Almost Ready
- Thread starter rgranger
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Thanks for the concern. I think I'll be okay. I'm actually more worried that the top of the keel (trailing edge) will still be in the keel trunk once I lower the cradle back down. The casters are only a few inches off of the ground right now. If that turns out to be the case, I'll have to jack the entire boat up a few inches and THAT will be something to worry about doing correctly.
You can always dig a pit under the boat:dance: I don't know the design of your boat, but from your picture, it looks like you won't have enough clearance to fully drop it and slide it out (based on my experience with a Macgregor 25 keel).
It is going to be close. The pit idea is a good one ....but... I want to drag it out from under the boat and lift it up on an engine hoist..... then sand blast it. If it is sitting in a hole, I won't be able to drag it out.
I had measured everything before I got started but I think I may have failed to consider the height of the casters.... so I fear I will be off by the 2.5" that the casters take up. I had left a bit of slack in the numbers so in the end I think I'll need to raise the boat 0.5" to clear the keel.
But today... I'm going to try and get the fiberglass off of the pivot pin. <arrrg>
Here is what I did. Two wheel dolly with straps and cinder blocks. PIA!! I did i all myself. I couldn't let go of tyhe dolly or it would flip up and hit the side of the boat. Tense couple of minutes and superhuman strength prevailed.
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Yikes!
Well the Balboa has a 1200 lb keel. I think I stick with my cradle... glad you were able to get it back in place.
On my cradle I have some eye hooks. I'll pull it out using a come-along and then hoist it out of the cradle with an engine hoist. I'm going to then sand blast it clean, fair it and barrier coat it.
I think your setup looks pretty solid and it will go well. I would use a machine (like my jeep) to pull it out of any potential pit if the come along balks.
Yikes!
Well the Balboa has a 1200 lb keel. I think I stick with my cradle... glad you were able to get it back in place.
On my cradle I have some eye hooks. I'll pull it out using a come-along and then hoist it out of the cradle with an engine hoist. I'm going to then sand blast it clean, fair it and barrier coat it.
Pivot pin
I got the pivot pin out today. It was an all day job.
As you can see in the picture, the pivot pin is larger in the middle than it is at the threads. Of course you can't know this until you get it all the way out. And the P.O. had glassed over the washers so... I would be able to get the pin to move so far and it would stop. The thick part in the middle was hitting the hidden washer. After about 6 hours of banging the pin back and forth... I finally got fed up, grabbed a drift pin and a sledge and went to town. Eventually the washer busted through the fiberglass and the pin just slid on out. Now my threads are mangled.
Ah well, the pin is slightly bent anyway so I'll just have a machine shop make me a new one.
I also need a new break winch for the keel cable.
Oh yeah.... one more thing. As feared the top of the keel did not clear the keel trunk when I lowered the keel cradle. So tomorrow I get to jack up my boat. Yeah!:dance:
I got the pivot pin out today. It was an all day job.
As you can see in the picture, the pivot pin is larger in the middle than it is at the threads. Of course you can't know this until you get it all the way out. And the P.O. had glassed over the washers so... I would be able to get the pin to move so far and it would stop. The thick part in the middle was hitting the hidden washer. After about 6 hours of banging the pin back and forth... I finally got fed up, grabbed a drift pin and a sledge and went to town. Eventually the washer busted through the fiberglass and the pin just slid on out. Now my threads are mangled.
Ah well, the pin is slightly bent anyway so I'll just have a machine shop make me a new one.
I also need a new break winch for the keel cable.
Oh yeah.... one more thing. As feared the top of the keel did not clear the keel trunk when I lowered the keel cradle. So tomorrow I get to jack up my boat. Yeah!:dance:
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Can't wait to see the condition of the actual keel once it is out. With regards to the pin, while it is hard to judge from the photo, I am inclined to think that at some point there was a sleeve over the bolt that with time had completely bonded by rust to the threaded rod. What is your thought on that? Does this look like a one-part machining?
