Keel guard and related options for a dinged up keel

[Scoot]

I brought my boat in to get a new keel guard put on today. They place I brought it to said they couldn't put a new one on because the keel is too pocked and chipped to allow it. Actually, they said they could put one on, but that it'd come off in less then a year because water would get in all the chips and pocks and it'd work loose before long. That makes sense to me- the keep is pretty beat up...

The guy I spoke with said I've basically got three options: 1) do nothing and continue to beat the heck out of my keel, 2) bring it to a place that'll repair fiberglass and have them fix it (he said that'll cost "thousands of dollars"), or 3) have a body shop fill the chips and pocks, buff it smooth, then put on a keel guard. He didn't have a quote regarding price yet, but just putting the keel guard on was going to be $300, so whatever the cost of that is, it'll be plenty.

Are there other options? Any suggestions or thoughts would be appreciated.

[Scoot]

Anyone have thoughts on this?

[TooTallTom]

There's a 3(a) that comes to mind: Do the fill work yourself rather than paying someone else to do it.

I don't know how smooth the surface has to be for a good bond, or your willingness to do the job, but it would save you some money if you can do the work yourself.

Question for you: Did you have a keel guard on before? If so, and your keel is still hamburger, is there much reason to having a new one put on?

[marine_man]

Any idea what kind of fill they would use Scoot, and how the dings got there in the first place, unless that was a reason the keel protector was put on before you bought it?

Either way... if you plan on putting a keel protector on, and leaving it on (sounds like you do) I'd have the spots filled with something that can handle the water / etc, and then have the keel protector put on.

marine_man

[Scoot]

Given my inability to do much of anything like this, I think I'll just have it done by someone who knows what he's doing. I appreciate the suggestion though...

Rob, the dings are there from pulling the boat up on rocky shorelines on LOW. We always try to be careful, but rocks, fiberglass, and waves just don't mix very well. In the areas we usually frequent, there's a pretty limited supply of sandy shores to pull up on.

Sounds like you think I'm on the right track. Thanks fellas!

[Northlander]

Yup get it filled and put a keel guard on.

[swampbuck]

Save your self a ton of money get a ca of bed liner tape off the area you want to protect and roll on the bed line lt dry andput onseveral coats. I am planning to do this with mine and know several guys that have done it and it stics nd works well will take a few days to yand se up befoe use

[Northlander]

Good idea.

[delmuts]

The bedliner stuff! How big of a pain is this stuff to work with? I've been thinking of using it on the front of the fenders on my ranger trailer, to cover and prevent any more rock chips.( I don't want or like those big skirt things that go accross the back of the truck) It's an older trailer, so many of the chips were there before i got it.

[marine_man]

The bedliner stuff isn't too hard to work with... I put it in my pickup and if your prep work is good it seems to hold up pretty well. It's not nearly as good as actual Line-X or the spray in version... but for the price it works pretty well.

For a keel guard I'm a little on the the fence though... after seeing how easy you can scrape the paint bedliner off if you're not careful (think metal t posts being slid in under some other stuff) I kind of wonder how well it would hold up to rocks / hard surfaces. For sand I'm sure it would be fine. The other thing I would think about is if you put the bedliner material on the keel, and later end up wanting to put a keel guard on the residue / material on the keel will be extremely difficult to remove, making it very difficult to get a good bond to the keel guard.

marine_man

[TooTallTom]

Somewhat related question, but what's the point of a keel guard? (I know, guarding the keel!) But it sounds like the OP had a keel guard on his boat, but the keel got chewed up anyway. If that's the case, why not just leave the keel as is and not worry about it?

I ask because I have a 'glass boat I'm thinking about restoring, and if I put the time, money, blood, sweat, and tears into it, I'd be stupid to not protect the boat's keel if a dependable option for that is available.

[Scoot]

Interesting thoughts here fellas. Has anyone else used the bedliner stuff to protect the keel of their boat?

Also, does anyone make a super heavy-duty keel guard? The last one I had eventually got shredded by the rocks- just wondering if anyone made an industrial strength one?

[TooTallTom]

Could you just double up on them? Basically just stack one on top of the other?

[Scoot]

I don't think so- I don't think the top one would adhere to the bottom one very well. You could put a couple coats of the bed liner on top of the keel guard though maybe...