pointing to a crack

 

 

awesome welds here!

 

It looks to me like a bench seat has already been removed. In your last pic you'll see there are three ribs that are much larger than the one that follows them. A bench seat was in this spot and that's why you can twist it. If you do what you're suggesting in your post you shouldn't have a problem with flexing. The transom has been hacked. You'll need to address this first. The wood has been removed and just that one piece of metal (aluminum?) that runs across the transom is supposed to support an outboard? I don't think so. That's trouble looking for a place to happen.

 

Putting the floor in it will probably stiffen it up a lot but hopefully someone with more boat building experience will chime in

 

Yeah eshaw you are right. The rear bench was cut out and 2 1x2x1/8" tubes were welded to the side horizontaly and that 1/8" plate welded on top of that.

Transom wood is still in but is surrounded by aluminum so it appears that it's 1 piece of aluminum but it's actually 2 with the wood in the middle. But I agree with you, the transom is shot and dangerous!

Thanks garp! I hope to see you on the water one day to get my $100! If the offer still stands...

 

Offer will likely stand, will start it up beginning of this year, fired the boat up Christmas Day water pump peeing and troller batteries on charge,been using the gennie with work,and lights are all working, looking forward to spring and plan start chasing snakeheads come March

 

 

Cut the rear bench seat out. Got the rotted wood out and got the front piece of aluminum out.

 

 

Over 80 holes in the transom and it's tweaked in the center... Might be replacing it, we'll see.

First weld with the new welder

Second weld I heated to 200 degrees (used an infrared thermometer) definitely better starting penetration. First weld I was too close and at the end I melted my tip into the puddle

 

Left is first weld and right is 2nd. You can see height difference

First weld cleaned off. Cold start on 1/4" material.

 

 

You can see all the bubbles in the old weld that I broke off

 

That'll work! What welder you running?

 

Lincoln 180 with a magnum 100 spool gun. It says it maxes out at 1/4" so I'm sure it'll be good for anything boat related. I'm surprised, it's probably the cheapest way to mig aluminum and it seems to weld decent enough on the think scrap I have. We'll see how it does on 1/8" material

 

Watch how you end your welds. Looks like some pretty good crater cracks there. That = a leak if it's on your hull. If you run back into your weld a little and bring your tip out of it a bit before you kill the juice, it'll help things along a little. A TIG unit would be way more easier on that transom patch job! You'll be a pro in no time.

 

Thanks Jones! I'll definitely do that! I'm debating if I should just cut it out completely and beef it up with all aluminum or just put wood back in there and patch the holes... What would everyone else do?

 

Since you asked........I'd fix the transom, brace things up a little where the seat used to be, put a light weight flush deck up front, use it for a while and save that piece of 3/16 for a little heavier duty project. This won't be your last boat, I promise. :hb:

Edit: Welding that 3/16, or even 1/8 for that matter, to that hull is going to be a challenge with a MIG.

 

Leave the wood out! I'd just go with a new piece on the transom, but that's me. Get some aluminum to fill in were the wood was, just rememer that eventually you'll have a heavier motor back there. You'll be a whole lot happier in the long run with no wood back there.

 

The only time you need any wood in that boat is if you're pourin the coals to your ol' lady, and that's a fact Jack.

 

Haha that's funny Jones! I gotta look up some boat builds for some transom stiffening ideas. Maybe 2x4 tube. I saw carp commander build one once but can't find the thread again... I also want to run a tiller so I can't make that rear bench as long as it was from the factory.

 

Cut the transom off, replace with 3/16 aluminum sheet. Then stiffen with 2x4 aluminum channel or rectangular tubing across top and two uprights from floor to upper channel about 8 inches apart or 4 inches each way from center.

 

Could I do this to my 1/8" sides? Then run vertical supports to the floor ribs and enclose with sheet. It would act as a top side support and a walk around/bench?
Shout out to Rambo for the pic from his video

 

I don't see why not