Transom

[sonny1]

Cork is cork either wine bottle or 1/8 inch thick sheet. Plan on sealing the wood transom well. The cork don't know yet. If it affects the qualities of the cork no. If it has no effect yes i will seal it.

 

[Wayne Roberts]

My boat is a light 14 foot Lonestar so if I get in trouble with a motor I know I can make it back with a set of decent oars. Found a set of really nice wood oars at a garage sell earlier today.

Perfect..............your all set then. Check out the Suzuki motors too before you buy. I am told they get better reviews.

 

[LaqueRatt]

Just a quick comment. Any benefit from cork I'd think be cancelled out by compression. Wood is basically wood. Especially if you sandwich it together. I'd think rubber would maybe help, but probably not to a noticeable affect. Curious that the manufacturer used cork.

 

[LDUBS]

Just a quick comment. Any benefit from cork I'd think be cancelled out by compression. Wood is basically wood. Especially if you sandwich it together. I'd think rubber would maybe help, but probably not to a noticeable affect. Curious that the manufacturer used cork.

Going back to Sea Antsy's comment, I'm still scratching my head on how well it will dampen vibration if it is applied to only one side of the transom. The Mfg must have put it there for a reason, so I can see duplicating what was there.

I wonder if there might be another advantage beyond potentially reducing vibration. Maybe the cork sheet acts as a gasket to keep moisture from getting between the wood transom pad and alum transom.

 

[Still Afloat]

What I’d like to know; Is this guy standing on the bottom of the lake or do fish fly?

 

[LDUBS]

Cork is cork either wine bottle or 1/8 inch thick sheet. Plan on sealing the wood transom well. The cork don't know yet. If it affects the qualities of the cork no. If it has no effect yes i will seal it.

Sheet cork is the product of binding together ground up cork, maybe mixed with rubber or something else. Sounds like an excellent material.

 

[airshot]

What I’d like to know; Is this guy standing on the bottom of the lake or do fish fly?

View attachment 116876

If he is standing on the lake bottom....his outboard motor is toast !! His seat cushion won't be saving any lives either!! Yrs, there are flying fish !! Lol...

 

[sonny1]

Just a quick comment. Any benefit from cork I'd think be cancelled out by compression. Wood is basically wood. Especially if you sandwich it together. I'd think rubber would maybe help, but probably not to a noticeable affect. Curious that the manufacturer used cork.

You have never worked with cork have you?

 

[sonny1]

Sheet cork is the product of binding together ground up cork, maybe mixed with rubber or something else. Sounds like an excellent material.

Different grades of cork. The two reasons why cork is used in construction is noise reduction and vibration reduction. Used as a underlayment in high end construction jobs. For a boat transom could not think of a better insulator to reduce vibration from a small 4 cycle outboard.

 

[mbullen]

The factory cork sheet was paper thin. I suspect it was there as a corrosion buffer for the cheap ply used on the exterior. It didn't add anything to dampening vibration. The entire pad takes on that responsibility.
I've left the cork out of the two Alumacrafts that I've redone because my replacement pads were far better than the factory ply.

For what it's worth, the inner wood on any vintage tinny would be known as the "Yoke". It's purpose was to add strength and clamping surface. It generally spans the width of the boat and is often constructed of a hardwood such as mahogany or white oak.
Many brands also used a ply here if there was also a brace present by virtue of construction. (separate from the transom knees) Lone Star's "Power Bar", Texas Maid's cross bar, and Alumacraft's "Aqueduct Transom" (for boats over 20hp) are examples. Splash wells and stern decks generally perform the same function.
The outer wood was known as the "Pad" and generally was there to only dampen vibration and act as a clamp pad. The pad can be of any shape as long as it fits the real estate of the transom clamp. It is often found constructed of any variety of materials as strength wasn't it's main gig. **of course, strength can be added here with some ingenuity and forethought. For instance, if using hardwoods on both sides, use cuts that orient the grain horizontally inside and vertically outside...etc..

Of course, these are only my observations. Others may have different opinions on the components.

 

[Dennis Wilson]

Would you seal the cork like you would the wood transom pad? The wine bottle corks seem to do fine. I wonder if sheet cork would absorb water.

