This may sound really stupid but has any installed more than one wedge? When I rebuilt my boat this winter, we used a poured transom and it didn't come out exactly even. With the wedge installed (and I think I have the big wedge) it's basicly back to normal. Is it possible to install two of them or would that be too much of an angle for the bolts?
78 the angle only matters for the top two bolts. The bottom two bolts go into a slot so you might have to make up a wedge shaped washer if things are getting extreme. With the top two bolts, that would depend on how square you drilled the holes through the transom. If they are drilled on or near the right angle, it won't matter. But first things first, how thick is the top of your wedge and how thick is the bottom. Lets work out what you have. The 5 degree wedge looks about twice as thick at the top as the 3 degree wedge. Could also tell easily from a photo. I think it might be tidier to make a wedge out of a plate than install two off the shelf items. They can be made from plastic (like chopping boards you get from hotel and food business suppliers or you can get it even thicker and plane it to shape). Can also make them from marine ply or alloy. But I'm still not sure about those top two bolts and a possible 10 degree bend on them. That bend may flog out your transom holes (leaks and rot) or stress the bolts? Anybody else?
Bob, A poured transom is usually done by removing the wood from the top with a chainsaw and drill and pouring a composite material in from the top. There are many variations and here is the site that describes the procedure: http://transomrepair.com/zk/ Needless to say, there has been a ton of controversy about this procedure. Seacast is one of the materials used. It's main ingrediant is ground up old fiberglass. There have been discussions on Screamandfly and the Hydrostream forum and all over the net. If you have ever read any discussions comparing hand laid construction to chopper gun construction the same idea applies here. Greg, Here is a link to Mark's comments: http://www.hydrodyners.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=35&t=908 jim
Here is a link to a seacast discussion over at scream and fly: http://forums.screamandfly.com/forums/search.php?searchid=1470374 I think you have to be a member to view it because it is a search. If this starts a big discussion, we should probably start a new thread. jim
I found this discussion interesting. I have been using T & H Transom wedges on my personal boat since 1991 for the increased usable trim range. In the two testing posts I put on the Dyna-Ski portion of this web site you will read that both boats had T & H Transom shims installed on the boats. One is a 17.6 Open Bow with a 90 E-Tec and the other is a 20' Open Bow with a 150 Evinrude DI. I did a little stock prop testing with both combinations. I'm done testing the 90 on the 17.6 for this year but I'm likely to continue testing the 150 on the 20' for the rest of the summer. I had minimal bow steer with either of these combinations tested. My 17.6 Closed Bow with a 1996 Evinrude motor has much more bow steer than either of the new boats and I'm not really sure why that is. Any one have any theories about this? The new Dyna-Ski Boats have a much thicker transom than the older style boats. Longer bolts are available from Evinrude and Fastenal. PJP
Hi Pete (I assume PJP from Dyna is Pete?). Used to read your posts on rec.sport.waterski Have you considered changing the transom angle of the Dyna Ski boats so that the wedge is inbuilt? My Matrix has -19 built in to the back of the transom. There is a drawback, my manual jacking plate doesn't like to go down on that angle (it catches) so I have to have the boat on the trailer to lower the engine. Other than that, I can't see any reason why more boats don't come from the factory with extra negative in the rear. It makes it much more usable, much easier to drive and safer. My E-TEC has negative 6 built in also giving me a total of -25 and I regularly use it all (that is a lot more than almost all other boats). No handling problems at all. It is much neater not needing a wedge. Let us know what you think
Changing the angle would require making a new mold or molds (2 boat lengths) which is very expensive. Shims are cheap and not everyone wants them. My brother-in-laws boat (Hydrostream) needed to have shims installed backwards because he had to much angle with a newer motor. People tend to keep their Hydrodynes and Dyna-Ski boats for a long time and repower them so why change a boat that is almost perfect? PJP
Thanks Pete, good answer I guess. My boat is based on an inboard hull basically with a pod built onto the back of the boarding platform. I assumed it might have been possible to plug the mould but I gues not. I'm in the states at the moment, if I come up your way I'd love to take a look at your boat.
