Transom Cracks

[Jim Bell]

Although I tried to keep the heat off and humidity up in my workshop the transom has cracked open in several areas. Not sure what to do here. Fixable or should I replace the transom planks? Ideas?

[robertpaul]

What does the inside look like? I think you may want to make sure there are no underlying issues before deciding on a course of action. I would also check the ends of the plank for decay. My inclination would be to carefully remove the plugs and fasteners and pop the plank off. You may be able to fix it, re-install and get another 10 years out of it. Looks to be above the waterline.

[Doug P]

Jim
Is that the outline of a swim step....if so I suspect that the bracket did not allow proper swelling and shrinkage. I would just hang a wet towel over the area for a week and see what happens.

[Jim Bell]

What does the inside look like? I think you may want to make sure there are no underlying issues before deciding on a course of action. I would also check the ends of the plank for decay. My inclination would be to carefully remove the plugs and fasteners and pop the plank off. You may be able to fix it, re-install and get another 10 years out of it. Looks to be above the waterline.

The cracks are visible on the inside too. All the inside frames are solid. The top plank has a piece I will replace at one end that was due to a deck leak. otherwise good.

[Jim Bell]

Jim
Is that the outline of a swim step....if so I suspect that the bracket did not allow proper swelling and shrinkage. I would just hang a wet towel over the area for a week and see what happens.

Doug, that was from an outboard kicker bracket that was probably bolted to the transom for, I suspect, most of the boats life. The crack opened soon after I removed it and stripped the transom. I have tried to apply moisture to the transom for months. Draped plastic to the floor with water buckets and a large piece of carpet that I kept wetting down. No luck. I think most of the shrinkage may be for good. I was debating weather or not to fill the cracks prior to proceeding with the finishing process. Being, #573 Interlux CC sealer stain followed with CPES and several coats of varnish. Whatever I used to fill would need to be in keeping with the finishing plan. Thanks for your responses.

[Doug P]

IMHO, Personally. I would swell it up, wait a few days and use Dolphinite. restain, sealer and varnish.....Why the CPES?

[Jim Bell]

IMHO, Personally. I would swell it up, wait a few days and use Dolphinite. restain, sealer and varnish.....Why the CPES?

Dolfinite? a bedding compound? We do not sell this product in Canada. I have tried to swell up the wood with moisture. Believe me, I wish. The CPES is the wood sealer but goes on after the stain so that it soaks into the bare wood. (DD advice).

[boat_art]

I suggest new planking, in fact all new planking.

[Doug P]

Am not a big believer in using epoxy on planks, as you cannot saturate all areas
In reality, I only use CPES for some specific situations where it's features are taken advantage of and it is an ideal product for such use, like over ply.

Be damn careful using it.....get a good mask and use it during a hurricane

[steve bunda]

I also would replace the plank, not really that hard of job . Will give piece of mind in the future and removal of the plank will allow you to see if the rest of the transom framing is in good order. Once you have removed the plank , you might want to remove and rebed the lower transom plank. Just insurance, steve

[jfrprops]

Boatlife Caulk and maybe even an inside batten bedded in same???

That is a no big deal looking situation to me.

Sure replacing the plank would be best....but Pandora's Box is made of wood....

John in Va.

[Jim Bell]

Am not a big believer in using epoxy on planks, as you cannot saturate all areas
In reality, I only use CPES for some specific situations where it's features are taken advantage of and it is an ideal product for such use, like over ply.

Be damn careful using it.....get a good mask and use it during a hurricane

Thanks Doug. I hear you. I would not use West system, for example, to wet out planks but I think we all agree CPES is a different animal with wood resins allowing the treated wood to breath. Encapsulating is not necessary. The planks on my Sea Skiff are plywood. And yes, a full blown respirator is an absolute must.

[Jim Bell]

I suggest new planking, in fact all new planking.

This is the option that may well be the way to go here. I want to avoid the woulda, coulda, shoulda. Time and money, Time and money.

[jim g]

From the picture it looks like a sea skiff transom. The transoms are glued up on edge like a table top out of wood around 1 inch thick. Thus making a solid one piece transom. Due to this and a long time in a humid environment when they shrink they crack just like yours. The long crack along the bottom and the splits up higher.

I have repaired 5 or 6 of these from an 18 to 27 footers. First route out the long crack at the bottom of the transom. Usually with a 1/4 inch bit but it depends on the width of the crack. You want the bit to cut into the top and bottom pieces of wood. Epoxy a spline in the slot. Then from the inside of the transom fill in the rest of the crack with epoxy and put a plate on it. A piece of wood about the size of a plank batten works good. 1 1/2" X 1/2" . You will never know its be repaired as this split is usually in the bottom paint area.

For the upper splits I mix up some epoxy and thicken it so it doesn't run or sag. Then I add graphite to it to make it black and fill the cracks with it. Once stained and varnished the repair is not very noticeable. Most people don't notice it.

The first ones I used Boat Life chalk then the next one I used 5200. Both squeezed out some after boat went back in the water. I had to trim the chalking sand and varnish the transom.

Doing it with the epoxy eliminates that problem.

I also use sandusky's CC mahogany stain as its a little darker and a closer match to the original CC stain color.

The last one I did like this was about 5 years ago. Its a twin 283 engine open sea skiff that gets a lot of use. It has held up with no further cracking.

Something else you can try instead of the graphite powder that makes the epoxy black is tempera powdered paint. The tech's at west system epoxy told me you can mix it in the epoxy to color it.

http://www.ssww.com/item/powder-tempera ... PT299/p=1/

I used it a couple of years ago to repair a spot on a thick rounded covering board that had been crushed. I used a couple of different colors to get a match to the stain color and filled in the crushed spot with it. It came out well and has held up very well.