Good questions... I am leaning towards using a manmade fabric gasket that we use for some automotive applications instead of cork. When I removed the inside and outside transom wood, I found cork on one and a very thin gasket material on the other. I am almost positive these were the original transom pieces from 1958. The plan, according to some videos, is to paint regular wood glue on to the wood and fit the gasket material. I looked at the availability of stainless steel hardware at Menards and found what I needed after looking back at the original pictures. There are 18 holes in the back of the boat where the two transom pieces attach. The plan is to put a dab of the Menards marine sealant I used on my other boats to stop minor weeping leaks in rivets around all 18 holes just before installing the inner and outer transom. Next progress post with pictures happens next. I try to work on the boat at least two hours per day and yes, I am sick and tired of sanding but it is paying off.

 

[Dennis Wilson]

Just random comments. The oars had three coats of paint... varnish, green and then white paint. The plan is to stain and spar varnish them. Major damage to them was filled (twice) and then sanded with wood putty that accepts stain. The transom interior was made with a cedar 4x4 cut down to the correct width, glued and then duplicated. I decided to make part of the boat mirror finished (above the rub rail) which was not original but looks cool and is a lot of work. I am close to putting the boat in storage for the winter but will work on the seat duplication this winter so I pulled the seats out to use for patterns/templates for the new original looking redwood finish seats. After the seats are duplicated, all wood pieces will be stained with semi-transparent redwood stain and spar varnish over the top. The wood should be completed this winter and next spring the goal will be to take a few days inserting/installing all the wood. But before I do that I do want to use the sand product in paint on the floor of the boat. Today will be another two hour session, this time finishing the interior sides of the boat with a random orbital sander with 180 grit paper... One other intervention/improvement that I might make next spring is to prime/paint the hull of the boat below the rub rails, with an aluminum looking paint for only one reason; to be able to clean it easier. I had to do this to my Lund daily fishing boat.

 

[Dennis Wilson]

The outside transom wood were plywood on these.......about 1/2 thick. As you can see by the stain mine is the identical shape. I made a new one using the old piece as a template but used 3/4" white oak.

Well.. it turned into a plan B project because of cost and time but I finished adding the hull identification this morning as well as the Queen of the Waterways decals in the back..... I looked at the price of redwood.... ouch... and then looked at cedar... more ouch.... and just decided I needed to get it done and uniform looking.... so I can go fishing with my two grandsons in a 14 foot Queen instead of the rather crowded 12 foot Lund... It is now ready. I might have one small leaking rivet to fix..... We have only had it in the water once, illegally, last year for a trip around the lake. For what I paid for it, I am very satisfied. I need to get some aluminum paint from Menards now and add the texturizer (sand/grit) to it and paint where it was done previously by someone or maybe it was original? PS... the trailer is an old trailer made for kayaks that I bought for $100.... and of course, spent some time and $$$ on it but it sure goes down the road nicely....

 

[Wayne Roberts]

Well.. it turned into a plan B project because of cost and time but I finished adding the hull identification this morning as well as the Queen of the Waterways decals in the back..... I looked at the price of redwood.... ouch... and then looked at cedar... more ouch.... and just decided I needed to get it done and uniform looking.... so I can go fishing with my two grandsons in a 14 foot Queen instead of the rather crowded 12 foot Lund... It is now ready. I might have one small leaking rivet to fix..... We have only had it in the water once, illegally, last year for a trip around the lake. For what I paid for it, I am very satisfied. I need to get some aluminum paint from Menards now and add the texturizer (sand/grit) to it and paint where it was done previously by someone or maybe it was original? PS... the trailer is an old trailer made for kayaks that I bought for $100.... and of course, spent some time and $$$ on it but it sure goes down the road nicely....

Beautiful...................you have really done a great job my friend! No doubt it will be a fish catcher too.........)! What are you going to power it with?

Myself also just wrapping up a restoration on a 1950 model E Alumacraft ( transom wood inner and outer, hull cleaning and paint, trailer, wheel bearings, decal application, registration, etc) myself and hope to slide it off into the water this month also........I am down to motor selection..........been shopping around for a clean used 2 stroke in the 8 hp range.

