sea cast

boxer123

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just have quick question gonna do my transom over. Wondering if anybody has ever used seacast and if so any tips thank u
 

wattsdan

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I used it for a Wellcraft Nova I/O that I have and it turned out good. Rock solid.
 

wattsdan

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As for tips.....it can take a long time to get out all of the old wood. You can pour the seacast through a large funnel with a 1 1/2" tube on it. It cost me about $600.00 for the seacast but it saved me from having to take off the rear of the boat and doing fiberglass and paint work on it. You don't have to worry about rot when it is done!
 

boxer123

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thank u i already took out the wood and have the seacast next step is to pour it in thanks for the tip
 

TBone

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Keep us up to date on your project, I would be interested in how it comes out. 8)

Take pics if you can

Good Luck!!!
 

gw204

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The only way I would use that stuff is if I were to cut off either the inner or out transom skin and completely remove the old wood core. Without doing so, you run the risk of having the bonding surfaces not properly prepped and the strength of the bond can be compromised.

By removing one of the skins, you can adequately grind and clean the inner surface of both. They glass the skin you cut off back in place prior to pouring the stuff.

That being said, I would stick new wood in there before I used Seacast.
 

TBone

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gw204 said:
That being said, I would stick new wood in there before I used Seacast.

Just curoius why you would?

Have you any experiences with the sea cast?

Not trying to be wise, I have been researching that stuff for a while to see

what its all about, and honestly, I havent found any one who used it say

anything bad, or tell any reasons why plywood would be better, other than

thats how they feel.
 

gw204

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My research has been somewhat limited, but I haven't been able to find hardly anyone that has used it. So, lack of info. is playing a factor for me.

I described above what I feel would need to be done in order to properly prep the inner and outer skins to achieve the best bond possible. By the time you do all that, you could put the wood back in (which has proven to been a good coring material - when used properly) for minimal extra work.

Who knows...it might be a good product.
 

Grog

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It might work out but I'd pass on it. The install directions were a little scary, use a chainsaw to get the old wood out. There's going to be some old wood left in there and the saw is going to kick once in a while leaving some "woops".
 

TBone

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Im wondering also how it would be for "re-coring" hatches?

Stuff seems pretty strong, and it wont rot.
 

Grog

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TBone said:
Im wondering also how it would be for "re-coring" hatches?

Stuff seems pretty strong, and it wont rot.

Now that seems like a good use for it.
 

gw204

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TBone said:
Im wondering also how it would be for "re-coring" hatches?

Stuff seems pretty strong, and it wont rot.

Seems to me like that would be more work than using some sort of high density foam core that already has two flat surfaces. You would have to take steps to ensure that the core was of equal thickness and would most likely have some grinding/sanding to do in order to smooth it out before glassing over it.

Just my $.02.
 

gradyfish22

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If you wanna do it right, don't use sea cast. The reason you don't hear much about it is because most who used it used it recently and there aren't that manyy. I'm sure it works now and will last a few years, but I'm not sure it will hold up over time, it may but why take the chance and cut a corner. IMHO do it right, have the whole transom redone, either core it or use wood again but take care of it. Nothing wrong with either wood or core if you take care of it. 75% of transom problems are from owners who drilled into the transom and did not seal it properly or from thru hulls or scuppers that cracked and let water in. The rest are because the glass had air pocklets in it and lost its strength and let in water over time and fatigue. If done right it should never rot, or outlast your usage atleast. I do agree with gw204 on some of his points. There is no real way to ensure you have no voids in the hull. Fiberglass loses its strength when there is a void and becomes much easier to crack and break apart. If you leave some wood in and fill it, the wood will break down over time and those viods will crack badly. I do agree the product looks neat and in the future it might be great, but I'd be a bit leary of it honestly. It might be ok for a fix for a year or two but I would not recommend it for a lifetime fix. To redo a transom your looking at maybe $2500. Wattsdan spent $600 for the seacast plus his time to remove the wood and then fill it. Add his man hours in and the price difference is not that big.

