How to Repair the Bottom of a 1,000-lb Boat?

If you build a cradle to support the boat you can work on the hull. We
do it in the boatyard all the time.
 >> Stay informed about: How to Repair the Bottom of a 1,000-lb Boat? 

If the keel breaks it's a problem.

But if the keel is sound, boats can usually be safely supported on blocks
under the keel, with the hull braced along the sides to it stays level.
Take a look around any fishing port or boat yard.

If you are on salt water the boat can be left high and dry at low tide.

If you are on dry land the boat can be jacked up with bottle jacks and
blocks put under the keel. You can get a boat off it's trailer that way.

Boatyards tend to use a frame from which belts are slipped under
the hull to raise it, and pull the trailer out from underneath.

Another method is to hire a crane. Yacht clubs often have or rent a crane
for a day to lift the member's boats out of the water at the end of the
season.

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 >> Stay informed about: How to Repair the Bottom of a 1,000-lb Boat? 

> It is possible to build a cradle around the hull to
> turn it if it is only that weight, but you better
> stay clear if you don't design the cradle perfectly
> safe.

Now that you have pointed this out. I surely have a feeling that
rolling over a 1,000-lb boat is not such a good idea in a home
environment. I should repair it with it sitting upright on dry land.

> anyway if your boat are fiber glass, I suggest,
> you look into how to make a sheet to fit exact
> and around the edge of where the dameage are,
> if you before this angled the remaining edges in
> the hole the right amount, you can from inside
> use that patch to mold a new surface that in
> glasfiber or Epoxy and glasfiber then patch the
> hole from inside.

Sound like a plan. Thanks.

By the way, the boat is probably something like 700-lb instead of
1,000-lb as what I had mentioned. Regardless, this is too heavy for me
and my friend to roll it over using manpower alone.

Jay Chan
 >> Stay informed about: How to Repair the Bottom of a 1,000-lb Boat? 

> If the keel breaks it's a problem.

Thanks for pointing out one type of damages that I should not attempt
to fix. I will stay clear of boats that have broken keel.

Any other damage in a fiberglass boat that is too severe for repair?

> But if the keel is sound, boats can usually be safely
> supported on blocks under the keel, with the hull braced
> along the sides to it stays level. Take a look around
> any fishing port or boat yard.

Good to know this. I think I kind of know the braces that you are
referring to.

> If you are on dry land the boat can be jacked up with
> bottle jacks and blocks put under the keel. You can
> get a boat off it's trailer that way.

This is the part that I don't quite understand. The boat is still on a
trailer. How do we move it from the trailer to the wood blocks where we
can jack the boat up? Do you mean constructing the wood brace right
under the boat with the trailer still in place, and then jack up the
brace (in other words, don't move the trailer)?

Thanks in advance for any following-up message.

Jay Chan
 >> Stay informed about: How to Repair the Bottom of a 1,000-lb Boat? 

> If you build a cradle to support the boat you can work
> on the hull. We do it in the boatyard all the time.

I assume the cradle is a wood brace that supports the boat hull, and is
not something that we use to roll over a boat.

This means I should visit a boatyard to see exactly how a cradle/brace
is constructed.

Thanks.

Jay Chan
 >> Stay informed about: How to Repair the Bottom of a 1,000-lb Boat? 

How to roll over a boat:

1. rent two half ton chain hoists.
2. hang hoists above boat
3. attach blocks with very large throat/shives to hoists.
4. buy nylon hold down trucking straps.
5. pass straps around boat and thru block.
6. lift boat
7. roll over

It's a one man job.
 >> Stay informed about: How to Repair the Bottom of a 1,000-lb Boat? 

Jaykc.. please exchouse that don't know all the english words , but
what I tried to show is the way I done such repair several times , ----
emagine you could find a simular boat and the owner was a nice guy .
Then you find the same area of his boat and simply make a small mold
covering the hole in your boat, so when you repair the hole you cast
the form from a simular boat. The important thing is to make that flat
mold in say two layers of glasfiber and resin , treadhis boat with the
right slip solvent -- usealy some water soluted agent that often is
plain carpenter glue and plenty of wax, before you start taking the
mold.
Such patch are easy temp. glued over the hole and as long as you dried
out the edges and angled them the right amount ,make the build up
repair cover the edge well , then such repair can be made so the boat
is as good as new --- but no cut corners everything need to be
perfectly clean and dry and the small cracks that will show just need
to be filled with a 2 compoment epoxy filler.
 >> Stay informed about: How to Repair the Bottom of a 1,000-lb Boat? 