 

[Stand Up]

Well.. it turned into a plan B project because of cost and time but I finished adding the hull identification this morning as well as the Queen of the Waterways decals in the back..... I looked at the price of redwood.... ouch... and then looked at cedar... more ouch.... and just decided I needed to get it done and uniform looking.... so I can go fishing with my two grandsons in a 14 foot Queen instead of the rather crowded 12 foot Lund... It is now ready. I might have one small leaking rivet to fix..... We have only had it in the water once, illegally, last year for a trip around the lake. For what I paid for it, I am very satisfied. I need to get some aluminum paint from Menards now and add the texturizer (sand/grit) to it and paint where it was done previously by someone or maybe it was original? PS... the trailer is an old trailer made for kayaks that I bought for $100.... and of course, spent some time and $$$ on it but it sure goes down the road nicely....

Very nice work there, my friend. Looks clean and new now. Enjoy the fun that comes with the fine work you have done.

 

[Dennis Wilson]

Beautiful...................you have really done a great job my friend! No doubt it will be a fish catcher too.........)! What are you going to power it with?

Myself also just wrapping up a restoration on a 1950 model E Alumacraft ( transom wood inner and outer, hull cleaning and paint, trailer, wheel bearings, decal application, registration, etc) myself and hope to slide it off into the water this month also........I am down to motor selection..........been shopping around for a clean used 2 stroke in the 8 hp range.

Good morning..... The seats were not original which should have been redwood and now, I have time to look for some redwood on CL and garage sales etc. and start gathering it.... It's around... and there are some lumber places that will advertise it but they also charge and arm and a leg; not an option. But for now, we can use the boat and have some fun. I have two motors that will work, both Evinrudes and both are excellent... one is a 4 and the other is a 6. The 6 has very few hours on it and that is documented. It is from the 70s but was owned by a grandfatherly type and his son told me that he had it in the water about five times the first year and then never after that. When I went to buy it I brought along my mixed gas and a garbage can.... you can guess why. It DID pump water just fine.... I bought it.... Either will work on the boat simply because I don't fish anything resembling a large lake. I don't have to. And if it is my youngest grandson with, game fish are pretty much out of the question... so it will just be panfish which is fine. I also have a 12 foot Lund and have been using the very used 4 on that.... no reverse really but I just push off at the dock and am fine. I also have antique oars for the Queen boat that I restored and they turned out quite well. One of the things to consider was launching and retrieving the boat. I am over 70 so it has to be fairly easy... the Lund is..... last year I had a friend along but when we went to get it out of the water I asked him NOT to help and I wanted to make sure I could do this easily by myself... It loads as easy as the Lund.... I was going to get the aluminum paint at Menards and mix in the texturizer for the floor and still will, but not right away. I want to fix the leaky rivet(s) and will use the marine sealant/caulk from Menards too... I did this to ALL the floor rivets in the Lund.... pre-emptive..... and it has never ever leaked.... I could probably replace the rivets too.... but paranoia prevents me from trying and also, if it works, don't fix it... is the attitude... It has been four years now and the marine sealant on the Lund is still just fine. Really had to think about the Queen decal.. and it has been hanging up on the bulletin board now for quite some time.... I did have instructions from the Ebay seller but somehow they disappeared but also remember it is more/less a peel and stick format... but you have to cut them out first and that is a delicate procedure.... took my time... got it right.... and then it went back to the old days of installing these by pulling off the backing about a half to one inch.... putting the top in the exact location and you are pretty much committed.... then peeling off the backing slowly while working from inside out.... both went on perfectly.... I also installed the metal tag on the inner transom but it is so old.... to see the writing you have to get it wet to read.... Still looking for the old school plug but the one I have works fine.... but nobody seems to have one like it so I might have to replace that entire assembly some day.... if I lose the original plug.... Other than that, it is pretty much ready to go fishing.... so am I ...... It has been fun..... PS... re-read your post and it sounds awful familiar.... my work list is/was about the same...

 

[Dennis Wilson]

I was going to use cork, but, the cork might have been too thick and I am already worried that I might have too much width on the transom for my 4 HP Evinrude..... but it should work. I used a manmade gasket between the treated lumber and aluminum... I also used a Marine Sealant from Menards on each hole before finishing it all with stainless steel screws, nuts, and washers. I still think I may have one minor rivet leak and will address that when I can get the boat in the water at the public dock and then LOOK.... After I seal the boat I am going to paint the floor with an aluminum paint with the sand texturizer in it.... Will try both the 4 and the 6 HP Evinrude on it. Last year, we used the 6 and it scoots pretty good around the small lake we fish..... I also have completely refinished two oars from the same time period as this boat.... blue of course... have a good one...

 

[Stand Up]

Good job. It looks great. Have fun and slay those fish!