Ah you are so right! I had sent that last post in a hurry and ran off to my daughter's soccer game (they lost big time)... when I got home, I took a closer look. The pivot pin is actually a threaded rod all the way through and the middle "thicker" part is the bushing. I put the pin in my vice vertically and soaked it in DW40... then banged the pivot pin through the bushing.
When I redid my keel the pivot bolt was rusted tight to the keel that a four foot breaker bar would just raise the keel. It took a 1 inch impact wrench to finaly break it loose. I drilled the new bolt and put a grease fitting so that every so often it can be given a shot of grease to keep it loose.
Fed Villiard
Fed Villiard
I haven't been able to post pic's but if you or anyone pm's me with your email I'll send you the folder with all of my keel overhall writeup and pic's in the morning.
Fred Villiard
Fred Villiard
Ha! I thought this might be the case. I sense you will find another sleeve installed in the swing keel in which the sleeve that was over the bolt was rotating in. My approach would be as follow:Ah you are so right! I had sent that last post in a hurry and ran off to my daughter's soccer game (they lost big time)... when I got home, I took a closer look. The pivot pin is actually a threaded rod all the way through and the middle "thicker" part is the bushing. I put the pin in my vice vertically and soaked it in DW40... then banged the pivot pin through the bushing.
- use brass brush installed on a cordless drill and clean very well ID of the opening in the swing keel (hopefully it is still round)
- Find new suitable bolt (ideally grade 7 rolled) with clean shaft (without threads) long enough to go through the width of the swing keel. Measure its OD.
- machine new sleeve from bronze (or brass) that is: OD is about 8 thousands of an inch smaller than ID of the hole in the swing keel. ID is about 8 thousands of an inch larger than OD of new bolt.
This will work as very efficient bearing and give you long life of the keel. Lateral forces on the keel are being transferred not by the axle, but the sides of the keel trunk.
There is a local store that only sells fasteners. I'm hoping I can find what I need there. I was planning of finding a stainless bushing. The old one is stainless. My thinking is I don't want to put brass on a cast iron keel and run a stainless bolt through it. Too many dissimilar metals and all that.
I was also wondering about tractor pins. At tractor supply they sell a 1" hitch pin with bushing used to attach stuff to the back of tractors. It is coated with yellow zinc but so far I have not been able to find out if it would hold up in a marine environment. I'm guess not but a little research never hurt anyone so I'll keep digging. Stainless would be better.
Got a lot done today
1) I had to raise up the boat so the keel top would clear the keel trunk (pic 1, 2 & 3)
2) As I was pulling the keel out from under the boat, one of the casters slid off the plywood and sank in the soil. And I almost pulled it off. Had to jack up the cradle and do an impromptu fix (pic 4)
3) After the caster fix.. I was able to pull the dolly forward and the second sheet of plywood did not prove up to the task (pic 5).
4) Got the keel out and jacked it off of the cradle using an engine hoist I nabbed off of Craig's List (pic 6 & 7).
5) The P.O. of the engine hoist had bolted the arm to the legs with bolts that were too long and the arm started to bend over (pic 8). It was getting dark so I gave up for the day. I'll fix the engine hoist tomorrow.
r
1) I had to raise up the boat so the keel top would clear the keel trunk (pic 1, 2 & 3)
2) As I was pulling the keel out from under the boat, one of the casters slid off the plywood and sank in the soil. And I almost pulled it off. Had to jack up the cradle and do an impromptu fix (pic 4)
3) After the caster fix.. I was able to pull the dolly forward and the second sheet of plywood did not prove up to the task (pic 5).
4) Got the keel out and jacked it off of the cradle using an engine hoist I nabbed off of Craig's List (pic 6 & 7).
5) The P.O. of the engine hoist had bolted the arm to the legs with bolts that were too long and the arm started to bend over (pic 8). It was getting dark so I gave up for the day. I'll fix the engine hoist tomorrow.
r
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Good job getting that heavy bugger out! One thing of note though, the way you have your cinder blocks laid is very dangerous, and they may collapse. They have next to no strength when laid on their sides like that. Please turn them 90 degrees and stack them the way they are designed to be used as soon as you can. Your kids will thank you.
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