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Posts: 292
| what is the best way to inspect the transom on an older boat?
chris |
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Posts: 551
Location: Columbus, Georgia | Looking very closely for stress cracks is the only things that comes to (my) mind. |
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Posts: 682
Location: Sycamore, IL | Trim up the motor and put all of your weight on it....if you see the transom flex it's a goner! Good luck...
Matt |
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Posts: 46
| I got so upset by rotten transoms when looking for mid to late 90's aluminum boats, went to go and look at 4 separate boats, all of them were rotten. If you do what these guys said it will be pretty obvious. There will be cracks in the aluminum where motor connects to transom and if you wiggle the motor up and down it will flex. Also if you can look under the floor in the back sometimes where the batteries and bilge would be, take a key or screw driver and poke the wood transom in the back. After the first bad transom when looking it was the first thing i did when first got to the aluminum boats, and 2 out of 4 i would take my truck key and it would go right into the wood like wet paper... I eventually switched to fiberglass bass type boats to elude this problem and have not regretted it.. YET |
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| Alot of glass boats have wooden transoms too. Even composite or glass transoms can be susceptible to water intrusion and deterioration..
A trick often discussed by bass boat guys is to check continuity between your stern eyes. With a simple ohm meter, clip to each trailer strap eye, or from one eye to a motor bolt and check for continuity. If you've got it, something is making that connection...likely water or moisture. That's usually bad. |
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Posts: 81
Location: Van Buren, Indiana | If you want to avoid rotten transoms altogether look at Lowe boats '04-current & Xpress boats. They are all welded and zero wood anywhere. I just sold my '04 Lowe 180 and it had a '05 150 Johnson on 6" jackplate and never a problem! I'm not sure if most guys know it but Xpress makes an awesome deep-v if you are in the market for that, and Lowe fishing machines are great rigs too! 
Edited by Ifishtolive 7/22/2011 4:06 PM
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Posts: 78
| Any other boats out there that are woodless? |
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| I believe Triton's are wood free. |
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Posts: 32934
Location: Rhinelander, Wisconsin | Most FRP boats have no structural wood since, depending on the process used, 2004 to 2006. |
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| Frp? |
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Posts: 32934
Location: Rhinelander, Wisconsin | Fiber Reinforced Plastic, aka fiberglass. It isn't glass in any sense, it's plastic. |
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buying a boat .