I've got some bad news. Termites!!!

T

taqwache

Member
I havent posted up on here for a while but I've been fishing my 81 V20 on an average of once every month since I bought it a few years ago. The floor board and the transom have always been soft due to rot but I never really cared since it always held up and got me where I wanted to fish. Well last week after getting it ready for another trip I noticed the batteries were dead. After opening the compartment I found them on the bottom of the hull turned upside down and shorted out. Looked like the tray they sat on rotted completely out. After a further inspection I found termites everywhere eating up all the wood around the back of the boat. I didnt know that they will eat marine wood but it looks like they love it. Ill be heading down there this weekend to take a closer look but unfortently it looks like I might have to retire her. Dam this is fustrating, I was having so much fun with her and now shes on her death bed. With all the rot I dont have the extra time to fix it all. Has anyone else besides me had a problem with termites?
 
I noticed some wings and droppings when I pulled up my seat pedestals, but I don't think I have a active infestation. I have had way to much water in my boat from rain for them to live.
 
I have an 18 Fisherman that was termite ravaged and rotten. Every piece of wood in the boat minus the transom that had been replaced was rotted or eaten up. When I pulled the cap I found a few still alive on the tops of the stringers.
 
I have some ants living in my cuddy somewhere but no termites. Keep your eye out for a hull with blown engine and swap your engine out. If you look long enough I bet you can find one cheap.
 
I saw ants in my V years ago, I just threw roach bombs in there when I covered for winter, they all dead! I use to put them in every winter after that.

Now you have me thinking, I have never did it to the Ox, but Its not under trees like the V was.I going to do it this year now that you brought it up!
 
Well Ill be heading down there to see it this weekend to get a better look at the damage. Unfortunately the only place I have to keep it is right under a tree without a cover. Im sure that is how they got in there in the first place. If I think it is to bad, its going up for sale. It will be a good boat for someone with some time to fixer up or part it out since mechanically its fine. I already have another V20 with a better hull but I was saving it for when I can afford a better motor that the little 86 100hp evinrude on the 81. I might just have to compermise though. Ill keep yall updated.
 
I'd just swap your motor over to the other boat until you find a new motor. Selling the motor on a bad boat will also drop the value of the motor along with the drop in value of the hull.
 
Wait a minute, Can termites chew through fiberglass? I dont see how, you would think the only termite damage would be wood that is not covered in glass, am I correct?
 
I saw an entire herd of wildabeasts charging through my V21 last week.

I stood there and said " you gotta be kidding me "..........

Checking for damage after the stampede, it was just dirty.

Termite solutions:
1. pesticide in spray bottle
2. torch the entire boat
3. submerge the entire boat long enough to drown them out
4. none of the above

Sorry about that -- that's sad to read. Wood and boats, not good.
 
I just want to say, I'll have whatever BGreen is having!

Sorry about the termites. Only other time I've heard of this is over ClassicMako.com. Think that guy was trying to part out the boat last I heard.....
 
To kill the termites.. Open all doors and hatches on your boat. Tent the entire boat... (top, bottom, sides, etc) so that it is as near to airtight as possible. Leave an access port that you can get into and then seal after you leave. Go to an old fashioned hardware store or greenhouse supply company and buy a sulpher bug bomb/insecticide fogger. (The kind you light, not the areosol kind). Take a pie pan and fill the bottom with sand, place the bug bomb on the sand, place the plate on your boats cockpit deck, hold your breath, light the bomb, get out of the boat fast, seal the open port and go have a beer (or more). Come back no less than 10 hours later. Open the port, let the boat air out of the fumes. Untent the boat. All your termites will be dead. You may have to do this a few times a week apart because of termite eggs, but it will kill anything living in your boat... guarenteed. Don't play around with this, the sulpher fumes are deadly to any living thing, insects included. This is how greenhouses get rid of aphids, fungus gnats, mites, whiteflies and other bugs that are eating/killing the plants and flowers they grow. It WILL leave a light yellow powder on most surfaces that you can just hose off.
 
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Sounds quite effective...........but how can you be sure all termites will be killed ?

Those that have burrowed down deeply below, around the fuel tank and lower ?

I say - pour one gallon of gasoline all the rig, light it, run.

After it's burned completely out - the termites will be gone.
 
there IS a slightly less destructive method.... remove the rotten wood and burn it separately.... then the remainder of the boat can be reassembled with new termite free wood.... NOW when you sink it you can be absolutely certain that no termites will survive....................... uh wait.... huh?
 
HAHA yall guys crack me up. Burning and sinking it almost sounds like the best plan so far but I'm really just thinking of selling it as is. Main reason I just cant swap the motor to my other boat is because the 78 is a 30" transom and the 81 a 25". So either way theres some work involved. If all goes well I might just take it out this weekend for the last time and you never know, with all the rot it just might sink and solve all my problems lol.
 
taqwache said:
HAHA yall guys crack me up. Burning and sinking it almost sounds like the best plan so far but I'm really just thinking of selling it as is. Main reason I just cant swap the motor to my other boat is because the 78 is a 30" transom and the 81 a 25". So either way theres some work involved. If all goes well I might just take it out this weekend for the last time and you never know, with all the rot it just might sink and solve all my problems lol.
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Ummm...was that a typo? 30" transom? Did you mean 20" transom? I have a 78 also and it most definately has a 20" transom. In fact, unless it's been rebuilt, I've never heard of a 30" transom on any V. So if that was a typo and you meant 20" then relax, cause they make extender kits that can take a 20" engine and make it into a 25" engine or you can buy a complete lower end and make a 25" into a 20". You can, in fact, take your engine and convert it for not a lot of money. Look on eBay and I'll bet you'll find everything you need, and if not I'm sure that some of the guys here have what you need lying around in their shops or know where to get it. :head:
 
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