balsa core question ?????

[ezflyer]

this is such an awsome site. i just bought a 1977 trimate 2 and it is the typical 30+ year old boat. this will be my second resto from the ground up in 5 mths. my first was an 89 skeeter 18 foot. ok for my question is that i pulled the floor out and their is no balsa core. the boat does not look like the floor ever been changed. is it posible that this boat came from factory with out a core? it had the foam under the floor that looked factory. any help from all you pro's out there will be much apreciated. i wish i new this site was here 5 mnths ago. thanks to you all and pics comming soon as my better half will unload them off her camera.

 

[Rob B]

this is such an awsome site. i just bought a 1977 trimate 2 and it is the typical 30+ year old boat. this will be my second resto from the ground up in 5 mths. my first was an 89 skeeter 18 foot. ok for my question is that i pulled the floor out and their is no balsa core. the boat does not look like the floor ever been changed. is it posible that this boat came from factory with out a core? it had the foam under the floor that looked factory. any help from all you pro's out there will be much apreciated. i wish i new this site was here 5 mnths ago. thanks to you all and pics comming soon as my better half will unload them off her camera.

You should have balsa core in the mate. Check out Bigredinohio's resto, he replaced rotten core in his. The link:http://checkmate-boats.com/forums/showthread.php?t=14935

 

[Fastcheckmate175]

here is a stupid question....what is balsa core????

 

[bigredinohio]

here is a stupid question....what is balsa core????

It's end grain balsa wood that is sandwiched between the outside and inside fiberglass skins of the hull. If you have what looks to be spots of black fiberglass on the inside of the hull, then you probably have rotted core. The balsa wood gets wet from a breech of one of the skins, starts to rot then will delaminate from the fiberglass which will result in a weak hull.

 

[JW]

Not all checkmate boats were built with balsa core. The oldest boats (60's-early 70's) didn't have balsa core in most if not all models. Coop or Kip could answer this better, but balsa coring didn't come along until later.

 

[Will30]

this is such an awsome site. i just bought a 1977 trimate 2 and it is the typical 30+ year old boat. this will be my second resto from the ground up in 5 mths. my first was an 89 skeeter 18 foot. ok for my question is that i pulled the floor out and their is no balsa core. the boat does not look like the floor ever been changed. is it posible that this boat came from factory with out a core? it had the foam under the floor that looked factory. any help from all you pro's out there will be much apreciated. i wish i new this site was here 5 mnths ago. thanks to you all and pics comming soon as my better half will unload them off her camera.

. I myself have a Trimate II . Mine is a 1976 . Ive heared that the trimate does have a balsa core but Ive never seen it for myself as I only replace part of my floor the rest is still very solid. The Trimate is a very fun boat .

 

[ezflyer]

thanks for the quick replys. i am happy to see such good feedback. how do i go about getting in touch with coop. or kip. here is a thought, can i replace the stringer and put a knee (kicker) about every 18 inches to keep from putting a new core????? ur resto job looks awsome bigredinohio. will30 what powerplant do you have on ur mate. this mate will first see the water with a 1989 evinrude 175 v6. i cant wait. thanks for all ur help. are there any more trimate 2 mate owners on this site.

 

[Will30]

thanks for the quick replys. i am happy to see such good feedback. how do i go about getting in touch with coop. or kip. here is a thought, can i replace the stringer and put a knee (kicker) about every 18 inches to keep from putting a new core????? ur resto job looks awsome bigredinohio. will30 what powerplant do you have on ur mate. this mate will first see the water with a 1989 evinrude 175 v6. i cant wait. thanks for all ur help. are there any more trimate 2 mate owners on this site.

I have a 150hp Mercury inline Six hanging off mine . Mine does 55mph. There are quite a few of us that have Trimates on here . My friend also has one his is a 77 . He has a 115hp inline six .

 

[bigredinohio]

thanks for the quick replys. i am happy to see such good feedback. how do i go about getting in touch with coop. or kip. here is a thought, can i replace the stringer and put a knee (kicker) about every 18 inches to keep from putting a new core????? ur resto job looks awsome bigredinohio. will30 what powerplant do you have on ur mate. this mate will first see the water with a 1989 evinrude 175 v6. i cant wait. thanks for all ur help. are there any more trimate 2 mate owners on this site.

Thanks for the compliment. You really want to replace the damaged core. I'll be honest, it sucks but it needs to be done.

How big of an area do you have that's of concern for you and do you have any good pictures of the area in question? My guess is a '77 Trimate would have core since mine is a '75 based on the years.

 

[ezflyer]

Thanks for the compliment. You really want to replace the damaged core. I'll be honest, it sucks but it needs to be done.

