I have a bow lifting eye on my 96' 232 Gulfstream. When no lifting force is applied, the base of the eye is flush with the deck, but when lifted there is about 1/4 " of space under the base. I have tightened all of the nuts on the steel rod that attaches to the eye and the steel triangular plate is bolted solid to the hull. The only way I see that any movement could occur is that the steel plate is flexing upward when lifting force is applied. The welds on the plate seem to be solid, no cracks. Any ideas?
bow lifting eye moving up & down
- Thread starter crabtrapper
- Start date
I'm trying to remember what mine looks like, but is there a lower nut (below the plate) that when turned will effectively "pull" the rod and eye downwards? How does the eye attach to the rod - does it screw in? Maybe the threads are buggered up and loose.
Other than trying to guess, I think the best course of action is to simply have someone lift up on the eye while you look underneath and see what's going on.
Another thought... is that deck area cored? You'll want to reseal it.
Other than trying to guess, I think the best course of action is to simply have someone lift up on the eye while you look underneath and see what's going on.
Another thought... is that deck area cored? You'll want to reseal it.
By 'lifting' do you mean actually lifting the hull up off of the ground or just pulling as you would with a winch? Not all bow eyes are lifting eyes. There is extra reinforcement and/or bracing on lifting eyes. So if an eye is not a lifting eye, it shouldn't be use to lift.crabtrapper said:
Regardless, you need to see what is going on in the hull itself and the first step is to remove the eye hoop. That will allow inspection of the threaded stems as well as the ability to kind of look at the hull for mush( softness or rot). You will also need to remove the backing plate. That might be a bit tough to get to; I am not familiar with that hull's rode locker and if that is where you would access the backing hardware.
Although less likely, it is possible that the lower threaded shaft of the eye is broken and therefore the eye will flex under lifting forces. I don't think that is true in your case since you said you can tighten the nuts and they seem to to actually tighten.
I believe (or at least it's the way I understood it) he's referring to a cleat that is mounted on the center of the deck. Instead of having two cleats, mounted off center, some have a single cleat dead in the middle (roughly where a windlass would be). There are then two chocks attached near the forward edge (port and starboard) to guide the rope to the cleat. This particular style has a single, long, threaded rod that goes all the way to the bottom of the anchor locker - essentially tying the cleat to the bow keel.
DennisG01 said:
Like this...
I'm with him in that that lifting bracket that bolts the lifting eye to the hull to the bow eye is shot.
Got it. I was thinking about the outside keel mounted bow ring. I guess we need a little more info.DennisG01 said:
By the way,
Happy New Year.
Seasick
It should be double nutted.You may be tightening one nut against the other and not getting the nut that actually tightens the cleat down tight.
Thanks for all of your inputs and suggestions. The bow and stern are lifted with davits. I caulked the area around the base of the eye while the boat was in the water and when I lifted it the caulk separated from the deck and eye base, so it's definitely moving up and down with lifting and lowering. The plate in the rode well is bolted to the bow eye for trailering or towing and everything there is tight. Right now with the upward force on the rod and plate I can feel a space between the hull V and the steel plate so I'm going to put a piece of wood in that space and then lower the boat and see if I can remove the wood. If it's tight that means the steel is flexing and needs to be taken out and checked or re-welded. Thanks again.
This is hard to do from memory of my boat or without pictures, but... Could the holes in the plate be oblonged and allowing movement that way?
The problem was in the metal bracket which is bolted to the bow eye (for trailering) and also is used for the threaded bolt that runs from the lifting cleat down to the same bracket. It was slightly bent and was flexing enough to leave a gap topside at the base of the lifting eye when pressure was applied. I took it to a weld shop and had the bent part straightened and added extra ss plates to stop the flexing. Everything is back in place and no more up and down motion on the lifting eye. This boat went through Cat 4 Irma and some twisting at the bow did occur so that might have started the problem.
