Stuck Swing Keel - Suggestions

[nerys]

OK from my other thread I got myself a 27ft sailboat. I know its water tight as I removed it from the water where it was docked.

SO discover the swing keel is rock solid frozen. I banged and pulled as hard as I was willing to for fear of damaging the fiberglass hull its attached to.

as a last resort it seems 8 bolts will remove it from the boat itself. Thats a last resort as I have yet to figure out how to safetly LOWER and then RAISE an 800 pound keel :-) I am strong but not stupid or that strong :-) hehe

SO here are some pics of the keel its metal on metal. 5 cans of PB blaster of months have had no effect. there is 8 bolts holding what I will call the "keel pivot mount" to the boat and then a single large bolt that is the actual pivot and a stainless line going up into the boat.

The line is free and loose. the keel really is just corrode in place. It has not been "swung" in well over 10 years sitting in the water.

SO suggestions on how to free it? Once I can make it MOVE even through say 5' of rotation back and forth should be enough at that point to free it enough to let me remove the pivot bolt and seperate the two halves.

at that point I would use a grinder to clean it all up repaint rezinc (?correct?) and reinstall the keel.

I have suggestions from torching it to using japanese saw blades or sawzall style blades etc.. to get between the two pieces. I would like to try and avoid creating "slop" unless you guys tell me that is not a big deal?

Suggestions?

[Jeff_H]

I have no brilliant suggestions except that I might try something like Ospho which is phosphoric acid in an attempt to consolidate some of the rust at the overlap. I would suggest that you try that before getting too exotic.

Some heat applied to the outer layers might help as well.

If that does not work, I suppose you could try to unbolt the keel and lower it to the ground, bolt a wideflange (steel I beam) to the keel stub and then jack the swing keel against that I-beam.

If none of that works in the worst case you may need to fabricate a new keel and stub. That would be a real pain in the butt. There is a reason that cheap boats are cheap,

Just for the record, you don't own a 27 footer. You own a Luger Tradewinds 26. That is actually good news because there is a pretty active user group for the Tradewinds 26 and you can get access to a complete assembly manual at tra26 : Tradewinds Assembly Plans and so knowing the correct make and model is a helpful thing.

Respectfully,
Jeff

[SuenosAzules]

I am big on safety. I can tell you that if this were my boat... based on your description and the photos, it appears you have an excessive amount of corrosion on the assembly, and even more corrosion that you may not even see. I would completely disassemble the keel, and have some qualified help with it as well. Renew the keel by taking the corrosion off, and putting it back together once the entire system is like new again.

[CalebD]

If you can't find Ospho which Jeff mentioned you should be able to find Naval Jelly in a good hardware store. They both have phosphoric acid in them that neutralizes rust.
Was this boat sitting in salt or fresh water?
Good luck getting that keel moving. The grinder will be your friend.

[deniseO30]

this site is linked to the one Jeff gave you The Luger Sailboat Mooring - Seving Luger sailors since 1999 at home port www.lugerboats.com nice pic and drawing of the interior too!

don't drop the keel... LIFT THE BOAT! leave the keel on the trailer!

block the boat with 4x4's and brace it in place then roll the trailer out from under with keel on it put the trailer back while your working on the keel away from the boat.

[deniseO30]

My, my what have I found?

[nerys]

well there is doubt if its a luger (though I think it might be its REALLY similar) and it is a 27 footer the stats say 26.92 feet (to me anything over 26.5 and under 27.5ft is a 27footer.)

the keel is NOT on the trailer so the problem remains of how to "lower" the keep to the trailer frame (if I go that route) safely.

ie how do I lower 800 pounds 8 some inches without killing something and still be able to MOVE it :-)

I absolutely plan to fully restore that keel. When I am done it will shine pretty and have brand new paint and not one spot of rust or corrosion.

I just need to get it to MOVE first so I can remove that bolt and sep it into 2 pieces.

Then I can go to town with the grinder and bristle wheel and clean it up nice and shiny :-)

Denise. Thanks a lot. a new link for me to burn hours on :-) hehe

FYI your tripod link is not working.

ahh got it copied the image location. They don't allow third party filtering ie "linking"

Just C&P the link into your browser
http://tradewinds26.tripod.com/bluep...2-fig6-col.jpg

that sure looks like my keel :-) more and more conclusive that its a luger 26.

[sailingdog]

Nerys—

The corrosion on the iron swing keel is the problem. Iron expands 10% when it rusts.

DO30— Nice work, as usual.

[nerys]

wow. that sure explains why its seriously tight :-)

so what is this ospho and where can I get some?

[merc2dogs]

Build a support frame with plywood and 2x stock, wheels or not depending on preference, remove the pivot bolt which should allow the fin to separate from the stub.

Odds are the rust between the sections has expanded and snugged everything up on the pivot, so it's clamped together tightly.

Your support frame should look like back to back triangles spaced for a slip fit on the keel,(4 triangles, two at each end, cross braced together) a jack or screw on each of the lower flat sections to let it down when the bolt is removed. Alternative is to use blocks and let it down a block at a time with one jack

If the winch is working, you should be able to let the back down without a jack

Ken.