First year Greenwood XL was used in Grady transoms?

Bama96

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I know this has probably been asked a 1000 times but I can't locate it on the search feature. What year did Grady go to the Greenwood XL product in the transoms and stringers? I am looking at a 2000 model 265 Express and all the recent talk about the aluminum trim piece on these cut out transoms has me concerned. Thanks.
 

SlimJim

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there is a thread somewhere in GG that give the dates and info on it. I can't find it but I am sure someone will. I think it was changed over in the mid 90's. I am sure anything in the 2000 was green.
 

richie rich

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using the greenwood XL doesnt guarantee a dry transom.....true, it has a higher level of treatment to resist rot, but most damage occures when water finds the inner core of the wood, ie a screw hole or cut end grain that wasn't sealed right....once water has this easy path, it reaches the untreated part of the core and goes to work. A thorough intrusive survey is the only way to know.
 

BobP

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Brad1 knows the answer to that one, had many a discussion, but he hasn't been here in a while.


Email Grady Customer Service.
 

Brad1

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BobP said:
Brad1 knows the answer to that one, had many a discussion, but he hasn't been here in a while.


Email Grady Customer Service.

I believe it was 1998 when they began using the Greenwood XL product, but it's been nearly 5 years since I investigated that. Agree with BobP, Grady customer service is the best source for that information.

BobP said:
. . . but he hasn't been here in a while.

I have so little time to think about boating these days, I can't even find the time to participate in these discussions. That's why my Grady is up for sale :(
 

gw204

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Greenwood would be the second thing I looked for in a transom. The first would be lack of moisture. I'd rather have a dry core made of regular marine ply, than a wet one made of Greenwood.

Buy yourself a moisture meter and learn how to use it. Test transoms yourself and pick the boat with the dryest one you can find. Then move to survey if you like the rest of the rig. After you purchase, do everything you can to keep that core dry.
 

BobP

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If I recall the dscussion with Brad1, he had owned a new boat of a no wood transom, and the transom filled with water and/or delaminated.

Isn't that interesting.

So what teh response from te manufactuer, who didn't care about the transom filling with water.

That's called jumping out of the frying pan into the fire.
 

Bama96

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I recall a post over on THT a while back where a Regulator transom was full of water. They removed a screw from a bracket and water poured out. I will have to say if it is composite material it still will have problems. I think that one had caused some delamanation. From what I have read the aluminum top cap being sealed properly on the Grady's is the key.
 

richie rich

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how does a transom fill with water if it doesn't have wood or open cell foam? I doubt it was solid, but what the hell was it made of? Don't buy that boat if it did.....
 

Brad1

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richie rich said:
how does a transom fill with water if it doesn't have wood or open cell foam? I doubt it was solid, but what the hell was it made of? Don't buy that boat if it did.....

Before I bought my Grady, I had purchased a brand new boat of a different brand (ie. Not a Grady). When I went to drill the holes to mount the transducer mounting plate, water came out. There was a void between the non-wood core and the outer layers of glass. The void extended to a location that was penetrated by the motor well scupper. The motor well scupper was not properly sealed. The manufactorer downplayed the situation because the boat was "wood free". Remember, wood free or not, the lay up process is the same. They layup the glass, then they place a pre-formed core into the transom. There's nothing to ensure that there isn't a little air space between the glass and the core. It was from my experience with that boat that I realized that it's not so much whether or not a boat has wood, but how well the manufactorer stands behind their product. And that manufacturer (again, not Grady, but a very well known manufactoer none-the-less) did not want to stand behind their product. It was that experience that lead me to "Get the Grady" because of Grady's reputation for excellent customer service.

My Brother had a problem with water in the transom of his Scout 185. It's ironic that between the two of us (my Brother and I), we have owned close to 20 boats in our lives and the only ones that had water in the transom were the two wood free boats we had owned. I believe that manufactorers are getting a little "care free" when they've gone "wood free", reasoning that water intrusion is not a big a deal since there is no wood to rot.
 

richie rich

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An air void from the get go on a cored boat and they wouldn't stand behind it? Nice.....I wouldn't buy one from them ever again either. With all the technology today dealing with bagging and infusion and they still can't get it right is amazing. Usually cored boats are dry stacked and then infused so there would be no void....doing a hand layup on a foam cored boat is kind of defeating the purpose of the new technology as they need constant laminating pressure all over the part until its cured to bond well.....can't get that by hand layup. Waste of resin too. May I ask who built it?
 

BobP

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Brad1, glad you had time to confirm my memory, and there has been several questions regarding why Grady is still using wood.

Both of you guys being in PA and Connecticut knows what happens in the winter and there is no freakin way boat construction is going to stop water from expanding into ice cubes and ripping apart the boat in the process - so called delamination.

Better keep those boats in the heated garage with backup generator or Florida (south), come off season storage time.
.
 

Desperado

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Everyone seems to agree on the need to "keep the transom dry". Does anyone know what is the best way to dp this on the eurotransom models?
 

richie rich

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Once a boat is built, the best you can do as an owner is to make sure the bilge is staying dry, ie your pumps are working right and you stop/prevent any leaks from anywhere coming into your boat. All your thru-holes, engine bolts, self tapping screws etc need to be properly bedded/sealed with marine caulk made for below the waterline like a 5200 and/or epoxy. Best of all, if you can avoid drilling into the transom, don't. I made a fairing block large enough and contoured like the hull bottom and epoxied it to the transom and then screwed my transducer into it. The mounting screws will never see the wood in the transom and if the block ever gets punky, I'll grind it off and make a new one. Drain your fuel tank area regularly as well. And cover your boat in the winter.....if not, little by little water weeps in somewhere, and as Bob mentioned above, once the freeze thaw theory takes place, it pretty much becomes unstoppable.
 

striped bass

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I talked today with Grady White staff in Greenville, N.C. The first year of the Grady White switchover to Greenwood XL was 1998.