Tri-Hull transom repair dilemma

[870 Expressmag]

ok heres my story,problem, and dilemma. My uncle whom i fished with a lot passed away in april. right before he passed away he told my aunt he wanted me to have his boat as i would be the one that would appreciate it. i live in southeast MI and they are in the U.P so i drove to the U.P.and trailered the boat home. it's a 15ft tri-hull, with a 70hp mercury 700 on it. according to the title it says 1975 sportcraft fiberglass SCR01055M74L. I have fished many times in this boat and never paid much attention to anything as i never figured i would own it someday. i do remember him telling me he patched some fiberglass on it where the previous owner had skinned up the bottom in a river. he always did repairs himself, not always the most glamorous repairs but they always worked. well we have taken the boat out probably 6-8 times since i brought it home in july. no problems whatsoever. however last time i pulled it out of the water and pulled the drain plug i got a lot of water, and noticed water coming from alongside a patch on the transom under the motor. so i started investigating and noticed some not so pleasant things. it appears as though the transom got soft and instead of fixing it, someone(dont know if it was uncle or previous owner) added plates toinside and outside of transom to stiffen it. i noticed some fiberglass cracking and i am not sure if the transom is supposed to be straight in the back or if it's supposed to have the indentation that it has where the motor sits. so heres my dilemma, i dont have a ton of money but i am a mechanic by trade and fairly handy and not afraid of tackling a project, so i dont want to spend tons on a professional doing it. i dont want to get rid of it for two reasons, one my uncle gave it to me, second my aunt would be devastated. so heres the pics,looking for advice, direction, etc. also i cant read the data plate anymore so i cant tell what motor is recommended, is the 70hp just right? or to big?

 

[870 Expressmag]

Re: Tri-Hull transom repair dilemma

 

[greenbush future]

Re: Tri-Hull transom repair dilemma

Transom sure looks like the typical band aid situation, not safe by any means. If that's rotted, I will guess you have some soft floors and perhaps stringer decay too. You wont know until you open her up and take some core samples, older boats like this can put you in a tough position because to replace all of that, will cost a fair amount of cash, even doing it yourself. If you're lucky and just need a transom replaced, it will still require a fair amount of effort and cash.

 

[870 Expressmag]

Re: Tri-Hull transom repair dilemma

i will get the motor off this winter and take a look. the floor isnt soft, but it looks as though he put a new floor in it, which doesnt mean anything for the stringers. i'm just wondering my best course of action, i dont want to get to far in to it where it becomes a losing situation, but i am willing to go at it for the sentimental value. just hope it's not to horrible

 

[chconger]

Re: Tri-Hull transom repair dilemma

Pretty safe bet the transom is rotted and more as GB says.

You can go as slow as you want on the restoration, and spread the costs out over time so the pain is not so acute, if felt at all. Keep your Aunt happy with progress reports.

Chris

 

[870 Expressmag]

Re: Tri-Hull transom repair dilemma

she doesnt even know yet, not a good time to break things like this to her. guess i wont know to much till i start opening it up, but how hard is the fiberglass to repair after wood replacement?

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: Tri-Hull transom repair dilemma

Fibeglass repair is really quite easy. The Demo is the "Icky" part. Sorry to say but that transom is "TOAST" It will for sure need to be removed and replaced. The Motor comes off, the splash well cut away or the top cap removed then either the full deck removed or the rear portion to gain access to the full depth of the transom. A new transom wood core fabricated and encapsulated in glass. Then reinstalled and glassed in, Deck reinstalled Splashwell or cap reinstalled, motor reinstalled and you're back on the water. It's a lot of work but it can be done. IF, BIG IF the stringers and deck are NOT rotten, then you can prolly do it all for less than $800 bucks.

 

[geneseo1911]

Re: Tri-Hull transom repair dilemma

A 15' tri-hull.......It would have to have A LOT of sentimental value to do the work this boat needs, because the materials alone will buy the boat 2-3 times when it's done.....not to mention the unpleasantness of the demo.....and several hundred hours of labor. The chances of the deck & stringers being okay when the transom looks like that.....infinitesimal.

I would cut my losses...you have a good motor, find a better hull to hang it on. Your Aunt would probably be more devastated if the boat sank with you on it. And then you'd be out a motor. The transom is supposed to be flat, so that one is a trip or two from punching through.

 

[bakerjw]

Re: Tri-Hull transom repair dilemma

Ditto to the aforementioned comments. You're boat is a rot monster with a ruined transom. And with that bad of a transom issue, the stringers and bulkheads are also bound to be shot. That isn't a terrible thing to have though, especially if you've got sentimental attachments to it. If you do a restoration on it, you'll certainly have a boat that is better built than you can buy today.

As also mentioned, you can spread costs out over time. Buying some fiberglass and materials every other week until you have enough stockpiled away. Then get the resin when you get closer to being able to do some work. You'll never be able to sell it to recoup time and materials though.

You can never ethically sell the boat with that bad of a transom, so you may as well pull the motor and cap and see what is going on inside. You'll need to strip it down to part it out anyway. If you go that far, you might as well do the demo work to get an idea of the structures involved and work up a list of needed materials. The folks on here are very helpful with that. Believe me, many of us came here in a state of despair only to have our spirits lifted by the support that we've gotten.

Post some outside pictures of the boat too. It will help posters here to see what you are working with. TriHulls aren't that well desired, but your might be a different case.

 

[saginawbayboater]

Re: Tri-Hull transom repair dilemma

870 the cool thing about your situation is you are on the forum. You can read up on just about every topic of repairing your boat. Then with that information you can make your decision whether to fix or not. It is totally up to you, and only you whether or not to fix it.

With that being said there are a few questions we have all had to ask ourselves when we were trying to deside what to do.

1. do I have the money to fix it and how much is it?

2. do I have the knowledge and skills; and with the help of the forum the answer is yes to that one.

3. do I want this type of boat when it is done?

This should get you started in the right direction.

Oh ya and post many pictures it is more interesting for us to see what you have going on!!

Good luck
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