Iron Keels

[Dave]

Collisions

Lead is extremely soft and ductile. In a collision with a rock it will deform and absorb energy so less chance of hull damage. Cast iron is brittle and will fracture and the force will transmit to a greater extent to the hull so greater chance of a hull crack. Lead keels can be hammered back into shape, not much can be done for an iron keel other than filler and fairing compound.

 

[Dave]

Collisions

Lead is extremely soft and ductile. In a collision with a rock it will deform and absorb energy so less chance of hull damage. Cast iron is brittle and will fracture and the force will transmit to a greater extent to the hull so greater chance of a hull crack. Lead keels can be hammered back into shape, not much can be done for an iron keel other than filler and fairing compound.

 

[Jim]

Barrier coated mine

I had my keel and bottom sand blasted. I then barrier coated the keel after the first coat of barrier coat I faired out all of the pits with some filler sanded it smooth then added 5 more coats of barrier coat. This was last spring and underwater inspection looks good. I will know more next time I haul but I expect I will have a couple rust spots but like everyone else a little phosphoric acid and a wire brush and touchup paint.Jim

 

[Jim]

Barrier coated mine

I had my keel and bottom sand blasted. I then barrier coated the keel after the first coat of barrier coat I faired out all of the pits with some filler sanded it smooth then added 5 more coats of barrier coat. This was last spring and underwater inspection looks good. I will know more next time I haul but I expect I will have a couple rust spots but like everyone else a little phosphoric acid and a wire brush and touchup paint.Jim

 

[Paul]

Minor Issue

Every spring I spend an hour with a drill and grind the few rust bumps down to bare metal. I clean right away with acetone and fill with epoxy. Sand smooth and put 2 coats of Interprotect followed by the annual application of VC17. That's it. The rust has never come back.Relax and go sailing...

 

[Paul]

Minor Issue

Every spring I spend an hour with a drill and grind the few rust bumps down to bare metal. I clean right away with acetone and fill with epoxy. Sand smooth and put 2 coats of Interprotect followed by the annual application of VC17. That's it. The rust has never come back.Relax and go sailing...

 

[Tom S]

Gregg from Long Island

I beleive jenneau has a epoxy barrier coat of some kind also (well they are esentially the same company now). Even though they are barrier coated it doesn't mean that they won't need some maintenance sometime in the future because all it would take is some sort of grounding or touching the bottom and that epoxy barrier coat will get scraped off. The next fall you are going to have to take care of that "scrape" With lead you could leave it alone.It would definitely want the barrier coat if I did have an Iron Keel, but I wouldn't fool myslef into thinking that it will never rust and I won't ever have to spend at least a little time maintaining itPersonally the only time that iron would be superior is on race boats that want and need 'ultra thin' keel shaped foils where the Iron can be stiffer than lead for thin cross sections. I doubt there are many on here that have that need.The other 99% of the time Lead is far superior in many ways (which have been already listed).But with that said if I really fell in love with a boat, I don't think I'd not buy it becuase of the iron keel (if it was in decent condition), but I wouldn't want to spend as much as the same boat in the same shape with a lead keel

 

[Tom S]

Gregg from Long Island

I beleive jenneau has a epoxy barrier coat of some kind also (well they are esentially the same company now). Even though they are barrier coated it doesn't mean that they won't need some maintenance sometime in the future because all it would take is some sort of grounding or touching the bottom and that epoxy barrier coat will get scraped off. The next fall you are going to have to take care of that "scrape" With lead you could leave it alone.It would definitely want the barrier coat if I did have an Iron Keel, but I wouldn't fool myslef into thinking that it will never rust and I won't ever have to spend at least a little time maintaining itPersonally the only time that iron would be superior is on race boats that want and need 'ultra thin' keel shaped foils where the Iron can be stiffer than lead for thin cross sections. I doubt there are many on here that have that need.The other 99% of the time Lead is far superior in many ways (which have been already listed).But with that said if I really fell in love with a boat, I don't think I'd not buy it becuase of the iron keel (if it was in decent condition), but I wouldn't want to spend as much as the same boat in the same shape with a lead keel

 

[Tom S]

Harlan, why did you say

"Uncared for they can be a mess (Iron Keels) but so can lead."How can uncared for lead be a mess? They can't. They are inert in water, nothing ever happens to them if uncared for. There is no care required. All you need is bottom paint, it wont rust or oxidize.I've touched bottom numerous times with my lead wing keel over the years and have exposed the lead. Nothing is happening to it and it won't require anything.

 

[Tom S]

Harlan, why did you say

"Uncared for they can be a mess (Iron Keels) but so can lead."How can uncared for lead be a mess? They can't. They are inert in water, nothing ever happens to them if uncared for. There is no care required. All you need is bottom paint, it wont rust or oxidize.I've touched bottom numerous times with my lead wing keel over the years and have exposed the lead. Nothing is happening to it and it won't require anything.

 

[Dave]

Lead Will oxidize

Lead will definitely oxidize and you will have trouble getting paint to adhere to an oxidized surface. In fact it will oxidize so fast you will be hard pressed to prep it before it is too late. Best prep for a lead keel is grind it down to bare lead, then immediately apply a coat of west epoxy. While the epoxy is still uncured use a wire brush to work it into the surface so it will bond to base lead and not the oxide layer (note you just ground it down but it is already oxidized). Let it cure then apply a second coat of epoxy. Cure it, sand it, apply several coats of barrier coat (to give a good base for paint adhesion. Then paint the keel. Should be goodfor many seasons with just touching up the paint.

 

[Dave]

Lead Will oxidize

Lead will definitely oxidize and you will have trouble getting paint to adhere to an oxidized surface. In fact it will oxidize so fast you will be hard pressed to prep it before it is too late. Best prep for a lead keel is grind it down to bare lead, then immediately apply a coat of west epoxy. While the epoxy is still uncured use a wire brush to work it into the surface so it will bond to base lead and not the oxide layer (note you just ground it down but it is already oxidized). Let it cure then apply a second coat of epoxy. Cure it, sand it, apply several coats of barrier coat (to give a good base for paint adhesion. Then paint the keel. Should be goodfor many seasons with just touching up the paint.

 

[Peter Brennan]

Never again

Our first boat (Dawson 26) has an iron swing keel. It looked like the surface of the moon. It was a continuing horrendous maintenance job no matter how much you applied rust inhibitors, primers, coatings, etc. There would always be a bit that came loose and opened up the entire keel to corrosion. Iron also has lower density than lead so you need more of it. When we bought our present boat we instructed the surveyor to make absolutely sure the keel was lead. For a year or two when the price of lead was sky high, O'Day switched to iron and we did not want one of those.Encapsulated iron is worse. At least corrosion on an exposed keel can expand as much as it wants. But encapsulated iron is constrained, nor can you get at it to stop corrosion.