Is there a safe way to raise a fin keel off of its trailer with boat stands enough to quickly do bottom work?
Do not have easy access to a marina or lift.
Do not have easy access to a marina or lift.
Lifting off trailer?
- Thread starter WDS
- Start date
Boat stands would be tough. Need a way to lift the boat and get the stands under it. There are multiple examples of people using multiple jacks and large timbers to support the boat. YMMV as to the size of the boat, the money, and the effort you want to put in to do this.
I don’t understand the problem you are trying to solve? Generally speaking the keel supports the weight while the pads or long bunk boards maintain the balance. If it’s the “balance“ parts are in the way lifting the boat isn’t going to totally solve that as something has to keep the boat upright
I‘ve seen people use a temp support pad placed near an existing pad to allow them to remove the “real” pad to give access to that area. I don’t know if that could work with a long bunk board though.
I would like to lift the boat safely off the trailer just enough to work on/ paint the bottom. I do not have easy access to a marina...boat is on trailer and was wondering if I could safely raise it with boat stands to do the work..
OK Let me try again
If you try to pick up the boat with jack stands there will be a lot of weight born in a small area NOT designed to deal with it and possibly punch a hole in the hull!
Think of it this way. If someone wearing sneakers steps on your foot it’s not a big deal. Same person steps on your foot with a pointed high heel shoe and it’s going to hurt.
Same weight distributed differently.
Boat resting on its keel = sneaker
Boat resting on jack stand pad = high heel.
My comment was that I observed people leaving it resting on its keel. Put in temporary supports so that you can move the ones on the trailer out of the way and work on that area. Put the real ones back in place, remove the temp ones and work on that area.
I’ve seen a video of what you described...the word picture is effective...don’t want any high heel holes!OK Let me try again
If you try to pick up the boat with jack stands there will be a lot of weight born in a small area NOT designed to deal with it and possibly punch a hole in the hull!
Think of it this way. If someone wearing sneakers steps on your foot it’s not a big deal. Same person steps on your foot with a pointed high heel shoe and it’s going to hurt.
Same weight distributed differently.
Boat resting on its keel = sneaker
Boat resting on jack stand pad = high heel.
My comment was that I observed people leaving it resting on its keel. Put in temporary supports so that you can move the ones on the trailer out of the way and work on that area. Put the real ones back in place, remove the temp ones and work on that area.
Yes, it’s resting it’s trailer, I can access the bottom for work/paint easily except where it sits on the bunks
What I've done in the past was use a couple of large ratchet straps all the way around the boat and trailer along with some wood as a safety system should something go wrong. In your case I would see if I could get my hands on a couple more tall jacks instead. So once all safety equipment is in place I would lower 1-2 bunk supports at a time to do work. You may have to use a ratchet strap to pull it down.
It looks like you may be able to unbolt the supports at the bottom
It looks like you may be able to unbolt the supports at the bottom
First of all - Nice boat!
I have not seen the approach I was talking about when there are long bunk boards involved. What I saw was temporarily replacing a pad with a pad in a slightly different location.
The long bunk board conforming to the hull shape MIGHT be carrying quite a bit of load but IF they are it would be distributed over a fairly large area compared to the individual pads.
Do the existing bunk boards “line up” with any substantial structure of the boat? Pads or lift slings are optimal if they go where internal bulkheads are as the hull “skin” is stronger in that area.
My thinking for what it’s worth would be to deal with one side at a time and use several jack stands (maybe 3) with a bunk board attached to their pads, very close to the existing one to see if you can create a small gap between the hull and the existing board.
Obviously I have no idea if this would work or if it’s even safe so don’t sue me OK
You might also consider taking the mast off and removing any extra weight inside the hull.
Before using just pads I would research to
determine if there are any Capri’s that use pads instead of bunk boards for trailer or cradle. Maybe there are areas of the hull strong enough to do that.
I have not seen the approach I was talking about when there are long bunk boards involved. What I saw was temporarily replacing a pad with a pad in a slightly different location.
The long bunk board conforming to the hull shape MIGHT be carrying quite a bit of load but IF they are it would be distributed over a fairly large area compared to the individual pads.
Do the existing bunk boards “line up” with any substantial structure of the boat? Pads or lift slings are optimal if they go where internal bulkheads are as the hull “skin” is stronger in that area.
My thinking for what it’s worth would be to deal with one side at a time and use several jack stands (maybe 3) with a bunk board attached to their pads, very close to the existing one to see if you can create a small gap between the hull and the existing board.
Obviously I have no idea if this would work or if it’s even safe so don’t sue me OK
You might also consider taking the mast off and removing any extra weight inside the hull.
Before using just pads I would research to
determine if there are any Capri’s that use pads instead of bunk boards for trailer or cradle. Maybe there are areas of the hull strong enough to do that.
I have capri #279 and have lifted the boat off of the trailer multiple times to do bottom barrier coat and paint. The trailer is a six pad trailer. I have two tall boat stands that are positioned under the stern of the boat to take pressure off of the rear and middle trailer pads. I lower the trailer tongue, position stands at stern, then raise tongue. Then the boat stands have screw jacks which I will turn until the pressure is off of the back and middle pads. Lower the trailer pads and paint. Once the pad areas are painted then I lower the boat back on the trailer. For the bow I have a tri-pod lumber structure for support. I raise the trailer tongue has high as I can and position the tri-pod structure with pads under bow. Then lower the trailer tongue which takes the pressure off of the front pads. This will allow front pads to be lowered and area to be painted. When lifting the boat at different points make sure you use a fairly good size pads, mine are 12 X 6 inches. Also position lift points where the boat has stiffeners (stern). Make sure boat is sitting level and always keep trailer pads in place (not touching hull while paint is drying) when not working on the boat (for safety). I never lift the boat 100% off of the trailer--rear pads first then front pads second.
Dfox or brokenarm do you happen to have any pics of what you describe?
The bow area is the tricky part...and thanks for the input!
The bow area is the tricky part...and thanks for the input!