> Jaykc.. please exchouse that don't know all the english words , but
> what I tried to show is the way I done such repair several times , ----
> emagine you could find a simular boat and the owner was a nice guy .
> Then you find the same area of his boat and simply make a small mold
> covering the hole in your boat, so when you repair the hole you cast
> the form from a simular boat. The important thing is to make that flat
> mold in say two layers of glasfiber and resin , treadhis boat with the
> right slip solvent -- usealy some water soluted agent that often is
> plain carpenter glue and plenty of wax, before you start taking the
> mold.

Thanks for the idea of making a copy of the damaged area from the same
boat model. This sounds good as long as I can find the same boat model.
If not, I will have to make a mold from my boat, fine tune the mold,
and form a patch using the mold.

Jay Chan
 >> Stay informed about: How to Repair the Bottom of a 1,000-lb Boat? 

> The bottom may not need repair but it will need cleaning
> and painting from time to time so you're not quite out
> of the woods yet.

I see. But I will leave the boat on a trailer most of the time. I guess
the boat probably doesn't need to clean and paint that often (unless I
beach it by accident).

Jay Chan
 >> Stay informed about: How to Repair the Bottom of a 1,000-lb Boat? 

(per.corell@privat.dk) writes:
> Jaykc.. please exchouse that don't know all the english words , but
> what I tried to show is the way I done such repair several times , ----
> emagine you could find a simular boat and the owner was a nice guy .
> Then you find the same area of his boat and simply make a small mold
> covering the hole in your boat, so when you repair the hole you cast
> the form from a simular boat.

I recall that discussion and recall pointing out that all he has to do is
walk around to the other side of his own boat to make a matching mould,
most boats being symetrical.

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 >> Stay informed about: How to Repair the Bottom of a 1,000-lb Boat? 

> I can see problem getting the boat off the trailer even with home built
> rings. I think I would be more than happy just to jack the boat up a
> couple feet higher. But I am better off avoiding the problem all
> together by selecting boats that don't have a lot of damages in the
> bottom.

The bottom may not need repair but it will need cleaning and painting from
time to time so you're not quite out of the woods yet.

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 >> Stay informed about: How to Repair the Bottom of a 1,000-lb Boat? 

rolling a boat, or any other heavy object need not be a dramatic
affair. In my work place we regularly roll or move objects weighing up
to 4000lbs wiith just two people. if you are lucky enough to have
structural overhead beams then chain blocks are quick and easy, if not
you can often build some sort of a fram for very little money (sub $50
if you use scrap metals) and can weld. if you cant weld, buy a second
hand stick welder and learn. i bought my first welder for $50 and
after reading a bit on it was competent enough to make decent welds.
within a month i could weld high strenth suspension components for
competition jeeps. 5 years later im a structurally certified welder in
most positions for stick and mig. one you get a welder you'll be
surprised at how you ever get by without one. it is to steel what
resin is to glass. a million uses.

if you dont have these means or dont want to get involved then use your
head instead. levers and pulleys give a _tremendous_ amount of
mechanical advantage if you understand a few basic principles. If you
have a couple of strong sawhorses or plenty of loose lumber its
actually pretty simple to move or roll anything if you're not in a
hurry. I've pulled stuck jeeps out of rivers with nothing more than a
bit of rope and some lengths of pole found at a construction site down
the road. many of the greatest marvels of the world were bilt with no
more technology than this; look at all the enourmous stone statues, the
pyramids
 >> Stay informed about: How to Repair the Bottom of a 1,000-lb Boat? 

> ... levers and pulleys give a _tremendous_ amount of
> mechanical advantage if you understand a few basic
> principles...

Thanks for your suggestion. But at this point, I think I will avoid a
boat that has many major damages in the bottom that are so severe that
require me to roll the boat up to have a clear way of the bottom. I
figure that if I narrow my selection to boats that have very limited
damage (if any) in the bottom, I probably can get by without rolling
the boat.

Jay Chan
 >> Stay informed about: How to Repair the Bottom of a 1,000-lb Boat?