Questionable Transom - seeking advice before purchase!

S.Duncan

Hey folks!

I'm looking at purchasing a 22' Angler in the coming weeks, but I'm worried about the integrity of the transom after seeing some photos and talking to the seller. Being that I am a 20 hour drive away, I'm hoping some more experienced people would be able to give their two cents on the topic. I have fibreglassing/boat building experience, and the tools and and materials needed to take on a repair, but I'm wondering if there is a way to determine the extent of the damage (ie. full transom replacement vs. reinforcement) somewhat before spending two days driving down to see it.

Problem area is under black tape on top of port side of transom, and possible around port side bolt attaching motor to transom.

Any opinions are welcome!

I believe this same boat was for sale in 2016 as I saw a thread relating to figuring out a price for it, but the thread ended without knowing if the purchase was made.

What do you guys think?

ssobol · Posted: Thu Oct 06, 2022 4:49 pm Post subject:

How do you know there is a problem. The pictures provided don't show any issues that I can see. There are some places that should be closely checked though.

S.Duncan · Posted: Thu Oct 06, 2022 5:23 pm Post subject:

Seller said that when installing the outboard, a bolt was overtightened and cracked the transom. Solution was the black duct tape over the crack to prevent water ingress. A closer look at the photo shows what appears to be a separation line on the top of the transom, behind the black tape as well.

I imagine she has a bit of water in her core back there..

pcg · Posted: Thu Oct 06, 2022 5:44 pm Post subject:

I can't tell you if your transom has water damage or not, but I can give you some perspective on what you're looking at...

thataway · Posted: Thu Oct 06, 2022 9:26 pm Post subject:

clayhubler · Posted: Fri Oct 07, 2022 1:23 am Post subject:

I would err on the side of caution with that boat. My boat is newer and of differing construction, but if you look in my album you will see I had to replace about a third of the core in the back of the boat. When I started the project, I thought it was just going to be a preventative maintenance job to fix the notorious gas tank problem. There really weren't any indicators that there was a serious problem with water intrusion, as in no soft spots.

If you have the skills to fix it, this could be a good opportunity. Call me a pessimist, but I would assume the worst.

It has OR registration, where is it at? I really dont have time to go look at it, but if it is really close I might be able to swing by. I should add that I am not a professional surveyor.

S.Duncan · Posted: Sat Oct 08, 2022 2:26 pm Post subject:

Thank you guys for your input and comments. I looked through your albums and the photos are great to get an idea of what I might be getting myself into. Here are a few more photos of the transom that I requested from the seller. I'm still not totally sure as to what is happening, is it just the glass delaminating from the core?

I think I have to go into this purchase assuming that I will need to do some core replacement in the transom, does that seem like a reasonable expectation? Or if one did the full weight hang off the lower unit, didn't feel flex, poked around and didn't feel a bunch of soft spots etc, then could conceivably just sand/grind down and glass over and reinforce the transom? I would want it structurally very sound as I would be looking at repowering with a 90 or 115 for up in Rupert.

The boat is located in Rosburg WA, I am planning on driving down on Wednesday Oct.12th to look at it, but if I can find a surveyor last minute to check it out before I go - or a very generous C-brat! - then that could save me a long drive if I get a thumbs down!

clayhubler · Posted: Sat Oct 08, 2022 2:57 pm Post subject:

Sorry, roseburg is too far for me.

I dont know too much about the plywood cored boats, which I believe this is.

Personally, I would take a pinless moisture meter down there and check for areas of relative wet core. I suspect you will find some and may be able to use that to your advantage. Sucks it's so far

starcrafttom · Posted: Sat Oct 08, 2022 4:47 pm Post subject:

So the questions is how much damaged has occurred. As high as the pixel count is on phones and screens these days there is no way to tell unless you go there. Take a ball ping hammer with you and a moisture meter if you have or can lay hands on one. Hammer works better any how.

If I was going to make a deal on it via pictures I would just take it for granted that the wood core in the stern has to be replaced. Just take it for worse case and price from there. I would pull the motor and the cap and get to digging. Also drill a grid of small holes thru out the entire transom. every 6 inches unless you find rot then ever inch until you stop finding it.

Once you know the damage you can plan repair. everything else is guessing. Swallow the pill or walk is my advice. I dont know the price but it would have to be fairly low for me to take it on.

ssobol · Posted: Sat Oct 08, 2022 4:52 pm Post subject:

Can't really tell until you look under the cap where it is separating, but it looks superficial IMO. Looks like whomever capped the transom edge did not wrap it around to the sides, just laid it on top.

Clearly it looks like the transom has been around a bit and had some work done over the years. The area around the motor bolt in the picture shows holes that have been filled with epoxy.

I would take an Xacto knife or something similar and slide it the gaps and see if you can get a sample of the core or tell if it is solid or not. Tap test on the transom faces it those areas may give an indication of the condition.

thataway · Posted: Sat Oct 08, 2022 11:15 pm Post subject:

Not entirely sure what hammer Tom is suggesting. I personally will not use a steel hammer on anyone's boat (Ball Peen hammer). But I do use a very light mallet which has rubber on one side and the other side has a phenolic plastic. I find that the phenolic handle of a screwdriver works as well to sound out for delimitation, or hollow sound, Tap out the entire transom.

Do the weight on the lower unit. The boat would not be that hard to replace the transom, and make a good splash well at the same time.
Keep all of us in the loop...

Boater Rob · Posted: Sun Oct 09, 2022 12:09 am Post subject:

I am not sure what year they had plywood or balsa core. We have a 1994 that is balsa core. Ours had a crack at the top of the transom which looks like that one has. If you take a pin type moisture meter and work out getting both pins on two existing screws this will let you know if you have moisture in there or not. Ours had moisture in it and we (our fiberglass guy) took the top off the transom and removed the rotted wood and dried it out really good. We then took fiberglass cloth and wet it out and filled the transom then filled it with epoxy. Very strong now and we can mount anything and know that it will not let moisture in. There was a little bit of moisture that got into the floor and I drilled some holes and dried that area out and filled it with epoxy.
Hope it goes well and if you go it is worth the trip.

Rob

Karl Konecny · Posted: Sun Oct 09, 2022 12:12 pm Post subject:

I live near Roseburg OR, I could check out the boat on Monday (tomorrow). I'm no expert on core rot but could give it a good look over and tap test. You have received great advice.

NORO LIM · Posted: Sun Oct 09, 2022 12:36 pm Post subject:

Karl Konecny · Posted: Sun Oct 09, 2022 1:57 pm Post subject:

Oops! I saw that, had not heard of Rosburg WA, saw the Oregon plates and boat registration so assumed Roseburg OR . . .