Stringers

[phil2]

Well I did it like a dink. Had a friend look at the boat I bought to make sure it was ok. He has owned 3 so i took his word in the purchase. Well the survey dink the previous owner had drilled holes from one end of stringer right back  the other side. Never sealed Any of them. Well you guessed it! Rotten!! Grabbed my drill where there were no holes its fine. So I'm screwed. Deciding in how safe it is and if I can get the summer out of it and get fixed in the fall. 

[GAMBLER]

10 minutes ago, phil2 said:

Well I did it like a dink. Had a friend look at the boat I bought to make sure it was ok. He has owned 3 so i took his word in the purchase. Well the survey dink the previous owner had drilled holes from one end of stringer right back  the other side. Never sealed Any of them. Well you guessed it! Rotten!! Grabbed my drill where there were no holes its fine. So I'm screwed. Deciding in how safe it is and if I can get the summer out of it and get fixed in the fall. 

I had mine done years ago and mine were in rough shape.  Some boats, the engine starts to sink into the stringer.  We found mine because the engine was flexing the stringer and the engine coupler went.  Is yours and I/O or inboard? 

[Tradman]

Depending on the extent of rot, you may be able to remove the glass, scarf joint new wood in place and re glass, a good 12 to 1 scarf joint with epoxy resin is stronger than the wood itself

[phil2]

1 hour ago, GAMBLER said:

I had mine done years ago and mine were in rough shape.  Some boats, the engine starts to sink into the stringer.  We found mine because the engine was flexing the stringer and the engine coupler went.  Is yours and I/O or inboard? 

Mines a inboard.

[Missdemeanor]

You need to weigh your options... A few years ago I was faced with the same deal...
I love the boat and have owned it since it was brand new. It sounds corny, but I felt I owed it to her to fix her.
Replaced all the stringers with Black locust... She will never have any stringer issues again.
Boats are A lot like women... The older they get, they need a little more attention... And they sure will let you know if you neglect them... Good luck with your decision and have a successful season.

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[phil2]

Ya I can't wait I have been in it every day getting it ready. Waiting on writes landing to get there crap together to bring it out. Going to be different fishing out of it than my 21 ft ranger bass boat. 

[jimski2]

Reinstalling the engine creates an alignment issue with the IO Drive. Misallignment  will destroy the u joint quickly.

[Xxx]

I had my engine in and out so many times I finally bought the alignment tool, a little salty in pricey, but will cover the coupler cost plus having to pull the engine forward enough to get beyond the input shaft. That tool I smear grease on the splines to se if it’s favoring up or down by the amount of grease left in the splines, that will tell you up or down with the front of the motor. It doesn’t take much to start ruining things fast!!

[L&M]

1 hour ago, jimski2 said:

Reinstalling the engine creates an alignment issue with the IO Drive. Misallignment  will destroy the u joint quickly.

 

9 minutes ago, pap said:

I had my engine in and out so many times I finally bought the alignment tool, a little salty in pricey, but will cover the coupler cost plus having to pull the engine forward enough to get beyond the input shaft. That tool I smear grease on the splines to se if it’s favoring up or down by the amount of grease left in the splines, that will tell you up or down with the front of the motor. It doesn’t take much to start ruining things fast!!

 

Not sur if he mentioned it in this thread or not but the boat is a straight inboard not an I/O 

[Xxx]

1 minute ago, L&M said:

 

 

Not sur if he mentioned it in this thread or not but the boat is a straight inboard not an I/O 

 

Well then that changes everything  .

[pjprod]

Same here...stringers were bad ruined my u-joint/coupler...motor starts to sag and comes out of alignment with lower unit etc. Good luck...Bust Out Another Thousand... BOAT. Sucks big time...been there...

[phil2]

Motor not sagging yet everything is straight. Got recommended to pour this stuff in the Stringers turns the soft wood into a rock. 100 bucks a qt. They use it allot on older boats. They tested it and use it allot I guess. So I'm going to try and hopefully get the summer no issues and take to someone in the fall. Mostly the bad is in the back where he drilled holes on the sides of stringers. And one spot in front of the motor where a drain hole is. 

[Fishnut]

Motor not sagging yet everything is straight. Got recommended to pour this stuff in the Stringers turns the soft wood into a rock. 100 bucks a qt. They use it allot on older boats. They tested it and use it allot I guess. So I'm going to try and hopefully get the summer no issues and take to someone in the fall. Mostly the bad is in the back where he drilled holes on the sides of stringers. And one spot in front of the motor where a drain hole is. 

I would have I professional look at it and follow his recommendations. You don’t want to be 14 miles from port when something catastrophic happens. Ask his opinion on what you can do to it to get you through the season.


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[phil2]

My plan once I get it out there. The marina here told me do so the epoxy stuff. 

[jimski2]

This is one of several reasons the boating industry converted to outboard engines on newer boats. One boat builder installed seven three hundred horsepower engines on the transom of its boats. Inboard and inboard outboard engines are rare new boats today.

[firedome]

Exactly, outboards are easier to deal with on every level. I worked as a marine tech on Lake Champlain for years when off summer from teaching HS science, and got sick of dealing with I/Os and their issues, everything is more complicated. I've never owned an I/O and never will. My daughter bought a used 4 Winns 18'' I/O against my advice and 2 years later she regretted it when the stringers and engine supports went bad.

[phil2]

Popped main cover off and got below. 3 of the 4 motor mounts were loose. Two bolts nuts were missing got everything tight and started poking around. Stringer is fine at motor. I have a soft spot starboard side where drain hole is and the last 4 ft if the back. The side stringers are solid but where the holes were its soft. Found a wire hanger so there must of been something there. Never plugged the holes. So I'm running it!! 

Edited April 28, 2018 by phil2

[jimski2]

When we replaced engines on our Coast Guard boats, the flange couples were installed with concentric and face to face measurements to be properly aligned. Shims were added to the engine mounts to accomplish this.