Boat Foam w/ pictures...Problem???? Project Boat

[Sdad]

I have posted some pictures of the transom area of my project boat. It's a 1989 basstracker pro 17. I have recently repaired some leaking rivets. Before I fixed the rivets the boat would take on about an inch of water in the transom, that had to be pumped out with the bilge.
My question now is if the foam is too saturated to recover or if I need to pull it out and replace. I have felt the foam in a couple places near the back of the boat. In the pics it shows the foam that sits closest to the floor of the transom. There seems to be pieces of foam inserted on both sides of the transom area near the floor. they are below the aluminum casing of each side. You can see it peeking out from behind the bilge pump hose. These foam pieces on each side seem to be saturated and constantly wet, in fact I can feel water that sits below the faom and doesn't drain to the middle of the boat???? I can lift these two pieces and they seem to be small pieces about 2x1 ft. below the casing. There is also foam that I can feel above these pieces that are raised off the floor and these do not seem to be wet. I can also feel foam under the floor to the front of the transom area that does not seem to be wet either.

I have posted a couple pieces of a chunk of foam that I pulled off the two small saturated pieces.

My question is this:
Is it worth pulling the back of the boat apart to replace these two pieces of foam, would it be enough to affect floatation of the boat?
How can I get the water to drain to the middle of the transom to try and get the area dry?
Is this normal in any aluminum boat towards the transom to have this moisture?

This boat is the basstracker pro 17, so it is a modified v hull, so almost like a jon boat.

To help me determine if the foam is causing the boat to sit lower in the water than it should.....Where should the boat sit in relation to the side ribs (don't know the term) that splash the water away from the boat when driving on the boat, so I can look next time it is in the water and see if it is too low?

 

[Sdad]

Re: Boat Foam w/ pictures...Problem???? Project Boat

Ooops the first two pics came out sideways

 

[5150abf]

Re: Boat Foam w/ pictures...Problem???? Project Boat

Can you wring it out like a sponge dipped in water, if not it is probably okay, I rep[laced my foam but it wassaturated clear through.

I think I pulled 300+ lbs of it out, yours I think is just a little wet and should be okay but hard to tell from pics.

Raise the front of the boat as much as possible for 2-3 days and see if it will quit dripping, if the foam is wet enough to replace it will never stop seeping water.

 

[Sdad]

Re: Boat Foam w/ pictures...Problem???? Project Boat

I can't wring it like a sponge, it is still brittle enough to break off. The front of the boat is raised, but there still always seems to be water that gets caught in the sides of the transom area, directly underneath this foam.

 

[oops!]

Re: Boat Foam w/ pictures...Problem???? Project Boat

its a tinny.....if its wet...it comes out.....then check for leaks while the foam is out.
repair holes/rivets.replace foam.

wet foam will never dry out....if it does, the second it comes in contact with water it will suck it up like a sponge.
wet foam is heavy, and it will adversly reacton the oerformance of the boat.

some guys are replacing the foam with the rigid insulating foam panels

 

[Sdad]

Re: Boat Foam w/ pictures...Problem???? Project Boat

I guess to really be sure, I might have to make this a winter project. But, if I decide not to, what would be the main performance issue, etc....that would tell me I "must" replace the foam? Because as of right now the boat still floats and get me out fishing.

The reason i am hesitant to start ripping this thing apart is everything in this boat is aluminum....floors etc... so It is all riveted to sides of hull etc. Looks like a nightmare to take apart.

So I would like to put it off as long as possible, without the wet foam causing further issues or getting worse.

Guess I'm getting a couple different answers here also....if it doesn't wring out like a sponge it's fine???? or if its wet it comes out???

Thanks for the replies

 

[ezmobee]

Re: Boat Foam w/ pictures...Problem???? Project Boat

Wet foam is particularly troublesome in an aluminum hull as the trapped water can cause corrosion.

 

[zopperman]

Re: Boat Foam w/ pictures...Problem???? Project Boat

I know nothing about tinnies, so take this with a grain of salt. What I know about alum. is that it won't rust if it can breath. If you can get enough foam out without ripping apart the boat that it can have enough room to let oxygen in, would that be enough?

If it were me, the wet stuff would go... fiberglass or alum...

 

[oops!]

Re: Boat Foam w/ pictures...Problem???? Project Boat

look......

this is simple bud....

first off......its a tinny.......simple as pie....hardly any work like grinding and glassing.....just a floor....some foam ....and a hull.

if the foam is wet....it must come out. period.

the deck is screwed to the stringers.......remove the deck and start ripping out the foam.....(less than one day)

once the foam is out.......find the leak by taking the boat to the launch. ....find leaks.

either have them welded.....pound rivets.....epoxy and glass over them........what ever....just get them stopped.

then......use the rigid foam panels.....pool noodles.....or the pour in foam.......whatever.......

then replace the deck........

go fishing.

i re did a thunderjet 22 footer in less than 2 days.....(our welcer kept burning holes in the aluminimum so the welding took a while to sort out. but including gas tank removal...replacement....foam.....re plumb the heater.....tie off all lines so they dont move.......epoxy over the welds (just to make sure) then re assemble......
my time.....16 hours. done.....i took it for a final leak down test......then the boat hit the sales lot......gone

this is not hard at all......very simple.

 

[Grandad]

Re: Boat Foam w/ pictures...Problem???? Project Boat

The reason i am hesitant to start ripping this thing apart is everything in this boat is aluminum....floors etc... so It is all riveted to sides of hull etc. Looks like a nightmare to take apart.

So I would like to put it off as long as possible, without the wet foam causing further issues or getting worse.

Guess I'm getting a couple different answers here also....if it doesn't wring out like a sponge it's fine???? or if its wet it comes out???

Thanks for the replies

Unless the foam got wet because the boat sunk, it's gonna get wet again even if you get it dried over the winter. If your transom is wood reinforced as most are, delaying the inevitable repair means that you'll also need to replace rotted wood some time in the future. To avoid a much bigger job replacing structural wood, I'd take apart only as much as necessary to get the foam out and seal where the water is coming in (eg - top of transom?) ASAP. Replacing the foam with foamboard that does not suck up and hold water would be a good investment. Do it for peace of mind. - Grandad

 

[BRICH1260]

Re: Boat Foam w/ pictures...Problem???? Project Boat

I think before I started tearing it up too much, I would try to fix the leak source and weight the boat somehow. If the weight is near factory specs then assume that the foam is not too bad. All the time, keep the boat dry and covered and allow what water in there to work its way out.

Ultimately is depends on what you want to do with the boat. If you just plan to fish a few times a year, as long as you fix the leaks, it should be fine.