New to the site - need help starting out with boat.

Hey everyone,

I just got a 12 foot aluminum boat (for free) and need help starting out with it. I need a transom, as there's nothing on the back as you can see. I posted a few picks and will try to keep everyone posted as I get more work done and probably will ask a lot of questions. Where do I start with the transom? Marine plywood is what I've read but other than that I have no idea where to start.

I'll probably just put a 30lb trolling motor on it for now also. Would it be ok to just plug the holes where the transom was and use it as is until I get an outboard?

The boat has a few leaks, that I've found so far, by the front. I'm going to try to rebuck the rivets and go from there.

Pictures attached below.

Thanks in advance for all the help.

good lookin boat

Congrats! You can't beat the price of that boat and it looks like it doesn't need too much work to get it ship-shape. The transom should be a relatively easy project. There are a few threads on this forum where guys have rebuilt wooden transoms.

Hey craiger9er. :WELCOME: to TinBoats. Happy to have you here.

First things first.....NOBODY gets a boat for free. That's just crazy. So...you send me $50 and that will take care of that. I'll send you a receipt for the boat. Doesn't matter that the boat didn't come from me either. :LOL2:

Actually, congrats on the boat! Free really is the best price. I'd love to offer some helpful advice, but I'm at work and your pictures are blocked here and I can't see them...so, I'll just say, "Paint it Green". I can't go wrong with that advice...unless you hate green. :mrgreen:

Based on the research done on this site....this is what I'm thinking.

either 1/2" glued together, or 3/4" exterior grade plywood. Non pressure treated, and seal it (Thomsons) after the cuts are all made. I'll probably stain it too(Marine plywood is too expensive for me)

3M 5200 sealant in the bolt holes and around the wood.

Fender66, I'll work on getting that check in the mail asap.

Thanks for the help everyone. Love this site.

I would agree with everthing except for the Thompsons. My experience with non-boat decks has been that Thompsons lasts for a couple of years, at best. Spar urethane is the way to go. And, it makes any wood look like something special.

To temporarily seal the small holes I recommend the aluminum patch sticks at Cabellas. It worked well for me at one time and I still keep a couple sticks of it in my boat just in case. Good looking boat there. Keep the pics coming and welcome to tinboats.

https://www.cabelas.com/product/Cabelas-Aluminum-Boat-Patch/699968.uts?Ntk=AllProducts&searchPath=%2Fcatalog%2Fsearch.cmd%3Fform_state%3DsearchForm%26N%3D0%26fsch%3Dtrue%26Ntk%3DAllProducts%26Ntt%3Daluminum%2Bboat%2Bpatch%26WTz_l%3DHeader%253BSearch-All%2BProducts%26x%3D0%26y%3D0&Ntt=aluminum+boat+patch&WTz_l=Header%3BSearch-All+Products

Welcome Aboard, and congrats on the boat!

bulldog said:

To temporarily seal the small holes I recommend the aluminum patch sticks at Cabellas. It worked well for me at one time and I still keep a couple sticks of it in my boat just in case. Good looking boat there. Keep the pics coming and welcome to tinboats.

https://www.cabelas.com/product/Cabelas-Aluminum-Boat-Patch/699968.uts?Ntk=AllProducts&searchPath=%2Fcatalog%2Fsearch.cmd%3Fform_state%3DsearchForm%26N%3D0%26fsch%3Dtrue%26Ntk%3DAllProducts%26Ntt%3Daluminum%2Bboat%2Bpatch%26WTz_l%3DHeader%253BSearch-All%2BProducts%26x%3D0%26y%3D0&Ntt=aluminum+boat+patch&WTz_l=Header%3BSearch-All+Products

Click to expand...

Never heard of those before....that's a great idea.

Did you get the title to the boat? Don't spend much time and money on it before your the legal owner.

lbursell said:

... Spar urethane is the way to go...

Click to expand...

And if you want to one-up that, encapsulate it in epoxy. Properly encapsulated wood will last the life of the boat.