How big of an area do you have that's of concern for you and do you have any good pictures of the area in question? My guess is a '77 Trimate would have core since mine is a '75 based on the years.

i have no core at all. it shows no signs of ever having a core. there are no grinding/cutting/sanding etc. marks of any kind wicth lead me to belive that none was ever taken out. i read one place on here that said the trimate did not have a balsa core,but some say their was. ?????? i will call manufacture monday. the woven roven mesh is spotless and what was left of stringer was bedded in with original bondo. thanks to you all for replies. pics comming soon i promise

 

[groundloop]

i have no core at all. it shows no signs of ever having a core. there are no grinding/cutting/sanding etc. marks of any kind wicth lead me to belive that none was ever taken out. i read one place on here that said the trimate did not have a balsa core,but some say their was. ?????? i will call manufacture monday. the woven roven mesh is spotless and what was left of stringer was bedded in with original bondo. thanks to you all for replies. pics comming soon i promise

You can't see the core without cutting away the inner skin of the hull. It's built like a sandwhich, fiberglass is the bread and balsa is the peanut butter & jelly (it's maybe 3/8" thick or thereabouts). Not all boat manufacturers build using this method, as it does add cost and complexity, but it's a great way to get a super strong hull which is lightweight.

BTW, from what I can tell Checkmate is about the best at building hulls with this method. I've read of others which are very prone to rotting for no apparent reason, there are very few Checkmates with a rotted core except in cases where a previous owner put holes through the fiberglass and allowed water in. My '79 Eluder had water standing in the hull for a very long time, every bit of wood was wet and rotted, but the core was still good.

 

[Mark]

If you look you can usually see the core thru the roving. Especially on the sides of the hull. Here is new coring under glass. You can still see the old coring thru the age darkened roving.

 

[Fastcheckmate175]

My 79 predictor doesnt have a balsa core either! Its all fiberglass!

 

[ezflyer]

My 79 predictor doesnt have a balsa core either! Its all fiberglass!

helo friends. my computer is down. i am on my neigbors if my mate has a balsa core it is solid as a rock. my freind who works for a boat repair company came and looked at it and was shocked at how good of shape the hull is in. so i am gona go foword with it like it is. gota wait on material becuz it is free and i am at his disposal.yall have a nice week as soon as my comp. is fixed i will put some pics for viewing.

 

[ssv1761982]

We still would like before and after pictures

Mine is a 1977 Trimate III which is just a little bigger. I did the floor this spring and it does have a cored hull. I should post my pictures too, now that I think of it. haha

 

[ezflyer]

thanks for the info. it is a great joy to know that i have a place to dicuss these topic with some on hands experience people. well my resin and putty just showed up. the temp is droping at my place. gona haft to fire up the old wood heater so my mate dont get to cold. hehehe. may bring her inside and let the family sleep out.

 

[ezflyer]

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[groundloop]

That's a great photo Mark posted showing the core. In some boats (mine included) it's pretty much impossible to tell that the core is there because of how stained and dark the fiberglass is after many years. One way to tell is to look in the bilge at how far below the drain plug the hull is, then compare that to the rear of the transom. Also, if you carefully compare the shape of the hull on the inside to the outside it'll be obvious where the core starts.

The staining was so dark in my hull (it had water standing in it for who knows how long that was absolutely black from rotting wood) that when I ripped up the deck I was sure my core was rotten . But after everything dried out I wiped every dark spot which was possibly rotted core with alcohol and it removed the stains - so at least replacing the core stayed off my long list of what needed to be done .

 

[ezflyer]

mine also was very stained. i made a make shift caliper as well and found my hull to be apox. 7/16 thick up to first big curve in hull. that tells me there is a core or the hull is very thick. just like u, i cleaned the hull with bleach and water and it turned out snow white, then i buffed it down with a cup brush and if looked superb. i will lay a pass of 1 1/2oz cloth over woven roven because the woven roven is a monofilament just like fishing string and the water can seap trough it. the cloth will elimnate any water getting under striger thus causing it to rot.

 

[aqua]

That's a great photo Mark posted showing the core. In some boats (mine included) it's pretty much impossible to tell that the core is there because of how stained and dark the fiberglass is after many years. One way to tell is to look in the bilge at how far below the drain plug the hull is, then compare that to the rear of the transom. Also, if you carefully compare the shape of the hull on the inside to the outside it'll be obvious where the core starts.

The staining was so dark in my hull (it had water standing in it for who knows how long that was absolutely black from rotting wood) that when I ripped up the deck I was sure my core was rotten . But after everything dried out I wiped every dark spot which was possibly rotted core with alcohol and it removed the stains - so at least replacing the core stayed off my long list of what needed to be done .

This is a great way to tell if you have a core, which you should. I have a 1968, and it has a core. I don't know of a mate that doesn't(you just have to know how to find the core).