Bill, I like the stories of other CB removals and replacements a lot better than mine. However, since Dulce (M17 #300) was parked in front of our home and I needed to de-trailer her so that I could chip and repaint the trailer and get to all parts of the bottom of the boat. That process took about three weeks and I couldn't find a forklift of mechanical hoist that would sit still that long. So, I built an overhead beam from which I suspended the fore part of Dulce and cribbed the back. The overhead rigging was necessary to remove the trailer. Once the trailer was removed I cribbed up the bow section to take the stress off the rope sling. To remove the CB the bottom of the fixed keel has to be about two feet off the ground. To raise the boat I had to raise the entire support structure. This I did using car jacks and wedges. I know it sounds like hard and tedious work but it actually went very well. I would first lift one side a couple of inches and then crib under that side, then lift the other two inches higher than the other and crib ... etc. It probably took a couple of hours to get her high enough and at no time was it unstable since I was cribbing with short lengths of 2 X 4. Once high enough, the stop bolt was removed and I lowered the CB to the ground and then with most of the weight on the ground (mine is a cast iron CB weighing about 170 lbs), I removed the pivot bolt and lowered that end to the ground, tilted it over on to a automobile creeper and moved it out from under the boat on that and then moved it around on a small hand truck. While the CB weighs 170 lbs I don't believe I ever actually lifted more than 50-60 lbs. I put it back in reverse order having triple coated it with a two-part urethane paint system made by Porter Paints. Putting it back in was probably the most difficult part of the process because I had to line up the pivot bolt hole with the keel hole while supporting about 50 lbs of weight but it really didn't take that much time (5 - 10 minutes max). Actually, I got pretty good at it since I had to do it about four times because I forgot to do this or that.
A picture of the boat on its cradle with the overhead beam is on "That Bill Guy's" picture site ... under Dulce. Fred M17 #300 - Dulce On Thu, 31 Mar 2005 09:57:09 EST [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: > Thanks to eveyone who responded to my Center Board question. In a few > days > I'll put a set of pics on the Photo Site about CB removal. > Bill > M-17 > _______________________________________________ > http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/montgomery_boats > > _______________________________________________ http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/montgomery_boats
