Found this hairline crack in my davit today. It's on the high-load end of things. The white bit is the satellite mount. In addition this is the end of the dink with the engine attached. What is the proper repair?
Crack. Correct fix?
- Thread starter Richandhelen
- Start date
If I'm seeing correctly there is a crack mid tube in line with the cross bar...
As a TIG welder I'll tell you the repair is relatively easy, the hard part is preventing it from occurring again. The simplest repair is to run a fresh bead along the crack. It will penetrate deep enough to weld the steel all the way through. Using the right amount of amperage and filler rod just one pass is sufficient, then it can be sanded clean and re-polished so you won't even know it happened.
So why is the davit cracked to begin with? Seems the davit isn't able to handle the weight of your Dink and outboard together. I doubt your davit is still under any type of warranty... if it were, and its advertised weight should be able to handle what you are using it for, return it for a refund/replacement with something that can. Otherwise, to prevent this from happening again you'd need some triangulation with gussets or tube to equalize the load. Using a thicker wall tube would have prevented this in the first place.
You're not going to like this part, but you really need to remove the davit from the boat and take it to a welding shop for repair. There are mobile welders that can come to you but that cost will make you go blind for what amounts to 15 minutes of work, and TIG welding outside isn't the best idea.
As a TIG welder I'll tell you the repair is relatively easy, the hard part is preventing it from occurring again. The simplest repair is to run a fresh bead along the crack. It will penetrate deep enough to weld the steel all the way through. Using the right amount of amperage and filler rod just one pass is sufficient, then it can be sanded clean and re-polished so you won't even know it happened.
So why is the davit cracked to begin with? Seems the davit isn't able to handle the weight of your Dink and outboard together. I doubt your davit is still under any type of warranty... if it were, and its advertised weight should be able to handle what you are using it for, return it for a refund/replacement with something that can. Otherwise, to prevent this from happening again you'd need some triangulation with gussets or tube to equalize the load. Using a thicker wall tube would have prevented this in the first place.
You're not going to like this part, but you really need to remove the davit from the boat and take it to a welding shop for repair. There are mobile welders that can come to you but that cost will make you go blind for what amounts to 15 minutes of work, and TIG welding outside isn't the best idea.
I agree.. a good weld shop can do it as long as you take it to them.. It is in a strange place for a tube that should be in compression mostly.. My guess is that it is being caused by twisting the davit with the boat hanging.. as in waves from one side while sailing, making the dink swing port/stbd .. I would look at the end welds carefully to see if the part where the dink hangs from has cracked.. which would increase the stress at the brace... ya might be able to reduce the twisting stress a lot by doing a diagonal brace of something like 3/8" line from aft tip to opposite stern rail on both sides. Wouldn't have to be permanent, only when carrying the dink in a seaway..
BTW, if you were in the same town as me I'd say take off and bring it to my garage, I would fix that free. Its literally 15 minutes of set up time and about 45 seconds under the torch. Not a big deal, just bring the beer.
I would suggest (after you fix it) to haul up your outboard first and stow it aboard. That'll save what, 60 pounds off the load when you haul up the dink?
I would suggest (after you fix it) to haul up your outboard first and stow it aboard. That'll save what, 60 pounds off the load when you haul up the dink?
We have a Merc 9.9 four-stroke. Heavy. And we power-winch the dink up from that side. That may account for the torque.
I have the same engine on my dink and regularly carry both hanging on the davits. You need to secure the boat to prevent swinging. So who made your davits? I know Keith at Kato Marine would be all over the failure mode on one of his davits.