When did Hunter stop using lead keels and what is the replacement made of and how is it holding up?
Keel made of?
- Thread starter Paula
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I am not an expert on these exactly.. but as I recall, the Cheribini boats were pretty much all lead keels.. up thorugh early 80's .. then the Courtland Steck boats went to cast iron.. cast iron continued up until recently , but there may have been some encapsulated keels for a while in the early/mid 90's.. The new Marlowe Hunters are lead again, I think.. Dave Condon may be able to clarify ..
My 1985 34, a Steck boat, has cast iron and it has been fine.. It requires a bit more care when coating than lead and requires rust remediation sometimes, but in general, not a real problem.
My 1985 34, a Steck boat, has cast iron and it has been fine.. It requires a bit more care when coating than lead and requires rust remediation sometimes, but in general, not a real problem.
Proper maintaince is the key word and Hunter was not the
only one to use cast iron a friend has a Benetea who has nothing but problems with his cast iron keel rusting.
I think it was 2007 Hunter did switch to cast iron for a short time to
save $$$$$$ with the high cost lead at the time.
My 2007 H 36 is lead.
Nick
only one to use cast iron a friend has a Benetea who has nothing but problems with his cast iron keel rusting.
I think it was 2007 Hunter did switch to cast iron for a short time to
save $$$$$$ with the high cost lead at the time.
My 2007 H 36 is lead.
Nick
What Cloudie said.
FYI: funny as this may sound, lead is classified as a 'precious metal' (or 'semi-precious metal') and gets priced accordingly. The pricing is very volatile, related to all other similar commodities on the market, and is therefore very hard to budget over a long-term product range. 'New Hunter' (post-1982) went with cast iron because all their designs changed and it is much cheaper. Also it's 'safer' (a very relative term!) to cast in shapes, such as the winged keel (if you read Olin Stephens' All This And Sailing Too, you'll understand why I too dislike winged keels on cruising boats).
As far as maintenance, I think cast iron is foolish economy. I've done work on both. On Diana I scraped and sanded the lead down to bare metal and even filled minor cracks and chips with real lead, a little like I was working on a 1950s hot rod. It's easy to work with and, properly coated in epoxy, lasts far longer than iron ever will.
I don't see any clear benefits of iron over lead for the boat owner, only for the boatbuilder (#theboatbuilderisnotyourfriend).
FYI: funny as this may sound, lead is classified as a 'precious metal' (or 'semi-precious metal') and gets priced accordingly. The pricing is very volatile, related to all other similar commodities on the market, and is therefore very hard to budget over a long-term product range. 'New Hunter' (post-1982) went with cast iron because all their designs changed and it is much cheaper. Also it's 'safer' (a very relative term!) to cast in shapes, such as the winged keel (if you read Olin Stephens' All This And Sailing Too, you'll understand why I too dislike winged keels on cruising boats).
As far as maintenance, I think cast iron is foolish economy. I've done work on both. On Diana I scraped and sanded the lead down to bare metal and even filled minor cracks and chips with real lead, a little like I was working on a 1950s hot rod. It's easy to work with and, properly coated in epoxy, lasts far longer than iron ever will.
I don't see any clear benefits of iron over lead for the boat owner, only for the boatbuilder (#theboatbuilderisnotyourfriend).
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Mars Metals use to cast the keels for Hunter located in Canada.. If you ever have a question about a keel, you might be able to get a response from them as to time frame on Lead Vs. Iron.
I think a fiberglass Hunter would die of old age before one their iron keels rusted off. That said, maintaining an iron keel is not really a big deal as long as you keep up with it. It is, however, an added maintenance task that you don't have with a lead keel. Owning a boat always involves choices and compromises....
the newer Hunters - 90's to 2007/2008 used lead keels from Mars metals. Starting in 2007, Hunter phased models over to cast iron keels with a protective coating for cost reasons. I believe Marlowe is bringing back lead keels. IMHO, iron keels are insanity - after the warrantee ends, they can be a maintenance nightmare, In addition, the huge bulb on iron keels - less dense than lead, must create more drag. Most critically, iron keels are very rigid - if you hit something with a lead keel, the lead will absorb a lot of the shock; an iron keel will pass it on to the hull - and maybe rip it open (I've seen it happen).
I was looking at a 45, and said that I wouldn't consider a boat with an iron keel - Hunter's response was that they made the change for cost reasons - when I asked, they said the difference was $15K. On a $400K boat that's a showstopper????
I was looking at a 45, and said that I wouldn't consider a boat with an iron keel - Hunter's response was that they made the change for cost reasons - when I asked, they said the difference was $15K. On a $400K boat that's a showstopper????