Talk to Larry at Raka Epoxy (www.raka.com) for tips and good deals on quality epoxy products.

Go Fish said:

lbursell said:

... Spar urethane is the way to go...

Click to expand...

And if you want to one-up that, encapsulate it in epoxy. Properly encapsulated wood will last the life of the boat.

Talk to Larry at Raka Epoxy (https://www.raka.com) for tips and good deals on quality epoxy products.

Click to expand...

I would go with polyurathane or exterior paint. Both are designed for wood and will expand/contract with the wood.
Exterior grade plywood is a good idea. Not pressure treated.

Welcome to the site!


Whats the lettering on the bow? Used to be a lifeboat or something?

Ok, I contacted the guy that gave the boat to me and I contacted our Secretary of State her in Michigan. At a minimum I need a bill of sale to register the boat. So, the guy that gave me the boat is now gonna take a small amount of money so that I get a bill of sale. I'll be able to register it after that.

The guy I got the boat from bought it in 1990, I believe from some place that rented boats, hence the writing on the bow. Milford is a local town close to where I live, not sure where it was rented at though.

Hoping to buy the wood this week or early next and start on the transom. I just wanted to make sure I could register it, like lckstckn2smknbrls said before I started workin on it.

Thanks guys, I'll keep you all posted.

Great news.


By teh way----



ostpics:




We'll be watching, may not post up every update, but we WILL be watching. :mrgreen:

Welcome to TinBoats, the best site on the net!!!

Great deal on the boat, it looks to be in great shape!!

It looks like you have plenty of room to make that transom however big and thick you want. Thats a good thing. Id go with 3/4" exterior ply, double stacked and glued with waterproof glue (elmers waterproof or titebond II). I stacked about 400 pounds of blocks on mine till the glue set!! Cut the 2 pieces a little big and glue them together, then cut your final dimensions. Makes your edge's perfect rather than cutting both to size then trying to keep everything alligned while your glueing. Then add your choice of stain and coat it with Spar Urethane (I did 3 coats). Get the edges real good, thats where plywood is most vulnerable. Then attach with stainless steel bolts with a dab of 5200 in each hole.

It looks like on the rear of your boat there was an additional piece of plywood at one time. Replace that piece also. Treat it the same way as the transom piece. I had to go with 1/2" there though. With 1 1/2" of transom and then 3/4" additional on the back, my outboard wouldnt fit. Made another that was only 1/2" and it fit perfect!! Check out my boat build in my sig if your not sure what I'm talking about.

Have fun with it and keep the pics coming!!

Been a while (busy with kids baseball, tball etc....) but I was finally able to cut out some of the stuff for the transom.





Not sure if I've done this all right though. I just tried to cut everything out to the outlines that were already there. My biggest question mark is on the inside of the boat, the upside down "V" shape of wood. There was an outline there from what looks like something was there so I tried to match it up....but it just looks out of place to me. Any help is appreciated.

Thanks all.

PS - Nothing is screwed or glued on yet. Once I get this right I'll work on Spar Urethane and getting the holes matched up.

As far as the upside down V part, I don't know if I've ever see anything like that. Although it wouldn't hurt by any means, I'm not sure that it is necessary. Pretty nice boat man, especially for free!

NOT REALY SURE WHAT PURPOSE THAT PC SERVES REALY THINK I WOULD REMOVE THE CORNER BRACES AND MAKE IT 1 PC, BUT I WOULD HAVE MADE IT ABOUT 14" AND JUST CUT A LIL NOTCH OUTTA IT TO FIT AROUND THAT KNEE BRACE, JUST MY OPINION

nice boat, i got my boat free from the navy. we use a bunch of jon boats to paint the sides of the ships and this one kept leaking so they were throwing it out but instead gave it to me. i got it registered no problem just explained what happened and they sent me everything. as far as the transom the 3/8" works good you should have made one solid piece and cut out the V i think that would make it really strong in my opinion, i just used rhino lining on all my wood and so far it has held up no problems, also for the leaks check out steelflex, it seals stuff up really well. good luck.