Looking for advice

[smokey63182]

Well I pulled my boat out of the water two days ago and the boat is a bit crooked on the trailer and I would like to center it and in the process do some work on the keel. Its a 26.5 Hunter and weighs 4400 lbs. Is there a way that I can jack up the boat safely to do these things? Any input would much appreciated. Thanks in advance.

[retclt]

Do you have a picture?

A good heavy duty floor jack is good if the supports are adjustable. You might back it back down the ramp and try again.

[smokey63182]

Thanks for the reply dont have any pics. I thought about trying again at the boat launch but we are supposed to get some snow I am in upper MI. I might try the floor jack but my supports are not adjustable they are u shaped one in front and one in the back, the stern support is split with a keel guide. I have seen boats in peoples yards on stands with the keel on blocks. How do they do that?

[retclt]

Crane.

A few hundred bucks and your best friends to help stake it. Have beer.

Upper MI . . . burrrrrrrrrrr

Good luck.

[Delirious]

We had just completed an 800 mile two-week trip to the Chesapeake with a 3,000 lb 24 foot Nimble trailersailor and were backing the trailer into the driveway (a 20ş grade) when the spindle snapped off the end of one of the axles.

After having been doing 85 mph around the Baltimore Beltway earlier that day I am now a believer in guardian angels.

When the wheel collapsed the whole boat slid a foot to one side in the berths.

I made a foot square pad out of doubled 3/4" plywood and added a cast-iron pipe flashing to one side - looked much like the head of a jack-stand. Using an 8-ton can jack (hydraulic ram) with the head in the pipe flange and various footers from old structural timbers I lifted and blocked the trailer to replace the axle, then set it back down and lifted the whole boat off the trailer using the timber blocks and moving the jack around to ooch it up two-inches at a time in four spots inside the trailer. When I had the boat fully off the berths I levered the trailer under it with a six-foot crow bar and then repeated the whole process in reverse to slowly lower it.

[Hartley18]

Originally Posted by Delirious

I made a foot square pad out of doubled 3/4" plywood and added a cast-iron pipe flashing to one side - looked much like the head of a jack-stand. Using an 8-ton can jack (hydraulic ram) with the head in the pipe flange and various footers from old structural timbers I lifted and blocked the trailer to replace the axle, then set it back down and lifted the whole boat off the trailer using the timber blocks and moving the jack around to ooch it up two-inches at a time in four spots inside the trailer. When I had the boat fully off the berths I levered the trailer under it with a six-foot crow bar and then repeated the whole process in reverse to slowly lower it.

In my experience, short of using a crane, that's the only way to do it.

The only other option you've got is to drop the boat on the grass somewhere and then pull the trailer back under it - but that is not a trivial exercise when dealing with anything over a ton - and it's easier to launch and retrieve the boat again if you can.

[artbyjody]

Is there a tree nearby with a sturdy enough girth or someone with a heavy duty 4WD?

Put the mast back on - then take one of the halyards and tie it off to such. You'll need two people (maybe three)... but put slight tension on the halyard to crank it down on the high side as you use a hydraulic lift under the keel to left it up.

If done in unison - the force on the high side if done slowly from the mast will heel it over as you lift it and the hull should rotate - will allow the hydraulic jack to do its work and you can ease it into position...

Do at extreme risk to yourself, property, and onlookers... Problem with just jacking it at the keel is the trailer is going to have friction and want to go up with it...

Redneck solution and again - use at your own risk - if you can drive it to dunk it again and re-float it - the best and most sensible solution...

[Hartley18]

Originally Posted by artbyjody

Is there a tree nearby with a sturdy enough girth or someone with a heavy duty 4WD?

Put the mast back on - then take one of the halyards and tie it off to such. You'll need two people (maybe three)... but put slight tension on the halyard to crank it down on the high side as you use a hydraulic lift under the keel to left it up.

If done in unison - the force on the high side if done slowly from the mast will heel it over as you lift it and the hull should rotate - will allow the hydraulic jack to do its work and you can ease it into position...

Do at extreme risk to yourself, property, and onlookers... Problem with just jacking it at the keel is the trailer is going to have friction and want to go up with it......

Jody, you're a redneck!!

It's an interesting idea, but if you don't snap either the keel or the mast (whichever is the weakest) first by doing this, the second the boat moves on the benches, the keel jack will tip over sideways and the whole boat come down again in kind of a hurry.

I've seen people "bounce" a boat straight by getting a couple of guys to put their backs against the hull on the off side and heave up in repeated bursts, causing the boat to lift partially off the trailer after a few heaves - but that's kind of redneck too!

I suppose it would help if the OP could post some photos of his set-up...

[artbyjody]

Originally Posted by Hartley18

Jody, you're a redneck!!



I suppose it would help if the OP could post some photos of his set-up...

It would help and thanks - hence DISCLAIMERzzzzzzz.. wouldn't do it myself less there was no other alternative...in which case - get drunk enough - magic happens right??

[sailingdog]

Might want to look at this thread here.