goes on and don't need to drill access holes.  I've never worked on a 201, but the 185 and 195 Pro's I've done didn't have the access holes in any place.  The foam went in before the cap went on.

[Chris Catignani]

May be worth a call to Stratos...

I would just remove the carpet and seal the holes.

[WRB]

Stratos boats has been out of business for serval years.

BPS was the last buyer and closed the brand in 2017.

Tom

[Bolar]

1.  For as much foam as you may get out of those holes, I wouldn't worry too much about replacing it.  I would seal the holes.  As for the rest, if you put it back the way it was you still will run into the same problem of rot as you have now. 

 

Can you raise the tank 1/2-1"?  That may help with some air flow under the tank to help it all dry.  Maybe clean the deck really good and put a sealer down.

 

2.  You won't know whats going on behind that bolt until you pull it.  If it hasn't moved for years and years you might leave well enough alone. 

[Chris Catignani]

1 hour ago, WRB said:

Stratos boats has been out of business for serval years.

BPS was the last buyer and closed the brand in 2017.

Tom

I totally did not read the page...

Quote

After more than 30 years in the market and several changes in ownership, production of new Stratos boats has been halted as White River Marine Group focuses its resources on a consolidated group of high-demand performance fishing boat brands. White River Marine Group stands behind Stratos boats in operation with warranty, parts and service support. You may reach support for Stratos boats by either calling (870) 453-2222 or sending an email to info@stratosboats.com

 

[Way2slow]

Quote

 

Yes, they have been out of production for several years but WRMG still offered parts and service information on them for a long time after they stopped production and according to their web site, they still do,  Now, it's been at least five years since I've contacted them, so that may be bogus info now. 

C&O Marine did almost all their warranty work and they used to buy up excess and old inventory from most manufactures, so they used to be the best source for parts and info.  Again, been out of this stuff for a while now so that may have changed also. 

[Ski213]

Thanks all. 
 

@Way2slow I always appreciate your thoughts even if they’re not what I want to hear.
 

The floor holes could be a repair. I know most of the boats history but not the first five years of it. I’m fairly certain it’s closed cell foam but I’m no expert at telling the difference. I’ll dig out what I can and see what happens. Hopefully I can get what is wet out and if not see if what’s left will dry. If it won’t then I’ll have to back up and punt. @Bolar I don’t think I can get an inch. Thought about cutting some strips of 1/4” thick hard rubber to raise it at least a little. Only concern I had there was would there be a chance of cracking the tank when the boat is getting beat since it creates the smaller contact area for the weight of the tank. May be not a problem at all though. 
 

I’m not positive, but I think that angle on the transom is factory. I ran down a for sale ad for a 201 that had a pic showing the splash well. It looked to have that same piece. I’ve actually had it off before when the ob was off to reseal the mounting bolts. I’m not sure why I didn’t look closer into the transom dimples then. From what I remember we had an issue with the skidsteer and I had limited time with it off the boat. From memory that plate hides the joint where the top cap meets the top of the transom. There may be a repair there though. I’ll probably pull it and give it a better look. If all is good, which my luck it won’t be, what is the best way to address those dimples in the splashwell?

 

I may try to reach out to wrmg and or C&O. It’s been about a year but last I had contact with C&O they were still a good source of parts. 

 

Thanks again everybody. 

[WRB]

I am not that familiar with Stratos boats to offer an opinion.

The bolt and large washer and metal plate isn’t factory on any boat I know,  someone added them.

This is usually a dry rot repair if the transom was glassed over wood. 1999 model that shouldn’t be an issue. More then likely wet foam repair. Fiberglass alone can’t withstand high forces over time without creeping. You might be able to add metal stand off tube inside the transom to prevent the fiberglass from creeping. Adding a 1/2 thick aluminum plate to pick up all the engine mounting bolts will increase the square inch surface to reduce the single point load.

Any ain’t flow is better then none, 1/8” may help. Sealing the gas tank surface to prevent moisture is another and safer option.

Good luck,

Tom

 

[@reelChris]

Try the easiest fix first - just seal the edges of the tank once its remounted.  If that doesn't work, or you're determined to raise it, instead of rubber, I would raise the tank with thick wall aluminum square tube mounted parallel to the direction of travel of the boat.  This would allow the water to flow back into the transom.  However, the exposed foam would have to be well sealed in, maybe glassed over if possible.

[Ski213]

Thanks Tom. When you say stand-off tube are you talking about basically sleeving the holes in the transom?  
 

My understanding is that this is 100% composite hull. I can’t swear to that being accurate though. It’s around the latter transition years for Stratos as far as going all composite. 
 

Any recommendations for sealing under the tank?  After thinking about Keith talking about the 185s and 95s he’s done not having the holes I started checking for other holes where they might’ve poured foam on mine. I found a few. Looked like they had brushed something like 4200 over them whether part of a repair or original I can’t say.  The brush marks were actually how I found the other holes. 
 

 

[Way2slow]

Sounds like that plate is factory then.  The 201 was their top of the line boat then so it had a lot of features the lesser boats didn't have.  As one other post stated, I doubt you will get very much out of the holes.  That foam is pretty tough and hard to did out.   I would think yours would have the closed cell, being a late 90's model.  I don't think they went to composite that early though.  I thought it was more in the early 2000's and they put a small composite label at the rear on each side, but like I said, the only 201's I've messed with were a couple I did for friends so they could run close to 80mph and the bulk of that work was at the back of the boat.  So, I might be totally wet on anything I've mentioned about yours.  I would try to see how big of an area has wet foam and if it's just surface water or if it's totally saturated.  If saturated, I would be cutting me a large enough section of the plywood out to gain access to remove.  Just remember, that plywood is sitting on top of a couple of stringers. so you dang sure don't want to be cutting any deeper than the thickness of the plywood if that comes to be.  Where that's located, it would be easy enough to patch back in and glass over it without having to get into any of the visible stuff.   However, hopefully it is closed cell foam and is not wet more than a 1/2 inch or so.

[Ski213]

Thanks for all the advice. Here’s to hoping it’s closed cell. I’ll enlarge one of those holes to get a better idea of the extent it’s saturated. The floor itself is still solid, hopefully that’s a good sign. I appreciate the help!