I would, and did, recore with plywood. The technical specs I have seen all say the poured fillers tend to be brittle providing too little strenght when adding a bracket. Also, have, or will, you reinforce the transom with knee braces connecting to the stringers? A bracket with a 500# engine hanging off the end will put a ton of torque on the transom. Check out Shine's and LilRichard's rebuilds. They did theirs the right way.MD
If Little Richard and Shine's rebuild use wood transoms then I wouldn't exactly call them "done the right way" quote]^ i dont know if id say that, if you know what youre doing and do it the right way, theres nothing wrong with a wood transom
Quote from: "Mad Dog"I would, and did, recore with plywood. The technical specs I have seen all say the poured fillers tend to be brittle providing too little strenght when adding a bracket. Also, have, or will, you reinforce the transom with knee braces connecting to the stringers? A bracket with a 500# engine hanging off the end will put a ton of torque on the transom. Check out Shine's and LilRichard's rebuilds. They did theirs the right way.MD What technical specs are you looking at? All of the specs i've read have all been mechanically much stronger than a plywood or foam composite transom. Its also decay and rot resistant, will never absorb water etc. There's a bunch of manufacturers ( venture, hydrasports, canyon bay, robalo, angler, etc.) that are going this route on there new production boats. Its also the preferred method by many boat rebuilders because of its strength, ease of use, and longevity. It might cost a little more than plywood, but to have something thats much more durable, that you will never, ever have to worry about, its a no brainer. You'd be dumb to put plywood back in your boat with this material only costing a little more. The material cost is more but I would say you will probably save in labor costs depending on how your set up to use the material.As far as it being brittle, its far from, Nidacore specifications show elastic yielding before failing. Meaning that the material has flex to it and that it will spring back once force is not applied. Brittle items, (glass, concrete, carbon fiber, etc.) have a fail point that is almost identical to its ultimate strength vs. breaking strength. They have no give before failure occurs. Nidacore specifically notes that the product has elastic yield. I have samples of the used material, its not brittle at all, its not at all like straight resin.You really wont have elastic yield issues with this material however, its solid. If done correctly the poured transom will last as long as the rest of the boat.If Little Richard and Shine's rebuild use wood transoms then I wouldn't exactly call them "done the right way" I can't think of a single boat manufacturer that advertises how strong their "wood transoms" are. In fact, I cant think of a single builder (other than and entire wood built boat) that uses a wood transom. Wood transoms have been outdated for over 10 years with the advent of the composite foam products. The foam has its issues as well, but the pour seems to address all the problems of the foam and make a much better overall product.
Your right. I'm an idiot. :| By the way, you should contact Joel Shine at Boat Builders Central and tell him he doesn't know what he is doing.MD