keelbolts again

[Timcowen]

A friend of mine is having a devil of a job trying to extract his keelbolts. Apparently, and I know very little on the subject, they appear to have rusted and expanded therefore making them impossible to extract. I am told he has tried just about everything to date . It was suggested to him to make up a 'cutter' to drill down around the outside of the existing bolts, thus creating a marginally larger hole . Will in the opinion of the panel, this work or would be gratefull for any other suggestions. Having read previous posts I get the impression they (Keelbolts) can be a bit of a bugger !!

 

[Kukri]

Yes, this is one of the standard techniques. I have not resorted to it myself, though.

 

[Peterduck]

The bolts sound as though they are fairly severely rusted, in which case the ballast is going to have to be dropped off to get at the part of the bolt that is in it. I suggest using the weight of the ballast to pull the bolts, or at least, the lower half of them, out of the wood keel. If the full length comes out, so much the better! The upper half can then be pulled out by packing washers, large buts, etc under the nut and screwing it down. The screw is a very powerful 'lever'.
Peter.

 

[Timcowen]

Thanks chaps, I will pass this on.