thompsondockside.com

This is not really new but it is to me being a novice at repairing a wooden boat her goes, AJR, TXCAPJOHN are you guys owners of boat repair bussinesses. You give great help, anyway here I go, I"m about ready to start to remove the transom on my 59 seacoaster,yes I bought danenbergs books, How do you get the screws out of the old transom and get it out? It appears to me that after you sand the paint and dig the fill off of the top of the screws you will not have much material left to reattach the boards. I have a drill bit that cuts out spot welds which would cut the heads off of the screws, but I believe these boards are glued to the transom as well. Short of takeing my sawsall and makeing the boat shorter. I want to make sure the boat floats when I"m done. Was white oak used on the face of the transom it appears this might be the case on the face along with mahoganie as the top board? Hard to tell with all of the stain and varnish. Thanks in advance. Jim Hays

Hi Jim, thanks for the nice comments. No, I don't restore boats as a business. It's a hobby for me - altho an extreme one. I have 9 or 10 boats right now!

I am most familiar with Peshtigo built Thompson Boats. Cortland built boats definately had some different details and methods. So...I can tell you what I know about those boats built in Peshtigo (my hometown area!).

The transom is made of solid mahogany boards. The outer layer boards go horizontally and the inner ones go vertically. They are screwed together. They might have used a little adhesive too. There might be a white oak horizontal brace on the inside of the transom that is carriage bolted to the transom.

Typically, the planking was both nailed and screwed into the transom edges. An adehsive or caulk would have been used as well. There will be long screws from the outside of the transom that go into the keel and stringers. These will be bunged.

You need to take your time and be very patient when removing all these fasteners. The planking will look like swiss cheese when you have the transom out. It is very typical for folks to shorten the boat by the thickness of the transom because there is so little wood remaining.

Make certain you brace the boat prior to removal of components so that the shape is maintained.

Hope this helps and feel free to ask more questions. That's what this forum is all about!

Anderas

Jim,
I am not a proffesional restorer either, I have also worked my way through multiple boats too. My 20' seacamper is nearing finish after a year. I have a Yahoo site at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/classicoutboards/ and have shots of my transom repair.
My boat had a very tight fit and a very good exterior face of horizontal boards. I replaced some inner boards, braces and new oak cross brace.
My boat is in photo file " A New Boat" in photosection. There are some nice shots there that show transom construction and makeup.
I removed soft vertical planks and replaced them with new mahogany. When they built these boats they pretty much just screwed them togehterand what little aheasive that was used has dissolved. So take care when removing pieces as they can be used as a pattern. Save them all!
I saved each piece no matter how rotten to use as a pattern.
A local boat shop makes me pieces to size, especially to thickness which never seem to be a standard size. And then I do final shaping and finishing, a pretty economical way to do a restoration
I reassembled with the correct hardware and sealer/varnish.
Take a lot of pictures as you go along for reference later.
I have been doing this as a hobby for about 15 years now.
Good luck on your project - post some pics!

thanks Dan for the response, I will try and remember to take the pictures, I'm not in a big hurry (retired) wife thinks I'm nuts but it keeps me busy and out of the way. I will check out your site, I'm not to computor savy but can figure things out in time will try and post some pics in time. Again thanks Jim Hays