Pontoon transom
 

I need to replace the small wooden transom on our new to us pontoon. I am repowering it with a brand new Suzuki 9.9 to comply with HP limit on Hermit Lake.

I was thinking I would use exterior grade plywood, epoxy seal it, and then paint it. I can get the epoxy seal locally here in Raleigh at West Marine.

Am I forgetting or missing anything?

BTW...I now have a 1994? 25 hp Mercury with controls and tank for sale. Runs great. Decals and paint a little sun faded. No power trim. I can deliver the engine up in August when I tow up the toon.

Use marine grade plywood only not exterior grade..:

Good luck!

Dan

Ok, I had read other boat forum stuff where some were saying exterior grade works, too. I'll go with MGPW. Thanks

You will be happier in the end with marine grade.
One thing I learned when building a wooden kayak a few years ago was "drill-fill-drill".

Pre drill any holes then fill with epoxy, then drill it out again before inserting the screw. When I did a through hole, I drilled it out bigger than needed, taped up one side, mixed wood flour with epoxy filled the hole, taped the other side. After it dries drill the size you need and you have a fully encapsulated hole.

If you are mounting hardware, drill the hole fill with epoxy, put the hardware in place and drive the screw, let it sit for a bit and take the screw out and remove the hardware. Now you have a threaded mostly waterproof hole.

Good tips, Dad. Thanks. I found a local lumber yard with MGPW and I have some Total Boat epoxy sealer on order from Amazon. Good thing these transoms are right there and can be replaced easily. Some bolts and it's out.

New transom on left and old one on right. New one is made of 3 layers of MG plywood glued together and epoxy sealed. Had to raise it by about 4 inches to accommodate the new 9.9 Suzuki 4 stroke EFI w/ power tilt hanging from it. Love this little outboard. The old transom was just three pieces of regular PT plywood sandwiched together with the bolts. Some peoples work...just amazing.

Looks like a nice job. That should hold up a while.

Thank you!

BTW....the 25 Merc has been sold.

i think you're gonna love that zuki efi motor. i was planning on getting one of those for a kicker on my next boat, but the boat i bought had a kicker already. i've read lots of good things about that motor.

I bought this Suzuki online. It came with the helm control,prop, all wiring, fuel tank, hardware, and other little odds and ends. I got it for $2750 shipped right to my door by tractor trailer in 4 days from Tennessee. No shipping costs or taxes! I've never ordered something that expensive online and then there is hoping it would show up.

I had to buy the throttle/shift cables separate for $32 each. The steering cable that was already there hooked right up and works great.

I have not had the toon in the water yet. It will get dunked in Hermit Lake in a few weeks.

I have also heard good things about Suzuki's 4 stroke outboards.