I have a Hunter 340 that needs to come out for bottom cleaning and painting. I have the opportunity to use a marine railway to do so, however the boat would be sitting with her full weight on the keel rather than being supported with pads under the stern as she would normally be if in her cradle. There has been some casual mention of possibly cracking the hull along the keel join. Does anyone have a feel for the strength of the hull for the boat to sit unsupported like this.
Sitting on the hard
- Thread starter AWW
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I'm no expert but I did have a 2000 H340 for12 years. When they hauled the boat at the end of each summer season, they would set it down directly on the keel with wooden supports to keep it level. They add many jack stands, 4 on each side and one under the bow to keep the boat from falling over. The keel takes and supports all of the weight of the boat and I never saw any cracking or separation along the hull keel joint. It is important that opposing jack stands on each side of the boat are tightly chained together to keep them from spreading. If there is too much weight carried by one or more jack stands it will indent the hull. This happened to my boat when a jackstand on the aft starboard quarter was placed too far under the boat and I saw some oil-canning. The yard moved the stand and the hull recovered. The eight chained side jack stands plus one at he bow supported my boat through hurricane Sandy so I think the set-up is a correct and safe one. Also, do not allow the yard to use a hydraulic trailer to move or haul your boat. The hydraulic arms are too few in number and press too tighly against the hull and may damage it. Before my H340, I had a 1980 H30 and for storage the yard had to place an additional jack stand aft of the keel and under the engine for added support.
I agree with John, although I've only hauled out 7-8 times in fifteen years, always with a Travel Lift. When doing a short haul to pressure wash and check the underside, it hangs in the slings for an hour or two. When set down in the cradle, most of the weight of the boat sits on the keel, the stands are to keep it upright and stable. These boats were delivered from Alachua FL to their new homes on a trailer that way.
The keel to hull joint is 8 inches or so down from the hull, so that joint is basically horizontal.
Sounds like Hunter bashers at work making things up to show how smart they are!
The keel to hull joint is 8 inches or so down from the hull, so that joint is basically horizontal.
Sounds like Hunter bashers at work making things up to show how smart they are!
Thanks John and Ed: Your views are much as I would have thought. There are several thick horizontal beams above the keel on which the boat's weight is distributed. So I don't think this is a significant concern. More to the point is avoiding excessive weight on any one spot lest the support oil-cans the hull with a resulting array of circular spider cracks.
