Dinghy Transom Gasket
 

Greetings!
As some of y'all might remember, a fellow forum member gifted my son an aluminum rowboat last summer. Well, we're replacing the rotten transom this next week and are wondering what to use for the gasket material that goes between the aluminum and wood to seal it tight.
Looking for inexpensive and easy!

Thanks!

Sent from my SM-G950U using Winnipesaukee Forum mobile app

Flex Seal! Flex Paste! :D that TV guy seals everything with that stuff! Of course you are going to be using fasteners from aluminum to wood as well. Find screws that will not “interact” with aluminum or rust.

ishoot308 could suggest what screws to use perhaps?

I was hoping to find something in a sheet that I could cut to fit...

Sent from my SM-G950U using Winnipesaukee Forum mobile app

Stainless Steel
 

Stainless steel fasteners are used when connecting different metals. 🐻

I would use aluminum screws only. Stainless is an alloy of carbon steel and will eventually react with aluminum especially in a wet environment. If you really must use stainless for its strength, I would use a nylon washer under a stainless washer of the same size, preferably a fender Type washer. This will keep the dissimilar metals from touching. Drill pilot hole through the aluminum slightly over sized to avoid the stainless from touching it as well.

As far as a gasket, I would simply apply a high grade silicone sealant, bolt it together and clean up the excess.

Good luck!

Dan

Dan,
Do I need to do the whole back of the transom with sealant, just the screws, or a ring on the outside to seal the "inside"?

Sent from my SM-G950U using Winnipesaukee Forum mobile app

I would put a good circle of sealant around the screw holes on all three areas, outside, inside and middle. I would also pump some sealant in screw holes just prior to installing bolts.

Dan

And make sure you do not use pressure treated wood against your aluminum.

Dan

Right—we have two pieces of oak with multiple layers of L'il-Buddy-applied exterior urethane!

Sent from my SM-G950U using Winnipesaukee Forum mobile app

Your good to go then!

[emoji1696][emoji1696][emoji1696]
He got out today, but we had to throw some tape over the transom holes!Attachment 15996

Sent from my SM-G950U using Winnipesaukee Forum mobile app

That's great! So nice to see the next generation explore the beauty of the lake.

My preferred sealant is 3M 4200. It is good for above and below the waterline.

Mine too. I also like Loctite PL. Seems to be basically the same stuff and is often easier to find in tubes that fit in a caulking gun. They sell it at Lowes.

Maybe a dumb question, but will gutter seal work? I've got a brandy new tube already...

Sent from my SM-G950U using Winnipesaukee Forum mobile app

I’m sure it will...once you tighten the bolts down and squeeze everything together you're just forming a gasket around the screw holes. No big Deal...

Dan

Thanks again!

Sent from my SM-G950U using Winnipesaukee Forum mobile app

Have you named the rowboat yet ? Is that Jetti 1 i see off to the right of the rowboat in the pic ?:D

Jettie One stayed on the trailer yesterday—it was a chill on the beach while L'il Buddy explored kinda day.

As for the name: it came with one that had a history, Harambee, so that will stay. We do sometimes refer to it as Boatie Three, though!

Sent from my SM-G950U using Winnipesaukee Forum mobile app

Great pic
 

Years and years later it's a bit hard to remember the feelings of a moment like this. However, the memory of the experience doesn't ever really fade.

Good for him/Good for you!

Pictures, lots of pictures.

What I find most hard is trying to remember how this would've felt as a kid. For example, my wife texted me a pic of him anchored just outside the swim area with a laughing emoji—we expected him to head much further out—but for a 9-year-old, that's gotta feel like being in the middle of the lake!

Sent from my SM-G950U using Winnipesaukee Forum mobile app

I'm one of those who learned about boating by "rowing" a wooden, 8-foot boat while it was tied to a dock (three feet of water).

Oddly, I still remember it as being great fun!