89 Bass Tracker TX17 transom

[JMill]

I'm glad you said that! I'll have to double check mine! I did get to laminate my plywood for the transom this evening. I'll make a template soon and try to get it mounted. I don't know if the factory, or if someone else put treated lumber in the transom that I pulled out, but the outer aluminum skin is severely pitted, so much so that four or five go all the way through. So I'll have to weld that up tomorrow at work and I figure I'll skim a coat of 3m 5200 over the entire inner skin to fill the rest of the voids. Any other suggestions? By the way, should I make a new thread somewhere for a complete rebuild like I'm doing? Or just keep it up here? Thanks!

 

[trackerpuzzle]

Hey JMill ,
don't know if you seen the replay on my thread about the 5200 that I have removed , most of it was firm and flexible but there was a couple spots it was gummy.
That's assuming it was all 5200, which I believe it was( there was a brand new tube and an almost empty one in the boat when I got it).


Were you able to buck the keel rivet?
I have some broken rivets in my keel in the same area (several in between the center three ribs)

Did you get your transom holes welded up ?
I haven't made it to my transom yet , seems solid but has a couple corrosion through holes. I expect it to have some rot

got my eyes peeled for some more pics!

and yea looks like the same hull as mine , I think I like the layout of yours better
keep at it man

 

[JMill]

Haven't really gotten a whole lot done after work the last couple days. I did get the transom board cut, test fit it, and I just now polyurethaned the crap out of it! The wood that goes under the aluminum on the very front of the boat, where the trolling motor mounts, was rotted out so I cut a new one and sealed it up too. I wire wheeled that section of aluminum so I can spray bed liner there for grip when stepping there from a pier. I'm kind of in limbo until I get time to weld up misc. holes around the boat. I'm splitting my welding into two phases, do all the extra screw holes and any pitted holes thursday and then once I have the wooden transom in I'll have that rear cap welded back on.
Tracker puzzle - I didn't even attempt to rebuck the rivet. I just drilled it out and replaced it with a stainless bolt smeared with antiseize and 5200. The nearest boat ramp isn't too close, so I figured I'd do something I feel better about. And I couldn't believe that it was only one rivet, I have an auto bilge that would pump every twenty minutes for 2 minutes straight! So hopefully this'll do it. I'm shooting to take a break Wednesday and go fish the atchafalaya basin with a buddy, but then Thursday I'll get the welding done and it'll be reassembly time! I can't friggin wait!

 

[Skiffing]

Are you going to weld up that skin with the plywood in place?

 

[DarynCashmark]

Looking good buddy! Can't wait to see how that transom looks all finished up. Didn't really have any major problems with mine,so I left it alone. Now thinking, maybe I should have done some preventative maintenance... Unfortunately, I ended up doing way more work fixing stuff that wasn't broke, so I figured I would let that one fly. Never have noticed any leaks yet. I hope I don't regret not doing anything to the transom and the underneath of the hull. The wood in the transom was still pretty good, but I did have some surface pitting... I figure worst case, I have some 5200 and some Steelflex in my future...

 

[trackerpuzzle]

Yea that's about how often my bilge was running as well.

Hope you had a good fishing trip , must be nice to have a buddy with a boat .
Mine are all calling me asking when I will be done :LOL2:

 

[huntinfool]

Instead of running all the way to a boat ramp to test a leak, just fill the boat. That's how I found all of mine in the back yard. I circled them with a magic marker and then once drained, I know which ones to fix.

 

[KRS62]

Someone should start selling templates for the tracker transoms. I don't think that there are a ton of people replacing them, but when someone goes through it, I bet they would love the time savings of a template. Maybe you could sell the whole thing ready to go? There you go somebody.....go make your millions! :lol:

KRS

 

[JMill]

Yea that's about how often my bilge was running as well.

Hope you had a good fishing trip , must be nice to have a buddy with a boat .
Mine are all calling me asking when I will be done :LOL2:

We had a damn good day out! 15 bass, not one under 2 1/2lbs! All punching mats. I hear ya on everyone calling you about the boat. This is my only friend with a boat, and I refuse to give his identity out to anyone else! Lmao

 

[JMill]

Instead of running all the way to a boat ramp to test a leak, just fill the boat. That's how I found all of mine in the back yard. I circled them with a magic marker and then once drained, I know which ones to fix.