I would think hard about repairing the transom before you go to remove it. since in a sea skiff its 5200 to the planking and its not a fun job to do. If there is no rot in the splits I would repair it. If you decide to remove the transom you need to brace the back of the boat well inside and out. As the transom holds the shape of the hull. More so then a planked boat. As the sea skiff is all steam bent frames.

Hope this makes sense.

[Doug P]

Jim
Good info

[joanroy]

I agree with Jim G. If the planks aren't rotted and fastening is good a Dutchman or spline with epoxy should be fine. Replacing the whole transom is a huge job. I did the bottom two planks on my 36 because I could put my finger thru it. If it had just been cracked I would have filled it. If it ain't rotted, don't replace it!

[Jim Bell]

Thanks Jim, Yes, a 1965 24' CC Sea Skiff. Your comments are options I considered before. The idea of adding graphite to the epoxy solves the color issue. I like the idea of a more permanent fix rather than coming back when the crack squeezes out the filler. Applying a batten on the inside was also a consideration. (including the upper crack). The 1/4" opening below the waterline was filled with, I am guessing, 5200 and thought it provided for expansion. Your router/spline suggestion was something I also considered but was unsure if this was the way to go. Sounds like I will include this in my fix. T hanks for your input.

[RRGadow]

If your not going to replace...I would spline it with mahogany, filling it with epoxy is asking for it to split even more if it swells at all for any reason. It would take a day to replace the plank, a half a day to spline it...then varnish.

I definitely wouldn't put dolphinite in it, as you don't want to varnish over it. Bedding compound is not made to harden up.

[kleiner]

I repaired splits in my Sea Skiff transom with dutchmen and epoxy. I routed half the depth of the transom panel. If you go this route, I would suggest wood flour (sifted sanding dust) as a better filler to thicken epoxy for gluing than graphite - it also matches much better if you have small defects to fill. I have one large and three small dutchmen, and several nail holes filled with wood flour-thickened epoxy. These repairs blend in very well and are now part of the boat's character.

- Kevin

[robertpaul]

I concur with the repair in place recommendation if all else is fine. An epoxied in spline will last a long time and save a ton of time and effort. It will be strong as well.

Nice work Kevin. Very nice.

[jim g]

That looks nice Kevin.

Just to clarify on what I wrote up.

The epoxy needs to be thickened with the correct fillers. I use West System therefore I use their fillers. Mainly 403 and 406. I added graphite for color. It should never be used to thicken epoxy just to color it. The same goes for the tempera powdered paints. To color the already thicken epoxy.

Hope this explains what I wrote better.

One other choice you could do after repairing the splits would be to epoxy or 5200 new 3/8 to 1/2 inch planks to the outside of the old transom. Which would give you a nice new looking transom and giving more strength to the old transom wood.

Also I'm having to replace a transom on a 15' Lyman outboard that a bigger motor was put on without adding bracing to the transom. It had been replaced in the past and was 5200 on. Its taken about an hour to get the screws out and almost 2 days to get the transom removed from the boat without doing to much damage to the planking and having enough of the transom left for a pattern. Think of how long a much bigger transom will take compared to a little outboard one.

[joanroy]

I love a finely executed Dutchman . Nice work. You kept it original. Much more interesting than a bunch of new planks. Always better to repair than to replace.

[Jim Bell]

Thanks for your input Kevin. I thought I was into full replacement here. After seeing your Dutchman method on the crack of your project I am encouraged to go this route. What type if clamp are you using in the smaller Dutchman? Never seen this flush mounting clamp before.

[boat_art]

Nice work, I have done it both ways on many Sea Skiffs and I find full replacement not that much more difficult. My concern is that if this plank has failed, the odds are high that the others are about to.

[steve bunda]

Good repair tips by all, but since the picture of the transom shows that it has been sanded prior to a determination of an repair for the crack. I wonder if the fasteners are loose? sanding takes away any indication of proud bungs or varnish peeling. Thus I prefer error the side on caution and refasten the plank and complete transom, so once you have the damaged plank in hand , it is no more work to replace with new and bed all. thanks,steve

[jim g]

Good repair tips by all, but since the picture of the transom shows that it has been sanded prior to a determination of an repair for the crack. I wonder if the fasteners are loose? sanding takes away any indication of proud bungs or varnish peeling. Thus I prefer error the side on caution and refasten the plank and complete transom, so once you have the damaged plank in hand , it is no more work to replace with new and bed all. thanks,steve

The transom is on a sea skiff. As I explained in my earlier post the planks which are around 1 inch are edge glued. There are no bungs in the transom. The whole transom is basically one piece. You can not just remove one plank. You have to remove the whole transom.

[Doug P]

Ideal Transom
No cracks
No bungs
No screws
No shrinkage
No problems

[Jim Bell]

Ideal Transom
No cracks
No bungs
No screws
No shrinkage
No problems

Nice,

[Jim Bell]

Right you are Jim. The only bungs I see are on the ends. Although I will be using bungs on the unfilled holes from the old kicker mount.

Thanks to everyone for your expertise. That is what the Buzz is ALL about. I am sure some of you will get my drift.

[boat_art]

Thats right about the 'one piece' transom, but replacement here is the only way to go. A large rigid piece of epoxied new wood in the middle of 50 year old wood would create some strange stresses indeed. From the first pic I dont see a crack, I see a catastrophic failure. I also see where the edge gluing has failed on the bottom plank, it suggests that all of the edge glue will fail soon.