Seacast, Arjay or Nida core?

[Curious]

I am going to be pouring my transom in the near future (you can see my thread in the rebuilds forum) and haven't decided yet which material to use.  Can you guys help me make up my mind?  Also, where do I get the stuff?  I live in MA.  
Thanks, Dan

[Capt Matt]

Certainly not Nida core for a transom, If you want composite go with coosa blue water 26 or the poured. Not sure if there is a Composite One in MA, if not buy it online.
Capt Matt

[seabob4]

Certainly not Nida core for a transom, If you want composite go with coosa blue water 26 or the poured. Not sure if there is a Composite One in MA, if not buy it online.
Capt Matt

Matt, if I'm not mistaken, Comp One is based out of RI or Delaware...just checked, Bristol, RI.  That's close enough...

[gran398]

Curious...regarding a recommended pour material:

Feel sure that Bondobill can offer guidance, Seacast vs.  Arjay.

Your prep, based upon previous posts, looks great.

[bondobill]

I am going to be pouring my transom in the near future (you can see my thread in the rebuilds forum) and haven't decided yet which material to use.  Can you guys help me make up my mind?  Also, where do I get the stuff?  I live in MA.  
Thanks, Dan

I used Seacast. checked into Arjay and there was one other that I can't remember the name.  I am out here on the West Coast and shipping was a factor. If I remember right all 3 brands were made in Florida. Arjay directed me to a dealer in Seattle,  . The one manufacturer who I can't remember the name never responded to my inquires about shipping charges.  Ended up going with Seacast, they have great tech support and I could order it direct from them either online or by phone and not have to go through a dealer to purchase. Arjay was about 20-25% more than Seacast.  Ordered the Seacast on a Monday afternoon PDT and received it on that Friday , I consider that  pretty fast from east to west coast.
Found it to be easy to work with, as long as you have at least one if not two people helping during the pour. I would give it    

Bii

[slippery73]

Certainly not Nida core for a transom, If you want composite go with coosa blue water 26 or the poured. Not sure if there is a Composite One in MA, if not buy it online.
Capt Matt

He is referring to the nida-cora branded transom pour material, not the nida-core honey comb material.  Nida-core makes a bunch more products than just the honey comb composite panels.


I've used both the Nida-core transom pour as well as the Arjay.  Both materials looked the same, mixed the same, cured the same.  I've never used the seacast so I can't comment on it. But the seacast was about $75 more per 5gal pail than the other two at the time.

I'd go with whatever you can get cheapest. Doubt there is a lot of difference between them.

[seabob4]

I'm pretty sure the 2-part pour we used at the factory was an Arjay product.  Stuff was excellent, cured to about concrete hardness, yet about the same amount of effort was needed to drill through it when drilling out engine mounting holes...

I think I told you about my buddy Tony who was drilling a transom, his bit kept getting hung up on something "elastic", ended up digging out fingers of a yellow rubber glove...but no human fingers in them!

[Curious]

seabob- When I was I kid and I was walking along the beach with my dad and we came across a discarded glove, he would always say "I hope there isn't a hand in it!"  And just as I would reach down to pick it up I would hesitate and wonder about his comment.  Your post brought back a lot of good memories, and no, there were never any fingers in the gloves.  

Slippery- I am in the midst of doing the research and for some reason I am leaning towards the Nida product.  It seems more "pourable" and is cheaper, which is definately a factor, however I don't want to back up to the Old Man Rip off Nantucket when the wave are stacked right up and wonder if I made the right decision, only to watch the motor and half the transom head for Davey Jones' Locker.  Sometimes seeing multiple 40 pound stripers in the crest of a wave will make a man do foolish things.....

[seabob4]

Look Ma, no hands!!!

A lot of guys on the Classic SeaCraft forum use Seacast.  I think that it is best to do a little research, do the proper prep work (good bonding surfaces), and then factor in the economics.

Myself? I'd leave the outer skin, then build a Coosa transom...2 layers of 3/4" Bluewater 26...

[Curious]

Bill-

Thanks for the info.  Exactly why I posted this, even though I'm sure it's beating a dead horse.  I am still trying to decide what to use.  Cost is a factor but so is safety.  For some reason I am leaning towards Nida or Seacast.  Please keep the advice coming.  The pour isn't going to happen anytime soon since the temperature is currently, (brace yourselves), 16 F.

[Curious]

By the way, I've been doing a lot of online research and everyone has an opinion.  Which, honestly it helps to know what everyone thinks about each method.  My brother was initially convinced that I should do a plywood replacement and was very sceptical about my repoour idea.  Then he saw what I was doing and though it might just be a good idea.  Long story short, I am definately doing the repour method.  I have the cavity exposed and drying out and this looks like the right thing to do. Keep in mind I have no desire to completely rebuild this old, used and abused 1978 22' Family Fisherman.  I want to get it to float, put a motor on it, make it safe and fish the hell out of it. Safely.  So I'm going to fix the transom, mount the motor, replace the gas tank and get it bare bones running to see if it is worth keeping and continuing to fix.

[seabob4]

By the way, I've been doing a lot of online research and everyone has an opinion.  Which, honestly it helps to know what everyone thinks about each method.  My brother was initially convinced that I should do a plywood replacement and was very sceptical about my repoour idea.  Then he saw what I was doing and though it might just be a good idea.  Long story short, I am definately doing the repour method.  I have the cavity exposed and drying out and this looks like the right thing to do. Keep in mind I have no desire to completely rebuild this old, used and abused 1978 22' Family Fisherman.  I want to get it to float, put a motor on it, make it safe and fish the hell out of it. Safely.  So I'm going to fix the transom, mount the motor, replace the gas tank and get it bare bones running to see if it is worth keeping and continuing to fix.

Uh Oh, sounds like a plan...

[gran398]

Here's another plus...with the tank out, all of that airflow/drying out...the ol' gal is gonna go on the Fatkin's diet...guaranteed weight loss.

[bondobill]

Actually now that I think about it Nida was the other one I contacted about shipping charges, they got back to me 2 weeks after I had my transom done. Like Bob said go with the one that is the most cost effective, my guess is they are all pretty much the same. One thing I will tell you is, I had about 1 gallon mixed up we didn't use during the pour, hardened up in the bucket, took a 5 lb maul to it to see if we could bust it up,  that crap is tougher than chit.

Bill

[dirtwheelsfl]

nidacore service has gone to crap since 3M took them over. everything has to go through 3M, you cant go there and buy stuff like you used to, you have to go through all this quote crap with 3M. ive tried several times to get quotes and havent heard anything back. they dont like hassleing with the little guys i guess. awhile back i needed a few scraps of foam for something, and they said come on out and gave me 2 full 2x4ft. sheets, free. very nice people there still, but just under the 3M corporate rule. sad really...