Zodiac Hurricane 440 - Page 2

Rogan · 04 April 2006, 23:03

Alright it must be an aluminum plate that is painted black. Which of course means that someone put it there becuase they were worried about something. Probaly a crack. I mean thats exactly what we did with our boat when we cracked the transom. Or did the boat come like that. Look at the loops on top of the aluminum plate from the inside of the boat. Are those lifting points? I can't find a single picture of this boat elswhere. Anyone know someone who might know if this boat came with a plate like this?

pathalla · 05 April 2006, 02:49

When you get down there take your time and examine the transom carefully, If you have someone going with you have them watch the transom while you swing the motor side to side (lock to lock) with moderate force so as not to piss off the seller, also try lifting (shaking) the motor up and down by its lower unit/engine hood. A rotted transom is usually going to flex/move, some badly, if you cannot detect any movement it is probably ok. Use a icepick or the point of a knife in any suspect areas, you should be able to detect softness. The metal over the transom doesn't look like a big deal to me, if you are worried, tell the owner the sale is contingent on you taking it off and looking underneath, removing a 40 isn't much work. Worst case scenario is a bad transom which may seem daunting but could be repaired by you as purchaser, with a little practice, glass work is not that hard, time consuming but not difficult. You also have a forum with a wealth of information and experience to draw from if you need to do this repair. You can also negotiate a discounted price if the transom needs repair, the seller probably wants to sell just as badly as you want to buy. I personally would be more concerned about a saltwater motor out of Florida than a hull, make sure you have factory compression numbers, take a compression gauge and at least check that. Make sure you remove the engine hood and check for corrosion inside the hood and on the lower unit. On many outboards a steel tiller arm has the tendency to disappear (rot away). It may just turn out that you have a seller that simply wants to sell his older boat. Hopefully that will be the case. Good Luck!

pathalla · 05 April 2006, 03:41

The wood on the outside of the transom was added to protect the transom from gouging apparently, it is on the outside of the transom, screwed to it, you can see in the starboard side photos, No cracking in the corners of the transom inside the boat, it may be this boat did have different power on it originally and the wood plate on the outside and metal plate on the inside were added to hide holes previously drilled/filled. Rogan if your are going to trailer this back I would make sure the tires are ok and buy install a new set of bearings and races at Pep Boys or another automotive place, do not trailer it back unless you are positive the bearings are ok, I speak from experience, Lost a wheel off a trailer towing a boat back once, Not checking the bearings cost me a $500 dollar tow and a good trailer wheel, still in Pa. somewhere. Other words of wisdom... If you buy this and tow back make sure you have good holddowns, safety chains, winch strap/ cable is ok, also check around the trailer every stop for gas, it is amazing what works loose in between gas stops, do not leave anything light in the boat, it will be gone next stop, make sure you take adequate tools for emergencies etc. I have hauled Ribs from Ohio to Florida and back too many times to count, always check your trailer,boat when you stop for gas etc. It may save you lots of Problems!

Rogan · 05 April 2006, 03:42

Thanks Pathalla! I was hoping you had some advice for me. I spoke to the owner and he did say that the transom came like that, "The aluminum plate has been there since I have had the boat. It looks
like it is an integral part of the boat direct from the mfg. The Zodiac
site calls it an "aluminum engine mounting plate" on a similar hull.
http://zodiacrescueboats.com/products/RIBO%20420.PDF". I can't head down to see the boat until the 15th so I'll do some more research until then.

Again, thanks for the help.

Rogan

pathalla · 05 April 2006, 04:02

incidentally Zodiac has a current model, I believe a 470? Weighs in at 1000 lbs, so weight on the boat you are looking at must be realistic. One comment.. extra weight will help you cut through the waves better, one advantage. War Machine is massive in build construction, she bashes waves quite handily, due to extra weight. So, you may be able to up the ante in the power department on this craft, look at Zodiacs current power ratings for similar boats, they may be higher.

jyasaki · 05 April 2006, 06:28

Be sure to talk to your insurance agent or company before you exceed your max power rating. Most insurance companies will deny coverage for exceeding the mfr's rating. On an older boat, this comes into play more for liability than for property loss.

Pathella had good advice about towing; bearings are probably the first cause on on-road stranding. You might think about keeping a spare bearing set on-hand for on-road replacement if needed. Also get a spare tire, a wrench that will fit the lug nuts, a bottle jack or floor jack for lifting half the trailer and a couple of short 4x4s to block wheels. If you don't replace the bearings, at least make sure you can break the lug nuts loose; nothing worse than having a spare, but not being able to get the flat off.

