I just bought a 1992 Nitro with 150XP Evinrude motor. After having my dad-in-law check it out he says there is some minor transom damage. the only evidence is some stress cracks around the top of the transom and motor mounts. It feels pretty firm still but the cracks in the gelcoat bother me a bit. is there a way to reinforce it to take some of the stress of that big motor off the transom? I don't really wanna dump another 3K on a new transom. Please let me know your thoughts.

Does the transom flex any at all? I think there are two types of transoms, good ones and bad ones without a whole lot in between.

very little flex. All I know for sure is that there are some cracks in the gel mostly around the top of the transom where the motor hangs over the transom. We all make mistakes and me buying this boat could prove to be a big one. We will see. I thought of maybe trying to reinforce the inside with a steel or aluminum square tubing to strengthen it any thoughts?

Before you do any work on the boat, are you able to pull the motor and transom cover (little aluminum plate) and see if the transom if actually wet? You could also pull one of the motor mount bolts and check for water in the transon.

Cracked gelcoat is very common and usually not a cause for concern. But a wet transom is a different story.

Heck I have had little hair line stress cracks around my splash well on my 86 Ranger almost since it was new. I have never hit anything hard other than a rotten floater on Texoma. All it did was kick the motor up. Left a pile of sawdust behind and scared the [censored] out of the wife. I would not worry unless you find evidence of moisture: mounting bolts sucking in or hollow sound when tapped with a ball peen hammer. Pull and re-seal the bolts with a good below water line silicone. I just loosened one side at a time on mine and sealed between the jack plate and transom along with hole and bolt threads. Also, if it has the aluminum cap pull it and seal.

Transoms do NOT flex. If you can move it at all by standing on the motor, it needs attention. AT ALL...

Good info...
Keep it coming I love input like this

Mine had VERY little flex when bouncing on the motor. I opened it up and the entire transom was mush.

I've got a 1976 Roadrunner that I'm restoring. The transom had no noticeable flex to it. I took the top-cap off to paint it and the transom was completely mush. I dug a whole bunch of the wood out with my fingers.

As far as re-inforcing it to take stress off of it, you better get with some professionals on that one.

Holsterguy has a pretty informative thread on how he redid his transom relatively cheap. He can fill you in on the details.

-Alton

I build/rebuild fiberglass boats, we replace 6 to 15 transom a year, I get 30 to 60 boat inspections a year, if it's older than a 1999 most MFG were still building with wood core and fail the inspection, because of floor/transom/stringgers or all, most of the time it's transom failure due to screw holes, not sealing up mounting bolt holes or to much weight on the transom, owner/operator abuse stump jumping/reef sliding. There is no reinforcement to be added, if the transom can't handel the power that it installed with it's time to rebuild or pass on this used boat.

+1 if ya need to reinforce it ya need to repair it.

Exactly why you tap it with a hammer

I had a mushy transom and tried to delay the inevitable with a piece of angle iron supporting the bottom bolts under the splashwell. Holes were pulled in and underneath the bolts it was like sawdust. $2000 boat not worth a 3 grand repair so i am using Seacast.

Had the same issue with my skeeter. six weeks later, $3,500.00, and it was a cap off job ready to go.

If it's 10 years old or older you really need to check out the transom.

here a tip for the boat guy thats in need of a transom replaced if it's got wood in it at rebuild, do it with all composite materials, if the shop does not do it that way, find another shop, you Will pay a little more at the end of the job & get a receipt of the work being done, IT'S A MAJOR SELLING POINT AT RESALE, you will recoop most your cash in most cases