hydraulic centerboard cable repair

[dcnckids]

We have a 2003 hunter 216 - a great boat but the cable on the centerboard keeps breaking. need to repair it while in the water or in shallow water. anyone successfully done this who can give specific advice as to how they did this? we are desparate for advice as hunter cannot help. thanks so much
dcnckids

 

[Mr.Ernie]

Broken Cable

Breaking a cable in the water is one that I've not encountered yet although we did have a cable break while on the lift. As ours was one of the earlier 216s, there was no room to remove the shackle so I had to drill a 1" hole into the side of the centerboard well from inside under the port side seat. After replacing the cable, I filled the hole with a long 1/4" bolt with fender washers and gunked them up good with a marine silicone.

We have thought about what to do if we did have the same thing happen that has happened to you and this is what we think will work. There is line called Spectra that is several times as strong as steel for it's size and it is very flexible and you can tie knots, like a bowline, in it. I believe that if you extended the Ram out as far as it will go and substitute a piece of Spectra for the broken cable, running it over the pulley the same as the cable did, there is a very good chance that you will be able to lift up the centerboard and get it back on the trailer so that you can replace the broken cable. I think either 1/8" or 3/16' Spectra is all that it will take to do the job. We are carrying a piece of 1/8" with us but as long as you have to buy it, I'd get the 3/16".

This line is available from Layline.com: http://www.layline.com/product/10054/303

As far as the cable jumping off the pulley, I took several pieces of thin aluminum, the same size as the underside of the bar that covers the pulley, and just taped several thicknesses of them to the underside of that plate. I used enough shims to fill that gap and it has worked fine for the last three years or more. I just recently replaced the tape.

We are going to have to pull our whole centerboard assembly out of the boat as the hole that the shackle fits through is tearing out and our pulley has frozen so we will take it out then.

Good luck and please keep us advised as to how you finally solve the problem.

 

[Mr.Ernie]

Respose from Hunter

My email to Hunter:

In my 2002 H-216, I had replaced the keel cable with one that we had made here locally. To install it, I had to drill a hole through the side of the centerboard well to be able to remove the fitting. I am going to have to replace it again soon but the new cable we received from Hunter is too large a diameter to fit between the top of the roller and the cross member. As there is no room to remove the rod for the roller, I was wondering if y'all had any ideas as to how to replace it without pulling out the entire assembly.

We are going to have to pull it eventually as the lead on top of the hole is showing a small crack. We would like to replace the cable now and handle the keel problem after the racing season is over.

Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

Hunter's Response:

The current cable is one size large in diameter than the original size designed. The size was made larger to keep it from jumping off of the wheel. In order for the cable to be replaced would be to have the c/b metal frame to be picked up 3” high so it can be just higher than the floor. The pin for the metal wheel has a small pin on one side, remove the small pin, then you can push the larger pin the opposite side to allow the wheel to be adjusted or even free if the pin is slide fully out. Then the new cable can be attached to the lift arm slide in the wheel grove align the wheel and shim back in place and pin back, then attach the cable to the keel.

There really is no other way to attach the cable to keel without having to lift the system up.

If you needed to raise the board up, with a broken cable, to load on a trailer that could be done by making a lasso with rope such as the main halyard line and wrap around the keel and lift up or take a rope to the front of the boat hold both ends and drop the center part of the line in the water, keep both ends in your hand, with the center part of the rope in the water, walk to the cockpit of the boat allowing the rope to go under the boat and catch on the keel. But both ends of the line still need to be in your hand like. Almost like you are jump roping. This would help raise the keel up to get it on the trailer.

Has anyone tried this method to raise the keel?

 

[Paul Wash]

Raising The Keel Like "JumpRope"

Our 216 is a 2004 and we actually had the centerboard fully repaired b/c the fitting pulled out the keel last year. We tried several methods to raise the keel during that time. All unsuccessfully. Bottom line is 500 lbs even in the water is nearly impossible to lift with the lasso/jumprope method. We had the boat hauled and then it took 3 big guys to handle that keel.

To put it on the trailer I would just try and line her up and winch it up as deep in the water as you can. You will make little impact using the jumprope/lasso. I think I talked to Kyle at Hunter during that time and he didn't seem to think the lasso idea would do much of anything. Good luck.