Good luck;

jky

Rogan · 06 April 2006, 12:11

Thanks for the advice!

Here are some more pictures of the boat. Also, it looks like we will be picking up the boat this sat.

dctucker · 06 April 2006, 22:36

The wood on the outside of the transom is pretty common, presumably just to prevent the OB from gouging up the glass. My Avon has it, as do most others that I've seen. The aluminum plate over the top of the transom serves a similar purpose, to prevent the top of the transom from getting gouged up as well as to spread the load a bit I suppose. Again, seems to be common on SeaRiders, not sure about others.

Good advice above about checking out the transom. As also mentioned above, keep in mind there is NOTHING on a fiberglass hull that cannot be repaired with an adequate investment of either time or money.

jyasaki · 07 April 2006, 21:07

... and epoxy.

jky

dctucker · 08 April 2006, 00:54

Duct tape, don't forget the duct tape

Rogan · 10 April 2006, 13:34

Thanks for all the help! Did a solid 20 hours of driving in 31 hours and I am back with the boat here in Chicago. Took it out yesterday and all seems well. Checked the transom while we were buying it and not only did it feel solid it also has no signs of water damage. Removed some bolts, had a look with a knife, wood was dry. Tubes are holding air but do need to be replaced. Boat is faster than I thought it would be and the engine seems to be in amazing condition for a saltwater 90', starts every time. As for the tag on the boat that says it's 900 pounds, I really don't think it actually weighs 900 pounds. I think the boat was made for the Coast Guard and thats it's hoisting weight.

Will post pics when done with work

Rogan

Barfly · 10 April 2006, 13:55

Congratulations Rogan... Have lots of fun!!

Rogan · 11 April 2006, 02:51

Just got in. Lake is cold but almost in the 60's today. Our camera man was new to the whole RIB thing.

pathalla · 11 April 2006, 03:20

glad to hear everything worked out with the boat Rogan, ENJOY!!

Barfly · 11 April 2006, 13:27

what's your max speed?

Rogan · 11 April 2006, 14:57

28 MPH. Changing prop today and doing some engine adjusting so I think in the 30's.

Rogan · 12 April 2006, 23:09

First off thanks to everyone for the advice. We were pretty prepared when we arrived to buy the boat and we got a good deal.

After taking the boat out on the lake a couple times there is more than enough work to be done. Today we were removing the hand pumping bailing system that was used instead of the gravity bailers. The gravity bailers were sealed up. Odd.

Here's the problem. When we were removing the bolts to the bailer(for some reason they put bolts through the transom to install the hand bailer) we noticed that they werent sealed. The bolts were damp and the wood soft on the inside. We then removed the bolts for the water/fuel seperator(required by law in Florida) which also had bolts through the transom. Same problem.

Feeling discouraged we removed some of the engine mounting bolts and found them and the wood to be dry. We did the same to the A frame bolts and they too were dry.

It looks like the original install of motor and A frame was done properly. But the hand bailer and water/fuel seperator done poorly and not sealed.

How do we deal with the bolt holes from the hand bailer and fuel/water seperator? Is there a way to dry them and seal them up?

We don't need to use those holes and hope it is just very localized damage.

How would you guys dry these and seal them? Any good products to use?

jyasaki · 13 April 2006, 01:19

As long as the area does not get too large, ream out the offending holes until you hit dry wood. Shape the bores of the holes so that the middle diameter is larger in diameter than the entrance/exit (sort of a reverse hourglass.)

Fill the offending holes with epoxy or other similar material (there are a lot of them out there, as websearch for transom repair should get you a bunch); allow to cure, redrill (one good thing is that you won't have to reseal the holes after drilling,

) Oh, and you said you removed teh engine bolts; make sure you seal those up again, as well.

Luck, congratulations, and don't feel too bad; a couple I know just had their new-to-them Avon go into the shop for a complete transom rebuild (to the tune of about $5K. Same cause: water ingress.)

jky

Rogan · 17 April 2006, 01:15

Thanks for the response. I wish I took more pictures. The transom is almost done and a new engine is on the way. We drilled and dryed the transom and a 50hp with knee braces is almost complete. As usual, as soon as the work is done we are going to go out and then pictures and coments will ensue.

Rogan · 26 June 2006, 02:21

Just got a hold of a Yamaha 50 2 stroke. Great engine. Really light. Boat tops out at 38.9mph. Very happy with it. Although going flat out in light chop the boat likes to chine. From left to right. Not major but when we are all trimmed and moving sometimes a large wave will send us off slightly sideways. In fact I impacted the GPS mount today and created a large gash across my leg. I think it's time for DaKine Windsurfing foot straps. Worked great in our last boat.