Stringer Replacement Needed, Or Not???

[bohunter21]

I am the new owner of an old bass boat. It is a 1978 Hydra Sports and it was a one owner. I was told by this one owner that the boat was always stored under roof. This may be true? The boat is in good condition for its age but when you read all of these stories about people rebuilding older boats they are always mentioning the need to replace all the under deck supports; I guess they are called stringers. My question is, is there any way to determine the condition of these under deck supports without cutting holes in the floor or disassembly of some other type? Everything in this boat seems solid, can I assume that it is?
Thanks for your help.
Bohunter.......

[ProcraftMike]

It is tough to determine the integrity of the understucture on boats, since most don't have access under the floor. One of the signs of problems, are discoloring of the floor carpet (from the floor underneath) and a sponginess feeling on certain areas of the floor. What you can do, is get into the back of the boat and snoop around back there. Take a look at the knee braces (they connect the transom to the stringers to see what they look like. Poke around on the stringers back there and see if you find any soft spots. Also, if you can remove the floor drains, you might be able to peek around underneath with a mirror and a flashlight.

[ranger230v]

+1 Thats good advice

[johnsinbelton]

If this boat has a floor drain..take the cover off and reach in and feel the stringers under the floor..if you have to use a screwdriver to tap on them...I did a skeeter one time and it looked to be in great shape...took the drain cover off and the stringer was like mush...the customer was not too pleased as he had just bought this boat ...