Transom Replacement Material Options

With the current prices of plywood, BCX, OSB, etc what are some alternative materials for replacing a transom? I've personally only used plywood in the past which was easy to work with and, at the time, cheap. Even with the current prices, I suspect that may still be the cheapest option. Thoughts or suggestions?

Some guys have gone all aluminium, but that would be more $ yet.

I have two boats.

One is a bigger 17' jon boat and has the removable transom cap. Plywood slips in between two layers of aluminum to make an AL-ply-AL sandwich. I don't think there are many cheaper options than plywood here because other types of lumber aren't the right size to fit.

The other is a smaller jon boat with just one layer of AL on the transom and gets the bolt-onto-the-surface piece of plywood. I replaced my plywood with a length of 2x8 cut to the right length. Resists bending more than plywood and was cheaper and easier to cut to fit because I wasn't trying to make it fit every angle of the transom.

A 4x8 sheet of 3/4" bcx is down from the low $80.00s to the low $40.00. High $30.00s if you have a Menards near by?

This transom is sandwiched between aluminum too. It has been replaced before as all of the original rivets holding it in have been replaced with screws. I never considered a standard 2X but it may work.

And unfortunately no Menards around me down in the south. Basically Lowes and Home Depot and then the smaller, non-chain building supply stores. Looks like the cheapest form of any type of 3/4 engineered wood in a 4x8 sheet is still $50+ there. I guess I'll check some local places and see what they have and at what price.

Check Craigslist too.

I don't know WMK002. Plywood is pricey as heck but still probably the way to go. A short while back I paid $80+ for 1/2" exterior at Lowes. To be honest I wasn't too happy about it, but I needed it so what could I do. You can bet I paid pretty good attention to my cut list. To make matters worse, I just checked and it is down around $51/sheet. Shucks.

A while back, my son made his own plywood from Baltic birch, to make a skateboard.

It came out great but I doubt if it was less money.

Lumber prices are definitely on the way down, but steel prices are through the roof and climbing. I'm bidding steel products at 130 percent higher than I was in January. Monday is a new month at work and I will probably have a pile of emails from my suppliers telling me of increases for Sept. 1st.

Anyway, for a boat I would just pony up the cash and do plywood. Buy once, cry once!

Yeah sounds like plywood is still the way to go even with prices remaining high.

Is fiberglass resin the way to go to seal the plywood after glueing it together? Been a long time since I did a transom and haven’t paid much attention to the threads on it on here. I know there is a good homemade option that includes boiled linseed oil but I’ve never personally used that method.

Gonna try to buy the plywood and sealing materials tomorrow sometime.

I bought the material to rework my transom a couple months ago. It's ⅛" thick 1.5" x 3" aluminum rectangle. I've been test running outboard heights with a longshaft motor on a short shaft boat. Want to have it perfect before I commit to the rebuild. I bought 2 - 8' lengths for $80 locally. Best part is I should never have to mess with it again once its done.

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wmk0002 said:

Is fiberglass resin the way to go to seal the plywood after glueing it together? Been a long time since I did a transom and haven’t paid much attention to the threads on it on here. I know there is a good homemade option that includes boiled linseed oil but I’ve never personally used that method.

Gonna try to buy the plywood and sealing materials tomorrow sometime.

Click to expand...

Polyester resin without the fiberglass cloth doesn't work well, the resin will peel off.
Epoxy resin works without the fiber glass cloth.

wmk0002 said:

Is fiberglass resin the way to go to seal the plywood after glueing it together? Been a long time since I did a transom and haven’t paid much attention to the threads on it on here. I know there is a good homemade option that includes boiled linseed oil but I’ve never personally used that method.

Gonna try to buy the plywood and sealing materials tomorrow sometime.

Click to expand...

Don't use fiberglass resin. I used it on a modified V many years ago when I was young and uneducated LoL. While it might hold up for a while, it is not the right type of polyester resin for this application. Use a 2 part epoxy designed specifically for boat transoms, it will last much longer. I have used "Gluvit" with excellent results. Others will tell you West Systems makes a good product as well.

idruthrbfishin said:

Don't use fiberglass resin. I used it on a modified V many years ago when I was young and uneducated LoL. While it might hold up for a while, it is not the right type of polyester resin for this application. Use a 2 part epoxy designed specifically for boat transoms, it will last much longer. I have used "Gluvit" with excellent results. Others will tell you West Systems makes a good product as well.

Click to expand...

Fiberglass resin WILL peel off plywood ... not IF, but WHEN ...

Best bet, price and value in 2-part mix epoxies is www.raka.com. Figure out your square footage and call Mike or Larry and talk to them. Simple 2-to-1 mix, regardless of how much mixed (at least with their standard resins). Works as good as any non-specialized West Systms product at 1/2 to 2/3rds the price, and with no need for expensive mix pumps.

DaleH said:

idruthrbfishin said:

Don't use fiberglass resin. I used it on a modified V many years ago when I was young and uneducated LoL. While it might hold up for a while, it is not the right type of polyester resin for this application. Use a 2 part epoxy designed specifically for boat transoms, it will last much longer. I have used "Gluvit" with excellent results. Others will tell you West Systems makes a good product as well.

Click to expand...

Fiberglass resin WILL peel off plywood ... not IF, but WHEN ...

Best bet, price and value in 2-part mix epoxies is www.raka.com. Figure out your square footage and call Mike or Larry and talk to them. Simple 2-to-1 mix, regardless of how much mixed (at least with their standard resins). Works as good as any non-specialized West Systms product at 1/2 to 2/3rds the price, and with no need for expensive mix pumps.

Click to expand...

Dale, I checked that site out after you posted it in another thread. Do you have a recommendation of the thickness of the epoxy resin for a jon boat transom job? I'd lean towards thing with a slow cure hardener since this is a coating vs a patch type job but that's just a guess.

Thickness? No, just ensure full coverage. The epoxy will soak into the wood, at various rates as the panel surface density varies, but I never worry about a minimum thickness per se, as long as I get full/consistent coverage.

But recall I do multiple coats on the edge grain.

DaleH said:

Thickness? No, just ensure full coverage. The epoxy will soak into the wood, at various rates as the panel surface density varies, but I never worry about a minimum thickness per se, as long as I get full/consistent coverage.

But recall I do multiple coats on the edge grain.

Click to expand...

Sorry, I wasn't clear. By thickness I meant product thickness - aka viscosity. Their kits let you choose between thin, medium, and thick viscosity epoxies to mix with diff speed hardeners.

I've always used their basic 'thin' marine epoxy resin 127, their standard resin with a low viscosity of 600 centipoise, very little smell and excellent wetting out and clear coating properties.

... 'tis far easier to thicken a resin where needed, say like when making into peanut-butter consistency for when applying fillets to adjoining pieces.

DaleH said:

I've always used their basic 'thin' marine epoxy resin 127, their standard resin with a low viscosity of 600 centipoise, very little smell and excellent wetting out and clear coating properties.

... 'tis far easier to thicken a resin where needed, say like when making into peanut-butter consistency for when applying fillets to adjoining pieces.

Click to expand...

Thanks Dale. Sounds like mixing resin is like making a good sausage gravy lol.