Want to replace my toe rails on my ODay 28

[dennisv]

Some time ago, it seemed fairly recent but was not able to find the post now, a member mention that when he was redoing his toe rail it took him approx two hours to get 1 of the eight sections off. His answer to the amount of time spent was "screw this, I'm going to cut them all off and just replace them with new ones. He advised he got the remaining 7 toe rail off in two hours and just replaced them with new ones. To me, genius, but I might be missing something.

Question is, has anyone replaced the toe rails on their boats? What might I be missing? I'm concerned about the curve of the rail to match the beam of the boat. Will standard teak bend easily? When reattaching, should I use butyl tape to reseat? Cloes review of the original installation looks like there was no sealant or caulking done.

 

[Project_Mayhem]

I think this was the post

If you take your toe rails off, they will try to straighten themselves out. The teak bends pretty easily. I would recommend 4000UV or similar sealant because the screw is turning. Butyl will work but a sealant would probably be better in this situation

 

[Project_Mayhem]

A little tip if you decide to use sealant... Apply masking tape to the teak and maybe even the deck next to the teak. This makes clean up of excess sealant significantly easier. Getting it out of the grooves of the teak would not be an easy task. I used butyl a few years ago and switched to 4000UV when I found a leak this year. The screwhole in the fiberglass had become enlarged. My favorite method to clean old sealant is a Scotchbrite wheel on a 120v drill

 

[twodzusfittings]

I want to add my two cents here. The quick and easy way is to dig out the bungs, unscrew the Philip head screws, remove, clean the area with scotchbrite cloth, use butyl in and around screw hole, put screw back in, fill in hole with a new bung (make sure the grain matches) using some wood glue. That works for a while. A better way is, to remove and clean as before, drill an oversized hole into the toe rail, chamfer the edges of the holes, fill with thickened epoxy. Once it's cured, drill the correct size whole into the center of your thickened epoxy, use butyl again and attach as in the easy way. You'll be happier in the long run. As I said, just my 2 cents worth.

 

[Project_Mayhem]

A friend removed one toe rail from my boat by removing the bungs and the screws. This took upwards of two hours for one section so be forewarned about what you might be up against. I suppose you could drill the heads off the screws and, in theory, pull the toe rail over what's left, then unscrew the remnants of the screw with vice grips.