New boater with transom rebuild/motor question

[broadwayc]

Hi everyone.

I am new to boating and I just bought a 1984 Fisher 16' jon boat. I believe its a marsh-hawk but I am not 100% sure because the previous owner painted it in camo. I made a big mistake and didn't check the transom out that well before I bought it...guess I was too excited about owning a boat and going fishing. The transom has been rebuilt with aluminum diamond plate and an aluminum jack plate welded on top of that. However, there is a monster Suzuki DT65HP motor strapped to the transom...way too much motor for the boat. After sitting in the boat on the trailer enjoying the feeling, I started looking hard at the transom and noticed a few cracks in the aluminum plate. Also, the transom brackets that are riveted to the bottom of the boat are broken where they attached to the transom. Basically those brackets are worthless because they aren't supporting the transom/motor weight. Luckily I know a welder who I took the boat to today and he said he could weld all the cracks and put in new transom brackets and weld them higher on the transom. This will only be a temporary remedy I think because of the torquing that will occur when trailering and under power.

Is it really worth spending the money to repair whats cracked? It will cost 100 bucks to just fix the cracks but probably around 300 to do it all, including the brackets.

Would it be better to trade someone for a 35 or 40 HP motor? I don't need the power but I don't know how easy a trade like that will be.

Would a transom-saver mounted to the trailer really help with the torquing issue?

Anybody want to trade my motor for a smaller one?

I know this may not be the right thread so if it's not just point me in the right direction.

Thanks,
Jake

 

[oops!]

Re: New boater with transom rebuild/motor question

hi jake.....welcome to i boats......

im not a tinny guy....but the motor you have is causing all the problems.....

thats waaaaaay too much hp and weight for a 14......the uscg rules at the top of the forum have the calculations for max hp.


if i were you id sell the big one....and buy a smaller one....that will give you lots of dollars in your pocket for whatever repairs the boat needs.

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: New boater with transom rebuild/motor question

a picture of the boat would help.

 

[broadwayc]

Re: New boater with transom rebuild/motor question

Thanks for the replies. I will try to post a picture or two of the boat/motor/transom when I get it back from the welder. Another question though, how much do you think a Suzuki DT65 in pretty good condition (minus the skeg) would be worth? Would I be able to trade down easily with a boat shop?

I wouldn't mind using someone on craigslist but I am a little wary of some of the stuff/people on there...no offense, I post there too. Do you think I could get a 35 or 40 without and still have a few bucks left? I'm not opposed to trading equally if the boat shop would put it on for me.

Thanks again,
Jake