James Dargie
Once I’ve hammered out the pivot pin is it correct that the plate must be lowered about 30° before it can be removed?
Is it correct that there’s no way to pull it out backwards while the boat is resting on the stub keel, i.e. in its cradle?
Thanks
James Dargie
Tom,
Thanks, this is really informative. I’m going to change the pivot pin, but for the time being (penned in by many other boats) I won’t be examining the surface coatings on the lift keel this time round(was it possible to extract without lifting the boat I would have done so)so thanks your info it has given me enough guidance to know what is possible with the boat in her present circumstances. Praying that come spring/ easter the keel will swing freely as she’ll be Scotland bound – something of an epic maiden voyage in my ownership – if it does not then well much panic and cursing I guess.
How did you find removing the stub keel bolts? I tried to shift one just for inspection purposes and simply could not budge it, I didn’t pursue this line of investigation as I didn’t want to damage the bolt head.
I’ll keep your email in mind for when I do come to inspect and coat the keel.
James
Hi James,
I went to the next extreme and took the whole keel off and put it in the back garden. Too take the plate out, your correct you cannot just pull it out from the end, because inside the box we found there are two slight mounds in the box which grip the plate stopping it going backwards.
To get my plate out we had the whole system upside down, and we attached a main sheet to the top of a ladder and the keel plate then we lifted it out, but the only area it will come out from is right at the front of the box.
I suggect you put in a pin of some sort (we used a chunk of broom stick) then drop the keel plate all the way down, put some supports around it, then take the pin out. If there is two much pressure on the pin you should be able to lift the plate up slightly with two people easily. This will take the pressure off the pin. Once the pin is out the plate should fall straight down. If you cradle is not high enough you might have to use a crain. But what ever you do make sure the plate is supported, its not to heavy but is very brittle. I suggest once its out put it on a pallet board, this way you wont crush you fingers, the plate wont break and all the dust made from when cleaning the plate is blown through the slats.
This is all I can help with from my experiences.
Tom Vallois
Tom Vallois
Hi James,
To be honest removing the keel bolts was a complete pain, it was far more difficult that we expected. We first tried with heavy duty pair of pliers, which worked on 2 bolts…. just enough to lift our spirits.
The rest on the other hand were a headache and I would expect yours to be as bad. In the end I stepped back. It took my dad and brother on the end of a steel “T” bar with the correct size socket welded to the bottom, they took one arm of the T each and went for it, this method did work but one bolt did end up snapping, also i’m glad the wood work was already in need of attention. I have the old bolts in a pots, they are solid in rust and the washers that were put with them have become part of the bolts. That is definately an experience I dont want to have to be doing again, the keel is still in the garden if you want me to take a couple photos before its all taken to the harbour.
Tom V
Tim Owen
Hi,
My Sonata keel came out backwards sliding on the bottom of its trailer slot – I needed a lever and a bit of force to pull it out, and a few taps with a hammer, but it was not difficult. I did find that there was a wooden packing piece at the back of the slot that the keel rested against, and I had to chop that out to get the keel out.
It went back in the same way too.
Tim
Tom Vallois
Hi James,
I went to the next extreme and took the whole keel off and put it in the back garden. Too take the plate out, your correct you cannot just pull it out from the end, because inside the box we found there are two slight mounds in the box which grip the plate stopping it going backwards.
To get my plate out we had the whole system upside down, and we attached a main sheet to the top of a ladder and the keel plate then we lifted it out, but the only area it will come out from is right at the front of the box.
I suggect you put in a pin of some sort (we used a chunk of broom stick) then drop the keel plate all the way down, put some supports around it, then take the pin out. If there is two much pressure on the pin you should be able to lift the plate up slightly with two people easily. This will take the pressure off the pin. Once the pin is out the plate should fall straight down. If you cradle is not high enough you might have to use a crain. But what ever you do make sure the plate is supported, its not to heavy but is very brittle. I suggest once its out put it on a pallet board, this way you wont crush you fingers, the plate wont break and all the dust made from when cleaning the plate is blown through the slats.
This is all I can help with from my experiences.
Tom Vallois