This is what my transom looked like when I was finally able to remove it. Replacement is on order. Then I begin the reverse process of rebuilding.

Yikes!!

You certainly dodged a bullet, and possibly a soaking and a lost outboard.

Hah! You got your Marlboro miles out of that piece of wood.

Man, there is no time like the present to fix this suckered up. You doing this yourself, or having it done? The Transom is a big project. I look forward to reading and seeing what you do.

Dang Carey! Lucky you didn't get wet bud! Get that fixed and get back out there after them Tennessee River Monsters!

DIY. The only local quote I could get was $7k. There is a Lund Transom Group on FB that has been very helpful.

Yes, the diy is the Rowdy way as well. First it's really expensive to have it done. Heck, just buying the good stuff to do this want be cheap. I have done a couple Transom and just getting good stuff to use was challenging.

Now days we have some really good stuff and much better proven methods also. Those people on fb you mentioned would be a great pool to pull from. I have always added better and/or knee bracing in the Transom. Use of anything to make it better, not just to rebuild it. I have a problem sometimes way over doing things lol.

The laying out and drilling the holes to mount your motor will be another challenge to do for the diy project. They do have a jig for this, that will help keep the drill square to the Transom and the symmetry of the 4 holes, you will need to lay out the true vertical centerline, then use it. Otherwise, you lay out the vertical centerline and then the 4 hole pattern to drill.

The other holes are not so critical. All in all, the one thing I would tell anyone doing this, to make it a point to enjoy this project and have fun with it. You get to the point your not, just stop and take a break, it will help your focus and your work will show it once done. It's a big job, just getting all that old off the boat was not easy, and nobody enjoys getting all the old rotted and broken stuff off lol...

Was this on a glass or aluminum boat ?