Cutting the transom out is the easiest, remove the engine yourself if you wish to save money. You can cut it yourself too and then take it to a pro, or if you have glass expereince before you can do it yourself and then have a good yard paint the hull or gell it to match and it will look perfect and be brand new.

I know I'd never buy a boat with a seacast transom, I'd walk away in a second from the deal, no matter how good it was.

Hopefully the project goes well for you and you have no issues, I do wish you the best but personally I would not have went this route.
 

gradyfish22

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If you wanna do it right, don't use sea cast. The reason you don't hear much about it is because most who used it used it recently and there aren't that manyy. I'm sure it works now and will last a few years, but I'm not sure it will hold up over time, it may but why take the chance and cut a corner. IMHO do it right, have the whole transom redone, either core it or use wood again but take care of it. Nothing wrong with either wood or core if you take care of it. 75% of transom problems are from owners who drilled into the transom and did not seal it properly or from thru hulls or scuppers that cracked and let water in. The rest are because the glass had air pocklets in it and lost its strength and let in water over time and fatigue. If done right it should never rot, or outlast your usage atleast. I do agree with gw204 on some of his points. There is no real way to ensure you have no voids in the hull. Fiberglass loses its strength when there is a void and becomes much easier to crack and break apart. If you leave some wood in and fill it, the wood will break down over time and those viods will crack badly. I do agree the product looks neat and in the future it might be great, but I'd be a bit leary of it honestly. It might be ok for a fix for a year or two but I would not recommend it for a lifetime fix. To redo a transom your looking at maybe $2500. Wattsdan spent $600 for the seacast plus his time to remove the wood and then fill it. Add his man hours in and the price difference is not that big.

Cutting the transom out is the easiest, remove the engine yourself if you wish to save money. You can cut it yourself too and then take it to a pro, or if you have glass expereince before you can do it yourself and then have a good yard paint the hull or gell it to match and it will look perfect and be brand new.

I know I'd never buy a boat with a seacast transom, I'd walk away in a second from the deal, no matter how good it was.

Hopefully the project goes well for you and you have no issues, I do wish you the best but personally I would not have went this route.
 

NIGHTIDES

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gradyfish22 said:
To redo a transom your looking at maybe $2500. Wattsdan spent $600 for the seacast plus his time to remove the wood and then fill it.big. quote]

I think you are way low on the price for a transom redo. Freind just got quoted $5,500-6,500 to get his bracketed Grady transom done with the engine off the boat. Where did you get the $2,500 number..? I have a customer for that guy..
 

TBone

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While we are the subject....

Has any one used Coosa board in there transom rebuilds?

Any stories pro or con about the stuff?
 

gradyfish22

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$2500 if you remove the engine yourself, they charge a lot to rerig the engine and lift it off, its a total rip off. $5500 seems like a lot to me, I'd get more quotes honestly. A buddy of mine had his transom redone a season and a half ago by a guy near lake hopatcong nj, it was an I/O with full transom and he had removed the engine himself and had it done for $2400. He did also replace the engine so maybe he did get a slight deal on the work and price. Antoher guy from my marina got a quote from a local guy about a year ago for $3200 but I know that guy is way overpriced, but he does great work. Maybe rates have raised a little with the price of petroleum and such but not enough to make that huge of a price increase.
 

dlevitt

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I was the "other guy" at Gradyfish22's marina... unless there was someone else. Those prices were about right. It would have cost me about $3-3.5k assuming that he would have removed the engine and re-rigged everything. It would have been about $500 less if I removed everything.

The guy was also honest with me, which is a treat. When he checked everything out, the engine mount was structurally sound. However, I did have some rot and delamination on the sides where water got in under the aluminum cap. I decided to dry out the wood with a vacuum system and fill with Git-Rot, which is a penetrating epoxy. I figured that this would give me some time to decide what I wanted to do with this 28 year old boat ('81 Seafarer). I used it all season with no problems.

Please note that I was told by the transom/fiberglass guy, my marine mechanic as well as the surveyor that there was no Safety concern at this time. I just figured that I had nothing to lose by trying the git-rot. Of course, if there was a safety issue, I would have replaced the transom and not tried any "shortcuts".

David