Taking out the daggerboard

[GCushing]

Hi,

I am looking for instructions on taking out the daggerboard for repair of a sharkbite. I have searched the forum but not found a thread on this topic (possibly my searching skills).

If you could direct me to an existing description of the process or give me the basics, I would appreciate it.

Regards,

George

[dave]

George, it's pretty straight forward but there are a few things to watch out for. Before you ever try to pull the board, do yourself a big favor buy taking a 4" grinder and a 24-36 # pad to the flanges just underneath the daggerboard trunk covers [lexan, plexiglas, whatever]. The flanges angle inward and downward and on every 7.9 that I have worked on, the bottom edges caught on the daggerboard head bearings that are screwed into the sides and front/rear of the board head. I'm sure that others have suggestions as far as lifting but I just pin the board in the up position in the SS lifting bracket, remove the bolts from the bracket to the deck and then tie a good line a few times around both side of the bracket to equalize the load of lifting. When you lay the board on it's side have some people there to help support the head as it drops to keep the lifting tab from bending too much. The head is easy to manipulate because the board ballast is in the other end.

Good luck,
Dave

[GCushing]

Dave,

Please explain "pin the board in the up position". Thanks very much for the reply.

George

[dave]

The bracket with the sheaves in it that raises the board has a hole drilled through it that [kinda] lines up with the hole in the tang built into the head of the board when it's raise all the way up. Insert a pin through there. One should have come with the boat but if not just measure the needed length and diameter and buy one. I have used screw drivers and bolts in a pinch to just hold the board up while working on the sheaves but for safety's sake I'd get the proper clevis pin for the job and put a ring ding through it to makle sure that nothing goes wrong.

[Stef]

I have pulled my board out a bunch of times (not that I wanted to).
With a forklift available to me here's how I do it.
I crank the board up almost all the way and place a 4 x 4 between it and the trailer, then lower it and let it rest on the wood. I then remove the trunk covers and the sheave bridge. Remove all the line and any other hardware they may block the board from coming out. I then attach a chain by bolting it to the top hole on the tang, bring in the forklift and pluck it out. Dave is right, be careful with the top rim, the edges are facing down and towards the center and the board can get hung up here easily. Once I clear the cabin I back the forklift away, being careful to clear the stanchion and lifeline. I lower the board ASAP.
After it's removed I lean it against a wall, remove the chain and put an industrial strap on it, choking it around the wedge area. This will allow you to lift and lower it without bending or damaging the stainless steel tang.
I always lay my board down on a wooding pallet making sure no nails are sticking up when working on it.
Installation is the reverse.

[grandillusion]

I still have to remove mine to repair prior grounding fixes and a "shark bite" you must have a pretty good sized fork truck, ours is small and so old and rickety I think a troll lives under it! I'll be using a beam at our shop and a chain fall but everything elce just as described

[Stef]

Make sure you have enough head room. With the tang the board is a bit over 6 ft tall.

[GCushing]

Thanks for all of the feedback. I had the board pulled by the yard doing the bottom job and they just plucked it out with a cherry picker, no problems. Repaired the fractures on both the leading and trailing edges and popped it back in. The trunk looked good as did the plastic-like slides affixed to the board.

There were also superficial fractures on the bottom at the front and back of the trunk opening. These were ground out and reglassed.

George