170 Osprey Floor

[Rhino67]

I know I read something here once before about the soft floor but now I can't find it. So I'm reaching out to the boat Guru's for some advice here. Right behind the console seat and right in front of the console pretty much in the center of the floor it flexes when I step on it. Not much but enough to notice and make me a little worried. I've looked down in the inspection plate in the back but haven't noticed any rot. The front I have no access to poke around in. Any suggestions to stiffing up the floor or ideas as to why it would do this?  I'm playing with the idea of cutting out the entire floor and adding a live well somewhere in the boat anyhow but would like to prolong this action at least until I get the bayliner I'm redoing finished. I didn't see any supports in the back for the floor so i'm wondering if maybe somethings missing. What cha got fellas?

[Rhino67]

I gotta say, I'm a little disappointed that I had absolutely no response at all on this for such an extended period of idle time. Can I at least get any good suggestions as to what I can do to install a live/bait well somewhere in the boat? I'm kind of leaning towards some type of bolt on or external type live/bait well on the inside of the transom or something to that effect. Any good suggestions?

[slvrlng]

What year is your 170?

I too have a soft spot in my deck. I have thought about removing the top layer of non skid then rip out rotten wood. Then put new wood in and laminate the old skin back in. I will end up with an edge doing it this way. My hull has a livewell in the port transom corner. There are a lot of people that have a removable livewell sitting on the deck with a simple pump hookup and a raw water hose over the transom and a return back over the transom. This seems to work quite well.

[pete]

sorry for the lack of replies,but its hard to "see" your issue.There is actually alot of diferent ways to approach this....
1.drill some small holes in the area,dont go too deep,thru the top skin and not the bottom and see if dry sawdust comes out or moist worm dirt
2.If worm dirt you need a new deck,or you can inject some epoxy for a temp fix
3.deck could be delaminated  in that area,same fix inject some epoxy and weight down the deck till cured
4.cut out the soft section and put in an accsess hatch.
5.Any combination of the above
you need to do some exploratory surgery to figure out what is going on,maybe get ahold of one of those cool inspection cams of if you can,hold a digital cam under the deck and snap away.
good luck,find out whats going on and we can help you fix it.

[gran398]

I know I read something here once before about the soft floor but now I can't find it. So I'm reaching out to the boat Guru's for some advice here. Right behind the console seat and right in front of the console pretty much in the center of the floor it flexes when I step on it. Not much but enough to notice and make me a little worried. I've looked down in the inspection plate in the back but haven't noticed any rot. The front I have no access to poke around in. Any suggestions to stiffing up the floor or ideas as to why it would do this?  I'm playing with the idea of cutting out the entire floor and adding a live well somewhere in the boat anyhow but would like to prolong this action at least until I get the bayliner I'm redoing finished. I didn't see any supports in the back for the floor so i'm wondering if maybe somethings missing. What cha got fellas?

Straight off....our apologies. No one responding immediately is unusual. Don't have a good answer, except sometimes things get lost in the shuffle. If no response within a reasonable time, post again friend...and don't be bashful

Regarding your floor: The console area of all 70's/80's CC models is where the problem began. As we have found, leaking screw holes in the floor are the culprit.

Unfortunately there is no remedy for spongy floors. Members in the past have attempted to dig out and inject with epoxy/Git Rot etc...only serves to isolate the moisture in the other areas and speed the rot process.

You can inject, you can patch...but only a temporary band-aid, as Pete states.

The core material in these boats was AC fir ply, glassed both sides. Once the rot starts, it spreads. Best soloution, when the time is right...cut it out and replace. Either AC again (good stuff, lasted 30 years) or nidacore, other waffle synthetic, etc.

[pete]

good tag on Scott,you are absolutely correct ,unfortunately the only way to fix a soft deck is to replace it,there really is no easy quick fix,best of luck with it!

[gran398]

Pete, right back atcha

Rhino, we never answered your livewell question.


You have a 170. When you view the 22-2 livewell installs...and the 19-6 livewell installs...remember livewell capacity involves carrying extra weight. All based upon HP, hull length, weight, and weight distribution.

Your 170 should carry/recirculate no more than 25 gallons, IMHO.

A small sit-on-top 25 gallon oval livewell behind the console would be perfect on your ride. Great weight distribution too. You can use a standard Tampa livewell..but shorten the standpipe to regulate the capacity.

Don't place the livewell at the transom so she bogs down when planing. Also...extra weight at the stern could allow water to ship over your open transom in a seaway.

And conversely, not in front/part of the console. Beats up the bait, wets your passengers' pants, and potentially makes her dog-down when running a head sea.

The Tampa/Boca guide boats place the oval livewell directly behind the console for a reason.

[Rhino67]

Well thank you all for the overwhelming responses here. Lol. Sorry if I came off a little tempermental. Rough day at work when I logged in to check my post. I'm going to go with the access hatch to check the floor section in front of the console. I'm thinking I have more of a delamination problem rather than rot but I won't know for sure until i get in there. I'll probably just end up ripping out the floor next winter and redecking the whole lot. I checked out another 170 rebuild on here and was really impressed with how his boat came out. I really liked how his floor looked without the blue incorporated into the color scheme on the inside. I'm not really interested in any temporary fixes I'd rather just do it right the first time. I'm toying with changing up a lot of the interior layout options anyhow and this would be a perfect opportunity to get it all done at once and not have to worry about the inside anymore. Btw, my 170 is a 1987 model. My friend brought up the idea of converting the storage in front of the console into a livewell and my thoughts were exactly the same about the wetting of passengers and beating up the bait. Not a good idea especially with the rough water factor of the lakes at home. I'll be back home at the end of next month and I'll be able to get my hands full of work with her. I'll be sure to post the pictures of what I find and get some more advice. Thanks a ton guys.