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SirGrady226
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DennisG01 said:
I have a 226 Seafarer in which the bracket has rusted away to powder, not sure if it would be exactly the same as yours. I have nothing to use as a pattern to make a new one, not sure what to do. I wish I could understand how it fits in there for one.
I have this exact problem! it's rusted out and I need replace it, as it's not structurally sound or safe anymore for the D-ring towing loop OR the cleat uptop. Where did you find the parts? Grady was no help...
My understanding on the older Seafarers is they didn't use stainless for the supports. I was advised by Grady customer service to forget about using the cleat topside for lifting, and replace the bow eye. I bought one from West Marine, then got a heavy duty v shaped brace from Home Depot. Drilled holes for the threads to go through, then I used a caulking gun and squirted 2 tubes of West Systems Six10 self-mixing epoxy, covering the front and back of the brace from inside the cuddy. Used a rubber glove to spread it all around, then fitted the new bow eye while I had working time before the 40 minute epoxy set. Used 5200 to seal the outside of the eye, then tightened everything up.
It was a bit*h to get my hands in that 4' inspection port, but I managed. Still holding strong years later.
As I recall UCPA111 told me he fabricated his own aluminum brace and mixed epoxy and fiber and made a bed for it.
It was a bit*h to get my hands in that 4' inspection port, but I managed. Still holding strong years later.
As I recall UCPA111 told me he fabricated his own aluminum brace and mixed epoxy and fiber and made a bed for it.
Yup, you can definitely just use the bow eye (trailering eye) for lifting. That's essentially what is being done by using the cleat on the topdeck. Attaching a lifting strap directly to the bow eye is even stronger, though, as the straps are pulling against the bow keel. As an extra safety margin, do as suggested above and add a backer on the inside of the bow keel.
For cleating the boat while in the water, though, it might be a good idea to glass a piece of 3/4" marine ply to the underside of the deck - I don't recall how thick the deck is, off hand.
This was the original in my Offshore (absolutely ridiculous to use regular steel!):
This is the new one that I had made locally out of SS:
For cleating the boat while in the water, though, it might be a good idea to glass a piece of 3/4" marine ply to the underside of the deck - I don't recall how thick the deck is, off hand.
This was the original in my Offshore (absolutely ridiculous to use regular steel!):
This is the new one that I had made locally out of SS:
this is essentially what the new piece I made looks like. I had 1/2" aluminum...but the structural pieces look the same. Well done!Yup, you can definitely just use the bow eye (trailering eye) for lifting. That's essentially what is being done by using the cleat on the topdeck. Attaching a lifting strap directly to the bow eye is even stronger, though, as the straps are pulling against the bow keel. As an extra safety margin, do as suggested above and add a backer on the inside of the bow keel.
For cleating the boat while in the water, though, it might be a good idea to glass a piece of 3/4" marine ply to the underside of the deck - I don't recall how thick the deck is, off hand.
This was the original in my Offshore (absolutely ridiculous to use regular steel!):
This is the new one that I had made locally out of SS:
Right. Very difficult to get hands in there. Tough to unscrew the bolt. Tough to tighten everything back up. I did bed in epoxy to make sure I had a good attachment and stability.My understanding on the older Seafarers is they didn't use stainless for the supports. I was advised by Grady customer service to forget about using the cleat topside for lifting, and replace the bow eye. I bought one from West Marine, then got a heavy duty v shaped brace from Home Depot. Drilled holes for the threads to go through, then I used a caulking gun and squirted 2 tubes of West Systems Six10 self-mixing epoxy, covering the front and back of the brace from inside the cuddy. Used a rubber glove to spread it all around, then fitted the new bow eye while I had working time before the 40 minute epoxy set. Used 5200 to seal the outside of the eye, then tightened everything up.
It was a bit*h to get my hands in that 4' inspection port, but I managed. Still holding strong years later.
As I recall UCPA111 told me he fabricated his own aluminum brace and mixed epoxy and fiber and made a bed for it.