Jacking up keel on 310DA

[Coz]

I will have my boat on the trailer in a few weeks and I'd like to lower my guide bunks and touch up the bottom paint. It has wore off from trailering so much the last 2 years.

Can I use a bottle jack and wood block to jack the front of the boat up enough to lower the guide bunk supports so I can paint? I was thinking putting the jack right under the keel near the front of my guide bunks. I know there is still a fair amount of weight here, but basically I would be tipping the boat backwards a bit. Anyone does this?

 

[SCORPIO]

When I stored my boat at a yard, they used to support her with two stacks of blocks on the keel, one forward and the other at the transom. The stands are mainly for balance. I think you can do what you described safely, just jack against the wood obviously and not the glass.

 

[stephenm27]

I will have my boat on the trailer in a few weeks and I'd like to lower my guide bunks and touch up the bottom paint. It has wore off from trailering so much the last 2 years.

Can I use a bottle jack and wood block to jack the front of the boat up enough to lower the guide bunk supports so I can paint? I was thinking putting the jack right under the keel near the front of my guide bunks. I know there is still a fair amount of weight here, but basically I would be tipping the boat backwards a bit. Anyone does this?

Yes, I have done it. I used a bottle jack along with several pieces of 8 x 8 wood cribbing as “jack stands”. I also cut a crude v-shaped slot in the lifting piece so that it had more contact with the hull. In the end, I raised the hull 5” or 6” in order to remove/replace my front centering bunks and the cross member supporting them.

The only 2 interesting things I ran into: (1) make sure you detach the bow strap/emergency bow chain or you’ll never seem to lift the boat off the trailer and (2) you’ll discover how much your trailer flexes when you start shifting weight from this forward part. I was enlightened by the flex in my aluminum I-beams while doing this.