lifting boat up a few inches in cradle

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chrishelen

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My long keel boat is out for the winter and is in a cradle in the yard all chocked up.

trouble is i found today that the bow needs to lifted up about six inches to stop rain water collecting in the bow bilge.

could i use a 2 ton car jack? or would wedges be better?
 
I lifted the bow of my 4 tonne long keel boat for the same reason you mention. I made a chock of hardwood with a vee cut to fit the bow about a foot from the bottom of the keel. It lifted easily with a 5 tonne lorry jack. I lifted it a cm at a time using ply to pack under the keel after each lift in case of a slip.
 
My '3 tonne' trolley jack has never been the same since lifting 2.6 tons of Impala, and I doubt it was lifting more than 2/3 of the boat's weight.

As the Oldchap says, inch or less at a time, add chocks and don't put too much trust in any jacks.
In other words, think it through and take care and it's fine.
 
I personally wouldn't risk trying to shift a 6 ton boat in a yard's cradle. Can't you get the yard to do it in a quiet moment?
 
pvb said:
I personally wouldn't risk trying to shift a 6 ton boat in a yard's cradle. Can't you get the yard to do it in a quiet moment?
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i'm right at the back of the yard.

my plan is... lift 1 inch..re chock, until i get the boat high enough. what do you think?
 
This is the yards responsibility surely :rolleyes:. My yard make absolutely sure the boat is levelled correctly so that water does not collect. I don't ask them to do it, they do it automatically - even if you have a cover.

Oh, just clicked, is this your cradle and you have set the heights of the legs - still you think they would have been conscientious enough to check and adjust it for you!

Careful you don't invalidate their insurance if you adjust the cradle yourself!
 
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Some yards have an absolute ban on owners making adjustments of any kind for safety reasons.

Are you willing to accept liability if it all goes pair shaped and your insurance company washes it's hands of you?

I hope it isn't my boat next to yours !!
 
chrishelen said:
My long keel boat is out for the winter and is in a cradle in the yard all chocked up.

trouble is i found today that the bow needs to lifted up about six inches to stop rain water collecting in the bow bilge.

could i use a 2 ton car jack? or would wedges be better?
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Isn't it safer and easier to stop the water entering the boat!!!!
 
+1 A lot depends on the ground (i.e. how much give), number of supports, type of cradle etc.

If she is on concrete and you just lift the bow then weight will come on to the rear supports. Keep lifting without adjusting anything and you could get all 6 tons spread between 1 point at bows and 2 near stern. Extreme case but it shows that you can't just lift one point without adjusting others.

You could attempt it yourself if you know what to do to avoid overloading any support. Cradle supports don't take the whole weight of the boat, just add stability. The weight will be on the keel.

Really depends how confident you are (it isn't rocket science) but the yard should have done it correctly in the first place. All places I've used have made a point of setting up a slight tilt aft to avoid water collecting in winter.
 
chrishelen said:
My long keel boat is out for the winter and is in a cradle in the yard all chocked up.

trouble is i found today that the bow needs to lifted up about six inches to stop rain water collecting in the bow bilge.

could i use a 2 ton car jack? or would wedges be better?
Click to expand...

Its the yards responsibility to get the boat chocked level. Get them to do it. They did it wrong, so they should put it right. Any decent yard uses a spirit level to check.

I think they would not be happy with you lifting the boat.
 
Chris_Robb said:
Its the yards responsibility to get the boat chocked level. Get them to do it. They did it wrong, so they should put it right. Any decent yard uses a spirit level to check.

I think they would not be happy with you lifting the boat.
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ok ok, i guess i will get the yard to do it. i was only asking if it would be possible to lift it a few inches.
thanks for all advice.
 
chrishelen said:
My long keel boat is out for the winter and is in a cradle in the yard all chocked up.

trouble is i found today that the bow needs to lifted up about six inches to stop rain water collecting in the bow bilge.

could i use a 2 ton car jack? or would wedges be better?
Click to expand...

when owners know best

IMG_00101.jpg
 
theoldsalt said:
Some yards have an absolute ban on owners making adjustments of any kind for safety reasons.

Are you willing to accept liability if it all goes pair shaped and your insurance company washes it's hands of you?

I hope it isn't my boat next to yours !!
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:rolleyes:

chrishelen said:
its not.
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:D:D:D:D:D:D

Another thought for you can you gently lower the back end of the boat or cradle? Lifting is probably easier/ safer, I would suggest slowly slowly and monitor the weights on all the other supports...

Check with yard for there opinion, it will not be the first time they have had that problem...
 
What a poor series of responses from "Practical" boaters. With care, it is perfectly feasible to jack the boat up a few inches. As others have said, keep following up with thin packers and wedges.
 
NormanS said:
What a poor series of responses from "Practical" boaters. With care, it is perfectly feasible to jack the boat up a few inches. As others have said, keep following up with thin packers and wedges.
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Sorry, you are being foolish. If the worst happens the yard is insured if it goes wrong. You would not be. The photo I posted is genuine, and wrote 3 boats off. The owner thought he knew what he was doing. All in a yard that doesn't even charge for re chocking.
 
Elessar said:
Sorry, you are being foolish. If the worst happens the yard is insured if it goes wrong. You would not be. The photo I posted is genuine, and wrote 3 boats off. The owner thought he knew what he was doing. All in a yard that doesn't even charge for re chocking.
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Was that photo not due to a thoughtless moment during painting rather than some one trying to move a boat?

So we should not paint our own boats either :rolleyes:.
 
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