Has anyone detached the keel, and just kept the raised up boat off the trailer above it?
My swing keel is in good shape overall, but needs new paint and a touch up scraping on the parts normally inaccessible due to the trailer. I also want to replace the turning ball, keel cable and keel bolts.
I was thinking of using 5 screw-type boat stands, and just raising the boat straight up 13 inches, which is the maximum adjustment on the stands. The back half of the keel is already well supported by the trailer itself, and I would build a cradle with side posts for the front end of the keel. I would just leave the trailer in place, chocked stationary under the boat.
My thinking on this is, it might make it easier to line the keel bolts back up, when it comes time to re-attach the keel to the boat. A drawback might be, if it doesn't line up when the boat is lowered, the keel is pretty much stuck where it is, and wouldn't already be on a moveable dolly arrangement.
My real initial concern is lining up the keel bolts, after all 4 have been disconnected - and that being troublesome. I thought is this might be a simpler method, but then again, it could be a real problem if the boat shifts at all. Have many had trouble reinstalling the keel?
My swing keel is in good shape overall, but needs new paint and a touch up scraping on the parts normally inaccessible due to the trailer. I also want to replace the turning ball, keel cable and keel bolts.
I was thinking of using 5 screw-type boat stands, and just raising the boat straight up 13 inches, which is the maximum adjustment on the stands. The back half of the keel is already well supported by the trailer itself, and I would build a cradle with side posts for the front end of the keel. I would just leave the trailer in place, chocked stationary under the boat.
My thinking on this is, it might make it easier to line the keel bolts back up, when it comes time to re-attach the keel to the boat. A drawback might be, if it doesn't line up when the boat is lowered, the keel is pretty much stuck where it is, and wouldn't already be on a moveable dolly arrangement.
My real initial concern is lining up the keel bolts, after all 4 have been disconnected - and that being troublesome. I thought is this might be a simpler method, but then again, it could be a real problem if the boat shifts at all. Have many had trouble reinstalling the keel?