Need advice for keel guard

Bradley Carleton

Bradley Carleton

Member
I've got an 8 yr old Broadbill (14') and a keel that is shaped like a 1 1/2" high "v" approx. 1" wide and edges are all rounded via filleting. I need to shave off some glass damage and put on a keel guard. I have been looking at the wide keel guards on Cabelas and West Marine and I am not convinced that that would be the best option. I had read on this forum some time ago about some HDPE material that could be bought in strips but had some adhesion problems as well as being expensive. Are there any less expensive solutions - maybe a 3/4" wide 10' long? Any thoughts, ideas, suggestions?
 
For what it's worth my buddy Dan has one of those hard rubber...or whatever it is, keel guards on his bass boat. He put it on over 10 years ago and swears by it. It looks like something that came with the boat. He did a professional job and told me once that "it will never come off...believe me". I think he ordered it out of Cabela's.
 
I used rubrail, a flexible 1" cross sectional diameter semicircle embedded in 5200 and screwed into the keels with stainless screws. It's held up very well, and has survived several high speed encounters with oyster reefs without any problems at all. I thought of various metal coverings, but there's always a problem or at least a worry about galvanic issues with the fasteners. The exception to this is the expensive bronze oval with silicon bronze fasteners. I bought the rubrail from Hamilton Marine . I looked quickly though the site, they have 100 different kinds of rubrail and don't see the exact type I used in the flexible variety but only in the rigid variety. A phone call might clear that up.

Ed.
 
I used the brass ovals. If I were to do it again, I would use what Ed used namely because it's lighter.

I built a heavy boat - big fillets, brass this and that... I would go for "light" the next time.

The brass ovals have held up extremely well though... and they look classy going on... but then they are painted ; )
 
Rick,

When you applied that aluminum keel, what did you use to countersink the screws into the alumunim and what type and size of screws did you use?

Thanks

Bradley
 
Bradley,
The aluminum strips are fairly soft, so I just used a regular countersink made for woodworking on a portable drill. I think the screws were 3/4". I also laid a line of 5200 under the strip. So far they've stayed in place just fine.
Rick
 
Bradley,
The aluminum strips are fairly soft, so I just used a regular countersink made for woodworking on a portable drill. I think the screws were 3/4". I also laid a line of 5200 under the strip. So far they've stayed in place just fine.
Rick
Click to expand...


That has to be some kind of record right there.
 
Revisiting the topic after long term failure.

Stainless steel screws? woodscrews? zinc?
Click to expand...


It is common to use SS flat headed screws to attach the aluminum, the 18-8 stainless screws that many hardware stores have are good. Buy them by the box.

What was the failure?
 
Brad, get with John Bourbon, he like Ed used the rigid rubrail on his keelsons. I did the same on the ice runners on my sneakbox. The only issue I had was not running mine all the way to the bow, and got some ice damage, the end broke off. I patched in a piece, and double screwed it this time. Don't expect it to fail again... the original screws where a little short I suspect.
 
Hi Brad. Dave's right, I used the plastic rubrail from Hamilton Marine. I Used Bronze screws about an inch long. First I countersinked them into the rubrail. Then I drilled a pilot hole and dabbled a little 5200 into each hole to prevent the screw from vibrating out. Its been 11 years now and the screws are still holding tight. You are welcome to come look at it if you like.

John
 
for what it's worth ... any industrial supply house could fix you up
with the correct countersink for your needs...mscdirect.com has an
extensive online catlog & they ship via ups.I'm also 90% sure that
they would probably have a free hotline that could get the optimum
fastener , countersink, & adhesive for what you need. They also sell
plastic in all shapes & sizes.Even if you go with the Cabelas product
you may want to use some nylon or polyethylene as a backing to screw
into. Check each componet you use for any bad reaction to any resin or
adhesive too. Sounds like a good thing to have on your rig . Just my $.02.
 
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