I either need to buy or build an engine stand suitable for a 135 Mercury Black Max so I can get it off the boat and dig into the transom. The googles says it's a 400lb engine, give or take a couple. I have 2 stipulations:

1. Needs to be mobile. garage is already packed as it is so I need to be able to move it around.
2. As cheap as possible while being safe/sturdy and mobile

Suggestions?

I built one with wheels one time. It was A framed and used a 2x12s sandwiched together where the motor hangs.

Similar to this. (Not my kid) I pulled this picture from the internet.

What boat are you having transom issues with? I replaced the transom in my 2003 Lund two years ago. Luckily a member on here loaned me his engine stand for the project. I did a month to month rental on a storage unit to keep my motor stored while I did the repairs.

1990 Venture. Got a bad leak in the rear that just recently started. Coincidentally it started shortly after I smacked an underwater tree wedged up against a bridge piling. I’d just taken off and wasn’t planed out yet so not going too fast but still a good thud. Found a hairline crack coming down from the jack plate. Can’t find anywhere else it could be coming from. Plan is to pull the motor and jack plate and just see what’s what. Crack May just be in the gel coat, or it may be more. Just gonna have to dig in and see.

Are you positive it’s coming out there?

There is no other visible damage and I know 100% it’s not coming from a hose or anything. Based on where I can see it coming in, in the bilge, either coming from there from or leaking in around the jack plate bolts through the transom. No other real possibilities.

Gomer I have a guy that does great boat work right here close by if u want his number to check it out. U may be handy with that stuff but figured I would pass along and he doesn’t charge as much a bigger known shops. Has shop behind his house.

You are probably right, but i would at least fill the bilge with water and make sure you know exactly where its leaking.

I’ve thought about that and likely will give it a shot

PM sent

Man, I hate that for you. That sound will scare the daylights out of you when you knock the transom out of one. I hit something I never saw under the railroad bridge below Logan Martin dam and it bowed the transom on my G3 and whipped the motor up past horizontal. We started taking on water immediately and as soon as my buddy got the motor down, we fired it up and headed back down river close to the bank with the bilge running , about 7 miles!! Now I check the bilge pump before every trip. I hope you can get that boat of yours fixed, it's hard to see your baby hurt.

Gomer sorry to say but boat transom repair is a big job. Since your boat is 35 years old I would imagine that the entire transom needs to be replaced. To do that the boat will have to be split( top removed from hull.) so you can get to all of the wood in the transom to replace. Now you may be able to do repair around the leak but don't think that it will hold up and be safe. Good luck and again sorry about the underwater obstacle

Yeah….I’m having a professional take a look at it this week to try to identify the source and determine how extensive the damage is, if any. I’m going to assume the worst and hope for the best. Once we know what we’re dealing with, I’ll decide if it makes sense to fix it or scrap it. It’ll be a shame if it can’t be saved because you’ll never find a boat of this age in as good condition as this one. Garage kept its whole life, sparkles like new and even the original carpet is still in pretty good shape. But I’m not gonna spend more to repair it than it would cost to buy a totally different hull to put this motor on if it comes to that.

Time will tell

I've had two Ventures. Never let me down.

My dad dug all the rotten wood out of his transom, used this stuff for repair and it’s been great so far.

https://www.carbon-core.com/products/carbonbond/transom-compound/