Transom Troubles: Fixed!

A while ago I took my boat and motor in to Mark’s Prop Shop for skeg repair. While I was there, Mark pointed out that the transom of my 1990 Lund Predator appeared to be soft. I could flex the transom about half an inch just by lifting up on the lower unit of the motor. Not good Mark gave me the busines card of a person who does this sort of repair, and I dropped the boat off last week to get the work done. In the process I learned a few things.

1) Lund used construction grade plywood in their transoms. Eventually this will rot and fall apart. The aluminum you see is just a skin over this wooden piece, which is the actual structural member.
2) When the wood rots and the transom begins to flex the rivets and bolts all start working loose. This results in more leaking.
3) To identify loose rivets, look for a black ring around the edge of the rivet. This black stuff is a result of aluminum parts rubbing against each other.

On my Lund most of the rivets on the transom showed the dreaded black ring. I’d pick up a lot of water in the bilge depending on how hard I pushed the boat, and the transom was soft and flexed a lot. In addition, the top piece of the transom (the flat moulding or cap that runs from side to side under the motor mount) was cracked on each side of the motor showing the damage that happens when the transom flexes.

I took the boat to Lee Anstett (763-424-2868). After disasembling the transom and other pieces, he made a new transom board out of two pieces of 3/4 inch green treat sandwiched around fiberglass. Then he re-assembled and resealed everything. The repair took about a week. Now when I pull up on the lower unit the whole back end of the boat comes up but the transom does not flex at all. After 5 hours on the water this morning, there wasn’t a single drop in the bilge. Solid as a drop and tight as a drum, I’m ready for anything now!

This isn’t an inexpensive repair but the workmanship appears to be first rate and the end result is that the transom on my Lund is stronger than it was originally from the factory.

Rootski

Just curious, did you contact Lund ?

The boat is a 1990. At 16 years of age Lund isn’t going to warranty any work.

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The boat is a 1990. At 16 years of age Lund isn’t going to warranty any work.

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I did contact Lund, not looking for warranty work but rather a reality check. I wanted to know that I was doing the right thing. Customer Service lost interest quickly when they found I was the second owner; when they found out the boat was 16 years old they suggested I buy a new boat. I’m not getting down on Lund here. I was just a litttle disappointed that they didn’t want to talk about boat repairs or boat technology instead of a sales pitch.

I’m happy and satisfied with the route I took here. I now have a solid reliable hull that should give me many years of good service.

Rootski

Good post Rootski!

I don’t own a Lund, but this post can apply to any of us boat owners.

I’d cut and paste your post and attach it in an e-mail to Lund… just for an FYI for them.

HB

Treated wood of any kind in contact with aluminum is bad news. I have seen some older boats where you could actually see the pitting and poke a hole through the transom.

An all aluminum is the way to go, cut the entire transom out and replace with everything new…usually a $400.00 and up job depending on the size of boat.

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Treated wood of any kind in contact with aluminum is bad news.

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This is true, due to the copper content of the chemicals used to treat the wood. I just went down and looked at my boat, and in this case the treated wood is covered with fiberglass which should protect the aluminum. He also used stainless steel hardware.

Rootski