This is probably a stupid question, but...

[Tom Jones]

I was looking at a 1992 Procraft 170 Pro TX boat to possibly buy today with a 115 Merc on it. On the transom where the motor mounts, there was an aluminum looking plate about 18" X 18" between the transom and the motor. I looked at the top of the plate and could see the fiberglass was cut and you could see about a half inch gap between the top of the plate and the cut edge of the fiberglass ( with NO caulking). I don't know anything about Procrafts, but I don't know if this is the way they were manufactured?:huh: If they are like most, a repair was done on the transom and I should run away fast! Correct? I'm 99.9% sure this is a repair, but the rest of the boat looks great and the price is good:wub:, so I'm just trying to make absolutely sure this is a repair before I run away.

Thanks!

 

[TOMMY RICH]

Could be a jackplate for the motor but, without seeing it...I'm guessing.

Don't know whether the hull should be cut though.:unsure:

 

[Bob Bourget2]

Need pictures.....

 

[Tom Jones]

Definitely NOT a jackplate TEE! Just a 1/8" to 1/4" aluminum flat plate.



Sorry Bob, I did not have my camera with me. If I go back to look again, I'll take my camera. Also Bob, there seemed to be oil below the oil reservoir in the engine compartment from leaking oil lines and the guy said that the float in the reservoir was stuck when I noticed a wire connection was apart. He said it was for the alarm that was continually going off and he disconnected it. Then he said the alarm for the oil low would still work. Could this be true? It is a 1992 115 oil injected Merc.

Thanks!

 

[Marty Klein]

Is the transom cap missing? Sounds like a lot of headaches headed your way.

 

[JP Heintzman]

Tom,



I had a 95 Nitro 170 TF that got water inside the transom. With the motor trimmed up, you could grab the gearcase, move up/down and see a little flex in the transom, it was starting to rot. I had a similar aluminum "plate" built for it because I didn't want to put the money into a rebuilt transom, nor have a boat with a rebuit transom. The plate on mine actually "hooked" over the top and also had a horizontal bar on the the inside of the transom, mounted between the transom and the upper mounting bolts/nuts. The plate gave me another two years before I sold it. It didn't effect performance and braced the transom very well. If I was in the market to purchase a boat, I would pass this one up. Sounds to me that it was repaired in similar fashion. Not knowing the quality of a possible repair, I would err on the side of caution and keep looking, there are a ton of great boats on the market right now. Just my .02, good luck.



JP

 

[G8rmac]

Run away and don't look back! All boats have issues, but no sense in trying to figure out how rotten the transom is or if the oil system is shot. As JP said, just my .02, too many boats on the market to buy a problem.

 

[Tom Jones]

Thanks guys. I was 99.9% sure this was a "I'll pass on this one" boat, so I'll call the guy tomorrow and tell him so. The repair looked shoddy to me. I'll keep on looking!!!!