I wish it were this easy. Being a keel rivet, just filling the boat with water would simply tell me whether the boat was leaking or not. It wouldn't pin point any single rivet. If any rivet leaks at all it runs to the ass end of the keel and drains out of a single hole on the back of the it. But since I now have bolt with 5200 on it, I can try this and if I have any leak at all I'll know I have a leak elsewhere. Thanks!

 

[JMill]

These are the vent holes in the rear battery compartment. Does anyone know where to get replacements or have an idea of something else to use in their place? Thanks

 

[huntinfool]

Instead of running all the way to a boat ramp to test a leak, just fill the boat. That's how I found all of mine in the back yard. I circled them with a magic marker and then once drained, I know which ones to fix.

I wish it were this easy. Being a keel rivet, just filling the boat with water would simply tell me whether the boat was leaking or not. It wouldn't pin point any single rivet. If any rivet leaks at all it runs to the ass end of the keel and drains out of a single hole on the back of the it. But since I now have bolt with 5200 on it, I can try this and if I have any leak at all I'll know I have a leak elsewhere. Thanks!

Ahhh,


Well there you go. At least you'll know if it leaks at all. I fought my first boat leaky issue for a long time. Finally filled the boat and the leaks weren't anywhere I thought they were.

 

[huntinfool]

Yea that's about how often my bilge was running as well.

Hope you had a good fishing trip , must be nice to have a buddy with a boat .
Mine are all calling me asking when I will be done [emoji38]2:

We had a damn good day out! 15 bass, not one under 2 1/2lbs! All punching mats. I hear ya on everyone calling you about the boat. This is my only friend with a boat, and I refuse to give his identity out to anyone else! Lmao

Pics or it didn't happen.

 

[trackerpuzzle]

These are the vent holes in the rear battery compartment. Does anyone know where to get replacements or have an idea of something else to use in their place? Thanks

Think these guys make them
https://www.thmarine.com/products/Vents-and-Fuel-System/Vents/Blower-Vent-Covers

 

[JMill]

Yea that's about how often my bilge was running as well.

Hope you had a good fishing trip , must be nice to have a buddy with a boat .
Mine are all calling me asking when I will be done [emoji38]2:

We had a damn good day out! 15 bass, not one under 2 1/2lbs! All punching mats. I hear ya on everyone calling you about the boat. This is my only friend with a boat, and I refuse to give his identity out to anyone else! Lmao

Pics or it didn't happen.

Didn't take pics throughout the day, but here's four that I kept to fry up!

 

[JMill]

These are the vent holes in the rear battery compartment. Does anyone know where to get replacements or have an idea of something else to use in their place? Thanks

Think these guys make them
https://www.thmarine.com/products/Vents-and-Fuel-System/Vents/Blower-Vent-Covers

Perfect! Exactly what I'm looking for. Thanks bud

 

[huntinfool]

Very nice

 

[JMill]

I haven't gotten much done lately. I'm trying to get all of my honey do's taken care of so my next four days off I can begin to reassemble. All I have left to buy is carpet, led lights for the interior, one more 4x8 pc of plywood, and a few other odds and ends. My trolling motor tray should be here any day now, I cannot wait to try it out! Otherwise, I scrubbed the inside of the hull today and test fit the rear panels that encase the sprayed in foam, they're good to go! Till next time!

 

[JMill]

Well, I brought the boat to work today so I could stay late to tig weld some misc holes on the transom from assorted fish finders throughout the years and on the bow cap from an apparent trolling motor move and self tapping screws. Unbeknownst to me, a coworker of mine owns an aluminum spool gun that he happened to have in his truck. One word: Wow! This was my first time using one and it was just too frigging easy! Ive always heard how nice they are and im now a believer. So while I was at it I went ahead and grinded all of the keel rivets flush with the inside and buttoned those suckers up. So now its time for another leak test then ill be ready to begin reassembling the rear end and front end of the boat. I'd like to say thanks to all of you guys, because without this forum, I doubt I would have ever even thought about attempting this job!! Lol

 

[huntinfool]

Congrats on getting work done!