Pluging Holes In Transom

[adzzy]

Hi Raiders

I have a ladder attached to the transom of my boat and am swaping it to the other side of the boat to make way for my back up bracket and need to plug the original holes from the ladder

I assume the best way would be to knock in some dowl and gel coat over the top inside and out

would i be right or is there a better way

cheers Adzzy

[pelican]

Don't use wood.

Pull the ladder off

Run a rasp or drill bit through the hole to clean it and give a good keying surface for putty.

Mask around it inside and out

But a small amount of epoxy or polyester resin, some talc.

Mix up a small quantity of resin ( egg cup full) , put a small quantity in the hole and make sure it covers all the surfaces, and then to the rest add talc till it thickens to a thick paste and is consistant.

squeeze it into the hole with a small putty knife until it comes out the other side.

Clean off with putty knife and use the back f teh drill you cleaned the hole out with to depress it a couple of mm into the hole on the outside gel coat side. Just smooth off inside hole with back of putty knife one last time with tape removed so it is flush

Let it go off as per directions

When dry inside hole should look perfect - the end

The outside hole is now slightly below the surface of your other finished gelcoat.

With a fine emery paper on your thumb tip just lightly place it on the hole and turn it a few times and this will feather the edge of your existing gel coat and key surface and will also leave you with a perfectly masked area.

Buy a small quantity of flowcoat ( not gel coat as gelcoat will not dry and harden if exposed to air) and paint it over the hole you just feathered and let dry.

I lift the masking tape whenthe flowcoat is tacky.

This should leave you with your hold slightly overfilled and when dry I mask a area a few mm outside the hole and with some wet and dry I wet sand it to flush then with some 000wet and dry a 30 second rub.

Remove mask and 000 a slightley larger area 2cm

Then polish so it so it blends in.

You can buy gelcoat repair kits at the marine stores that have this stuff in small quantity tubes and even a premixed putty with directions.

If your holes are larger than 5mm I also just put a few fibres from matting chopped up into my putty

Usual warnings apply with use of all resins on protecting eyes , not breathing fumes or dust and contact with skin.

Pel

Edited January 27, 2009 by pelican

[adzzy]

Hi pelcan

Thanks for sharing your know how with me i guess i now know what i will be doing this weekend but i would rather be fishing so many choices

cheers

[pelican]

It's not an all weekend job it is only a 2 times 20 minute sessions as the stuff goes off very fast. As a quicker solution you can just put a similar sized bolt through it, a washer and a bit of marine sikaflex and don't worry about if you don't already have some of the stuff or aren't good with your hands. Still going to be watertight and look good. You just want to ensure that it seals and no water can get into the fibre , wood of the transom as that is what kills so many boats

Don't overtighten as it wrecks the structure of the fibreglass , firm with a nyloc not is fine

See you can go fishing now and move the ladder all in one weekend.

The expense and hassle for small jobs of buying overprices small packets of stuff is a pain. In winter you local fibreglass repair guy will do it in an arvo for you and probably better than you or I can.

Is the ladder in the way or just crap?

Edited January 28, 2009 by pelican

[adzzy]

It's not an all weekend job it is only a 2 times 20 minute sessions as the stuff goes off very fast. As a quicker solution you can just put a similar sized bolt through it, a washer and a bit of marine sikaflex and don't worry about if you don't already have some of the stuff or aren't good with your hands. Still going to be watertight and look good. You just want to ensure that it seals and no water can get into the fibre , wood of the transom as that is what kills so many boats

Don't overtighten as it wrecks the structure of the fibreglass , firm with a nyloc not is fine

See you can go fishing now and move the ladder all in one weekend.

The expense and hassle for small jobs of buying overprices small packets of stuff is a pain. In winter you local fibreglass repair guy will do it in an arvo for you and probably better than you or I can.

Is the ladder in the way or just crap?

Hi Pelican

the ladder is in the way its were i want to put the back up motor to try and even out the weight of my fat ass

compared to the miss's, i'm sick of the boat being on a lean all the weight is on the drivers side and i dont need to add more

any ways got it all done last night moved the ladder to oppisite side and plugged old holes like you said it was quick and painless and looks good now to just bolt on the bracket tonight and its ready for the weekend

look out kingies here i come ( i bet they are just laughing at me )

Thanks Pelican

Adzzy

ps got any ideas as to how i can add some weight to the front of the boat to get it to plan quicker with 4 people on board with out taking up to much room i had thought of a bit of lead

[pelican]

The one thing permatrims are good at is lifting the stern and getting a flatter plane earlierr especially with extra weight in. Guess it depends on how often you have them on board.

Means drilling holes in the cav plate of the motor though or you other option is trim tabs.It is always better to try and get the boat balance to start with rather than fight it all the time.

I assume you are already trimming in to get onto the plane faster as it forces the nose down and allows the whole hull to lift the boat onto the planing surface and then trim out to neutral position for cruise with extra weight on board.

You could always get the fat bums to move forward a little but I don't like people moving around on smaller boats muh and weight forward is a much more dangerous place than weight aft as it affects your steering and handling a lot more. I wouldn't go down the lead path but moving equipment in boat can make a large difference a few kilos here and there. If you seriously need extra weight carry it as 10l of water in a water container so you can move , drink or empty it as required. Just mak esure it is secured while under way.

Batteries , oil containers are the other often easty moved to get a few extra kilos on the wifes side

Does it steer and track straight without your hand on the wheel?

If the trim tab behind the prop is not adjusted right you end up with heavy steering and the boat pulling to one side? . It can also increase boat lean as the boat crabs along the water a little rather than straightlining.

Edited January 28, 2009 by pelican

[jewgaffer]

...........As a quicker solution you can just put a similar sized bolt through it, a washer and a bit of marine sikaflex ........... You just want to ensure that it seals and no water can get into the fibre , wood of the transom as that is what kills so many boats.................

..............Don't overtighten as it wrecks the structure of the fibreglass , firm with a nyloc not is fine

Hi Pelican

.........i want to put the back up motor to try and even out the weight ........, i'm sick of the boat being on a lean all the weight is on the drivers side and i dont need to add more..........

Hi Pelican, That's a top idea filling drilled holes with bolts. I've seen quite a few boats with bolts thru the transom and even a brand new one which had an accessory removed and another boat which had the auxilliary motor moved over to the other side probably for convenience etc...... Nothing seemed to look out of place as the bolts were suitable bolts for filling the leftover holes and the new boat looked as though the bolts were already there for mounting an accessory if and when required......

Hi Adzzy, I have a friend whose boat had a similiar side tilting problem to yours but always intended to fit an auxilliary for fishing along rock faces which included going out over a bar.......His boat was a 16' fibregass boat loaded with a large bait tank, storage boxes and other items including fixed items........ The tilt problem was due to the particular set up I think more so than driver weight and simply having a passenger............. Rather than a fitting a 6hp - 8hp motor auxilliary, it was decided that we to up the power of the auxilliary and decide beforehand what extra weight to power was needed mindfull of the bar......... After finding out the weights of motors going up in hp, moving a few things around and then and adding sandbags to the auxilliary side of his boat to find which motor weight suited best, he decided to fit a 15hp auxilliary which fixed the problem. Having a smaller auxilliary would not have provided enough power should the auxilliary have to be used and conditions change and particularly when coming back over a bar.

I hope you fix the problem Addzy.

Cheers

jewgaffer