john_travers
New member
I need to remove a keel bolt for inspection. Working on the sods law principle, "what can go wrong will do", any tips on what not to do in order to avoid sod?
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Keel bolt removal
- Thread starter john_travers
- Start date
Evadne
Active member
Wait until the end of the sailing season. That way if you snap it off you won't lose any sailing time. Alternatively get it x-rayed.
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tillergirl
Well-known member
I had the whole set done on my last boat and have had two checked on the current one. I am currently planning to do something with the bolt just aft of the mast as it is leaking slightly - leak is an exageration - seap is a better description. Whilst I would like to wait until next winter, I just know my wooden keelson is getting damper inside than it really should.
What to avoid? What to do? You don't say what sort of boat you have. Keel bolts can either go right through or be studs. My yard did a Folkboat with studs last year and removed the keel so that they could get at them. Hard work but possible. I'll ignore those. What we do is with boat suitably chocked and sufficient space beneath keel and ground for the bolt to be driven out, the nut is slackened back so that the bolt can be started by driving down on the nut. Clearly half the nut has to be on otherwise you crush nut and thread. We found that we were able to start the two bolts quite easily. Once started, nut remove and an old bolt used as a punch to drive the bolt on downwards. Although wastage was pretty small, I renewed both bolts (steel) as the cost was not large. It was handy that the yard has a blacksmith locally.
Fitting - don't be the guy underneath. We put the bolt in well greased and amply covered with polysulphide (eg Purflex or Sikaflex). Most of the polysuphide goes on the underneath guy as the bolt is drawn upwards!. We put a little coil of caulking around the bolt underneath the washer and nut before we tightened up.
Crucial - once you have started the bolt up top, check underneath to see that it has started there! If it hasn't stop and pause because it means that the bolt has wasted in the middle and you are driving the top bolt which has now become a spike over the spike of the remains of the bolt at the bottom. If you keep driving on you'll jam the lot. The remedy for this (I'm told, never down it myself) is to then draw the top part of the bolt upwards by some sort of pulling arrangement and knock out the bottom bit with a purpose made drift with a centre hole that will engage the spikey remains of the bottom half of the bolt. Having listened to some professionals talk about this, this is a journey of discovery.
I do have one bolt that we tried to shift but could make move at all. Since we had pulled two and they were fine, we did not feel inclined to really start knocking at it and have left it. There was an East Coast One Design in the yard with 4 to 5 foot long bolts and nobody could shift any of them. As far as I recall, they gave up on them and the boat is still sailing today!
It's never been as bad as predicted. Good luck.
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What to avoid? What to do? You don't say what sort of boat you have. Keel bolts can either go right through or be studs. My yard did a Folkboat with studs last year and removed the keel so that they could get at them. Hard work but possible. I'll ignore those. What we do is with boat suitably chocked and sufficient space beneath keel and ground for the bolt to be driven out, the nut is slackened back so that the bolt can be started by driving down on the nut. Clearly half the nut has to be on otherwise you crush nut and thread. We found that we were able to start the two bolts quite easily. Once started, nut remove and an old bolt used as a punch to drive the bolt on downwards. Although wastage was pretty small, I renewed both bolts (steel) as the cost was not large. It was handy that the yard has a blacksmith locally.
Fitting - don't be the guy underneath. We put the bolt in well greased and amply covered with polysulphide (eg Purflex or Sikaflex). Most of the polysuphide goes on the underneath guy as the bolt is drawn upwards!. We put a little coil of caulking around the bolt underneath the washer and nut before we tightened up.
Crucial - once you have started the bolt up top, check underneath to see that it has started there! If it hasn't stop and pause because it means that the bolt has wasted in the middle and you are driving the top bolt which has now become a spike over the spike of the remains of the bolt at the bottom. If you keep driving on you'll jam the lot. The remedy for this (I'm told, never down it myself) is to then draw the top part of the bolt upwards by some sort of pulling arrangement and knock out the bottom bit with a purpose made drift with a centre hole that will engage the spikey remains of the bottom half of the bolt. Having listened to some professionals talk about this, this is a journey of discovery.
I do have one bolt that we tried to shift but could make move at all. Since we had pulled two and they were fine, we did not feel inclined to really start knocking at it and have left it. There was an East Coast One Design in the yard with 4 to 5 foot long bolts and nobody could shift any of them. As far as I recall, they gave up on them and the boat is still sailing today!
It's never been as bad as predicted. Good luck.
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Mirelle
N/A
Excellent advice
The distance under the boat from keel to ground is critical! If by chance you are chocked on grass you can excavate a hole; if on concrete you are stuck until you flag down a passing yard crane (by waving your cheque book!)
Use a good big hammer; a small one is more likely to damage the nut and threads at the top of the bolt. A couple of drifts, one long and one short, is easier than trying to hit the head of a long drift somewhere in the neighbourhood of the cabin table - use the long one when the bolt is halfway out.
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The distance under the boat from keel to ground is critical! If by chance you are chocked on grass you can excavate a hole; if on concrete you are stuck until you flag down a passing yard crane (by waving your cheque book!)
Use a good big hammer; a small one is more likely to damage the nut and threads at the top of the bolt. A couple of drifts, one long and one short, is easier than trying to hit the head of a long drift somewhere in the neighbourhood of the cabin table - use the long one when the bolt is halfway out.
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john_travers
New member
Normally I would leave it to the end of the season but someone wants to buy the boat and a condition of sale is a keel bolt inspection! "Sods law".
Many thanks for the advice.
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Many thanks for the advice.
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tillergirl
Well-known member
I hope this requirement is not new fad. I'd hate to do it for that reason. The world is changing. When I bought TG It never occurred to me to have that as a condition of sale, nor to have one drawn. I'm not sure that keel's regularly fall off even with the racing types. Hope you make your sale.
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