Transom Caving In

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moloch16

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Anyone experienced this problem (see attached photos) where transom is caving in where you attach the motor. Was fishing and noticed the motor was loose so when to tighten it down noticed the problem. Is this something I can just live with or will it need fixing? (Sorry pics loaded sideways for some problem)

This is a Lowes 14' Rover Jon

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Not sure how old the boat is, if it is old, it may be rotting plywood. If it ois new, I would take it back for a discussion.

Short term, I would get some 1/8 x 2 inch aluminum flat & screw it in from 1 side to the other, such that it supports the motor clamps.

Long term, you may have to replace the plywood in the transom.
 
CedarRiverScooter said:
Not sure how old the boat is, if it is old, it may be rotting plywood. If it ois new, I would take it back for a discussion.

Short term, I would get some 1/8 x 2 inch aluminum flat & screw it in from 1 side to the other, such that it supports the motor clamps.

Long term, you may have to replace the plywood in the transom.
Yeah I didn't even know these jons have plywood in the transom I see no way to replace it if it's covered by aluminum.

Sent from my LG-D851 using Tapatalk
 
moloch16 said:
CedarRiverScooter said:
Not sure how old the boat is, if it is old, it may be rotting plywood. If it ois new, I would take it back for a discussion.

Short term, I would get some 1/8 x 2 inch aluminum flat & screw it in from 1 side to the other, such that it supports the motor clamps.

Long term, you may have to replace the plywood in the transom.
Yeah I didn't even know these jons have plywood in the transom I see no way to replace it if it's covered by aluminum.

Sent from my LG-D851 using Tapatalk

you have to remove the aluminum

when I wrenched on cars for a living, we used to have a saying

"man made it, man can take it apart"
 
What brand / model boat is it?
Can you post a few pictures showing the whole transom starboard to port inside and out.
 
That sucks . They couldn't put a aluminum brace back there?? One thing i will never do is put anything wood on my jon boat.


Sent from Mossy Oak Swamp Bottom
 
Hopefully it doesn't get worse. Too much torque can push in the bottom of your transom and bend the aluminum supports or crack them


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Geezzzz....yep, looks like the plywood has failed. Probably the correct fix is going to entail rebuilding the transom. The good news is that you have the opportunity to make it better than new by making it all aluminum or, if you don't plan on keeping it anyway you can just have the plywood replaced. The crappy part of this is that you'll now have thoughts of the motor falling off on the road or in the water until it's fixed. I had the same problem with my current boat but I was upgrading the transom anyway to add a longer shaft ob jet.
 
Why on earth would they put plywood under the aluminum is beyond me. This is a Lowe Rover Jon L1440M which is very similar to your standard Lowe 1448 Big Jons just a little smaller. I will try to post more pics this evening.
 
78f8e90fd7bcc41425998f17cf68ddc3.jpg

The guy who I bought my boat from used 2 pieces of composite board. I don't expect the need to replace it. Just an option


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[\quote]

Ok, but then wrap it in aluminum so it's completely inaccessible is a very poor design![/quote]

I thought the same thing as I put a window regulator in my wifes car on Sunday.
 
moloch16 said:
Ictalurus said:
moloch16 said:
Why on earth would they put plywood under the aluminum is beyond me.

For support.

Ok, but then wrap it in aluminum so it's completely inaccessible is a very poor design!


After all the work you need to do to replace a transom, you think the aluminum skin over the wood is a problem?

Edited to say you can drill a small hole in the aluminum to see if the wood underneath is rotten.
 
Composite board is a nice option for permanence and simplicity but **** is that stuff heavy. If/when I have to rebuild mine I'm going with the all-aluminum approach using cut sections of square tube and making an all aluminum corrugation to replace the wood so I never have to see it again. Filling the square tubes with foam will have the added bonus of flotation to the most densely weight down section of the boat.
 
My old Lowe 1436 used to do the same thing. I just cut a sliver of 1/2" plywood and slid it under the thumb screws so it would take the brunt of the punishment and not the transom. Never had a problem with the motor shifting around while out running it.
 
moloch16 said:
Why on earth would they put plywood under the aluminum is beyond me. This is a Lowe Rover Jon L1440M which is very similar to your standard Lowe 1448 Big Jons just a little smaller. I will try to post more pics this evening.

The Rover Jon is significantly lighter than a 1448. The Rover uses .063 guage aluminum whereas the 1448 uses .072. The Rover is a mod-V bow and the Big Jons are square bow. So actually a fairly large difference...but both are made with plywood sandwiched in the transom. As has been said the plywood is for strength and theoretically if the aluminum skin is totally sealed the plywood would never rot. But drilling for motor bolts or anything else provides a water path and then the rot sets in. A jon with a wood reinforced transom typically lasts far longer than the factory warranty for the boat even if it does get wet, and wood is a less expensive product than a honeycomb aluminum transom. Nothing wrong with using the wood on what is built to be a light duty utility boat but since your Rover is old enough for the wood to be decayed the proper thing to do is to replace the wood with aluminum. Once you price the job compared to using plywood you will know why they use plywood to begin with...but I'm sure you'll do the right thing and use aluminum if you have your transom rebuilt.
 

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