See full version: Answer: How do you inspect a fiberglass boat
Try to look at transom and other areas with thru hull fittings from inside boat with flash light where there is no gelcoat and rot will show up as darker or black wood behind glass if it was not painted. You may also see black or dark brown water stains oozing out of the thru hull fittings.Dec 31, 2014
– Start with a quick walk-around. Look at the hull, paying particular attention to the stem, chines and strakes. …
– Remove the outboard cowling. …
– Shake the I/O back and forth. …
– Check the dipstick. …
– Look at the wiring. …
– Test the fuel and oil. …
– Open the hatches. …
– Check for leaks.
Re: how to tell if a transom is bad If the boat is I/O powered, a typical sign of a bad transom is the appearance of stress cracks on the outside of the transom. The cracks will be in the location between the bilge drain and the botton of the outdrive and they’re crescent shaped (they look like smiley faces).Apr 9, 2006
Post by liquid » Tue Jun 12, 2018 1:34 pm
Post by Big Block Power » Mon Oct 09, 2017 6:13 pm
TechieTechie wrote: ↑ Fri Mar 15, 2019 2:24 pm I am the person from THT who contacted Cobalt about the use of wood and when they went 'wood free'. Here is the complete email response.
We have always used marine grade plywood in the construction of our boats. It is supposed to be resistant to water intrusion, but we ignored that and covered it first with resin, and once it was installed in the boat, we covered it with fiberglass.
You will see some stainless steel parts such as the rails and other smaller hardware. Grady-White uses high quality 316-grade stainless steel.
The boat maker ensures that all the materials are strong enough to last long. They use temperature-controlled and tested blended polyester resin. Before using the material, they test it to ensure that there is a proper resin-to-glass ratio.
You may have heard someone exclaim that wooden boats are beautiful. However, people feel that these boats required a lot of maintenance work. The woods would rot, and you had to replace them. [links]
Comparing the durability of the two boats, wooden boats can last for more than fifty years. You may need to change a few boards, but the boats will last long. Most fiberglass boats haven’t been around long enough to prove that they can last as long.
Chris bought his first boat a few years ago and he has been learning about boating and boat care ever since! Chris loves to share what he learns with others and we are excited to have him writing for us here at Best Boat Report!
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.
[links]