Bent Bow rail

[jhellman]

I just bought my boat last weekend and when I got it home and launched it I noticed that my bow rail is bent down. Then bend is in the very front of the boat where it curves around the nose, it looks like someone tried to pull themselves up and bent the nose down. Can I just push this back up or is there something special that I need to do?

 

[Lazy Daze]

Buy, must have been someone pretty heavy! I've used that portion of the bow rail to hop up and over the bow many times!

You could try just pushing it. If no luck, attach a wide strap to it and use a come-a-long anchored to something higher - maybe a tree limb - to gently pull it up. Don't worry about pulling out the deck hardware - just go slowly. I'd also suggest putting a piece of wood between the strap and the bottom side of the bow rail. Maybe about a 1' piece - to help distribute the load.

 

[Henry Boyd]

I have got a slight bow in one of my bow rail verticals. I have tried to straighten and the metal is very springy. I've given up as I don't want to kink the rail.

You can try bending it back as Lazy Daze suggests. I would also add you should try and restrain the rail where the bend begins so that when you pull up the bending load you create is where the existing kink is located and not somewhere else on the rail.

If that does not work, and it still bothers you, find a good welder with a portable TIG machine. The rail is SS, and not chrome, so you can weld it and then blend the weld so that it would be invisible. Since you are talking about the horizontal part of the rail, its far enough away from the fiberglass so that there is no heat danger.

 

[Nehalennia]

......... Don't worry about pulling out the deck hardware - just go slowly. .....

Hmmmmm, I would.

..... I'd also suggest putting a piece of wood between the strap and the bottom side of the bow rail. Maybe about a 1' piece - to help distribute the load.

I think the piece of wood is a good ideal, but I would place a piece of plywood below the rail to. This way if the deck is well protected and the railing is protected, a gentle jacking to re-raise the rail may work the best.

Either a botttle jack or even floor jack placed on the plywood and onto a protective block of wood on the railing. Using a bottle jack you would need something as a spacer since they are not that tall.

 

[MLauman]

... Don't worry about pulling out the deck hardware - just go slowly ...

Hmmmmm, I would.

Think I would too. That stainless rail is going to require a significant force to bend back. At a minimum I'd be concerned about spider cracking the gel coat.

The best approach, though certainly not easy, would be to remove the rail and then straighten it.

 

[Lazy Daze]

Well, I've had to do this twice over the years. But going cautiously, it's been A-OK both times. Saw one of the boats 2 years later and it was fine, the other maybe 3 years later. I'm not saying it's the best method, but it has worked. However, I 100% understand if anyone doesn't want to do it and I wouldn't fault anyone for not trusting the method. Heck, even as I sit here typing, it does seem like a bad idea! Maybe I just got lucky, who knows.

You absolutely aren't going to do any structural damage.

 

[Asureyez]

On the mentioned Stantion, rRubber mallets are useful for bowed stantions, if its really bad you could try tightening a doubler against the stantion just before the bnend and then just after, repeatedly moving towards the center of the bend.

You can make a Jack Rig with stainless clamps, wire swaged to a turn buckle or two. The wire, with inline turn buckles, then fasten at the top and bottom of the stantion and are clamped down tightly. Then insert a ram rod, I've used a short length of clear wood 2X4 and run the wire over the end of the ram and begin tightening the turn buckles. Slooowly taking in all you can on the top of the bend first, then move the ram to the lower part and repeat. Patiently work your way to center. If the rail was pulled out of line by shortening of the stantion being bent you may need to relieve strain by with ait malleting on the extremities of the areas affected.

Patience and ingenuity can restore the system to like new as long as the stantion is not crimped.

As for the bent Bow Rail, lifting from above would work, but I'd lean to pushing up from the bottom progressively working towards the bow from each of the P/S stantions closest to the bow. I'd run a taught line along the line of sight of the rails forward to make sure I knew when enough was enough.

 

[Lazy Daze]

Chad, wouldn't lifting from the center of the bow rail (with a 1' piece of 2x4 or 4x4 spanned perpendicular to the centerline) actually create less stress overall? I mean, if you start near the 1st stanchion, you'd have to apply a lot more force to move the rail, wouldn't you. Just trying to think this one out. I like these types of discussions - get's 'ya using the grey matter, you know?

 

[Asureyez]

Chad, wouldn't lifting from the center of the bow rail (with a 1' piece of 2x4 or 4x4 spanned perpendicular to the centerline) actually create less stress overall? I mean, if you start near the 1st stanchion, you'd have to apply a lot more force to move the rail, wouldn't you. Just trying to think this one out. I like these types of discussions - get's 'ya using the grey matter, you know?

My fear is crimping the pipe, the pipe is probably 3/4 or 1" stainless in a longer run than we'd like to see. Lifting at the center might cause a crimp along the run When lifting from above we're actually trying to lift the boat from the bow rail. When we get the rail moving it could move catastrophically into a crimp. I'd rather take two hours and reduce the risk of a quick solution. I suppose a man could just go to the bow and lift the rail upwards from the bow sides just away from the center and see what he gets. But its risky. working slowly towards the bow taking out the bend in small adjustments as I go is prudent.

 

[Henry Boyd]

Chad,

I but a clamping fixture for the bent stanchion using a strong back that was slightly longer than the bend, and a series of u-bolt clamps with pads that I tightened up to pull the bow towards the strong back. I was able to pull it it straight, but as soon as I released the clamps it snapped back. I thought about using a mallet but I was afraid of the vibration effect on the fiberglass at the mounting point, and the possibility of denting it and then ending up with a dented, bent rail.

I'll give some thought to your other approach.

Thanks

Henry

 

[Asureyez]

Henry, I think the reason it was snapping back is that other part of the rail system were also bent or stressed. Just examine things carefully and work slowly from the outside in.

I've also straightened life line stanchions where the top is a removable cap, by driving a smaller pipe inside the bent one, well lubed of course. Sometimes these repairs become a labor of love and loose proportion to the economics of the repair.

 

[Lazy Daze]

100% agree you got to take it slow. When I did it, I pulled it up a little, relaxed it, pulled up a little, relaxed, etc. etc.

Here's another thought: What if you heated the rail at the stanchion with a butane torch? I didn't do it this way in the past, but what do you guys think?

 

[ghuskin]

I would be careful to check for crimping before starting the process. When I purchased ny boat, the bow rail was bent. Didn't ever notice, as it fllowed the bowline. I tried to jack it back in place, very slowly. she did not want to return. I ended up having a piece made that i spliced in at one of the stantions further back. Can't even tell the splice is there.

 

[Asureyez]

100% agree you got to take it slow. When I did it, I pulled it up a little, relaxed it, pulled up a little, relaxed, etc. etc.

Here's another thought: What if you heated the rail at the stanchion with a butane torch? I didn't do it this way in the past, but what do you guys think?

I doubt heating at sub melt levels would do much except leave a dark stain that would need ot be polished out.

Good point on the rail in as new condition might actually dolphin down towards the deck. I think we need a picture, before and after if available, to talk this trough any further.