Sailboat hulls

[x101airborne]

There are a couple sail boat hulls for free around here and I can have them for picking them up. I dont mind disposing of them, but want to make sure there is lead in them before getting them. Is there any way to tell by make or model? Any idea how much lead can be in a 26 ft hull?

[Oregon Coot]

What is the hull material?

If wood, than you will generally have a bolted on lead or cast iron keel. Fiberglass can be either internal or external ballast. If external than you can easily scrape away some paint to look at the material. If internal ballast, it is likely encapsulated and figuring out what is behind the glass wall is tougher.

My own sailboat has a glass hull with 7000# of lead carried internally. The keel is made up of a combination of mystery lead, linotype and many, many buckets of wheel weights, lead shot and whatever else I could scrounge when I built the boat.

Depending on design, you would probably have somewhere between 1000 & 2000# of lead in a 26' boat. Unfortunately many production boats, particularly of the size you mention, do not use lead as it is an expensive option. Being as you are in Texas with its shallow water, you will find a high perentage of boats have swing keels which almost never contain lead. An older wooden boat with an external bolt-on keel is probably lead of some type.

If you are looking at production boats, than a moment asking questions such as "What is the keel on a Tanzer 22 made of" on a sailing forum will probably get you your answer.

[x101airborne]

Oh, I would love to get 1000 pounds of lead from one boat. I believe these are glass hulls. The wife said that I could get two and after cutting the lead out, put one in the yard for the kids to play in. I thought that it would be a good place not only to let them play, but to teach some basic boating and knot tying and such. If I could get 1000 pounds per boat, I would be extatic!!! One also has the extendable aluminum masts on it and they go too. That has to be over 100 pounds of recyclable aluminum, not to mention neat project material.

[asp]

This website might be of some help: http://sailboatdata.com/firstpage_builderlist.asp

It's not the most intuitive or user friendly thing out there, but it's got a lot of info.

[xd4584]

I was looking at a 26 footer a while back. The keel was almost 4000 pounds. Couldn't find any friends with big enough trailers to haul it

[Poygan]

We have a 22' Catalina and it has a 600 lb cast iron swing keel.

[x101airborne]

I have a 34 foot dual tandem trailer and Super duty 4x4 at my disposal. This trailer is big enough to haul a small dozer. What I am planning on doing is backing up to the boat, unhitching the trailer after chalking the wheels, lower the ramps and cover with a sheet of 1 inch plywood to make a solid ramp, run a 30 foot towstrap around the back of the boat and connect it to the truck with chains. Then drive forward slowly. I havent ever done this, so I may be all wet, but I think it is the easiest way I can conceve to get it loaded.

[x101airborne]

I hope it is not full of cast iron. I would be disappointed. Kids would still have fun, though.

[Silvercreek Farmer]

You could also bury it when you are done and make a root cellar. Saw that one somewhere recently.

[CLAYPOOL]

Cast Iron is scrap also...prepaired iron goes for a higher rate up here...cast blocks (engines) cast cranks, heads, etc...striped of valves, etc. also...lots of gas money there for going and getting kids toys...

[dsol]

I wonder how many sailboats will be scrapped out after hurricane Sandy? If I lived closer to the east coast, I might be exploring some boat yards.

[evan price]

Our reservoir is about 40 feet low to the point the marina is high and dry. Found a whole bucket of large weights, lead mud anchors and a drop in sailboat keel board in the mud. The stolen cars are being found the water is so low.

[PS Paul]

I wonder how many sailboats will be scrapped out after hurricane Sandy? If I lived closer to the east coast, I might be exploring some boat yards.

Now THERE is a great idea!!

Funny how we all kinda have "one track minds" and look at the value of an otherwise perfectly good sailboat and see only how many boolits we can get out of it!! LOL!!

I was looking at some downrigger balls the other day and caught myself thinking the same thing. Pretty funny.

[cajun shooter]

Why can't you take a core sample with a drill auger?If they are willing to give them away then they will not mind if they have a hole in them.

[Bob Krack]

Then drive forward slowly. I havent ever done this, so I may be all wet, but I think it is the easiest way I can

Trey,

MIGHT work, but if you have access (Hah) to a winch I would try that first. I do have serious doubts about your proposed method.

Good luck brother,

Bob

[XTR]

It depends on the manufacturer whether the keel is lead or iron or in some cases concrete. The better manufactures used lead, but if it's from the 70s when a lot of US manufacturers were going out of business they sometimes cut corners. You can look them up, I'd suggest getting make and model and going to the sailnet.com forums and looking around and asking if you can't find the answer. I probably wouldn't go in there talking about chopping up boats to make bullets.

[High Lord Gomer]

I have a 34 foot dual tandem trailer and Super duty 4x4 at my disposal. This trailer is big enough to haul a small dozer. What I am planning on doing is backing up to the boat, unhitching the trailer after chalking the wheels, lower the ramps and cover with a sheet of 1 inch plywood to make a solid ramp, run a 30 foot towstrap around the back of the boat and connect it to the truck with chains. Then drive forward slowly. I havent ever done this, so I may be all wet, but I think it is the easiest way I can conceve to get it loaded.

Having completed many redneck loading attempts similar to this I suggest not trying that. Once you unhook the trailer and start to drag something up onto the rear of it, it will tilt and likely bind on the cable you have going over the top of it.

Another danger is that the wheel chocks might not hold and if the trailer does get forced up over them it may then be released with enough force to drive it into the rear of your truck.

A winch to pull it up would be my first attempt. Ideally, if you could somehow raise one end of the boat up enough to back most of the trailer under it, that would make it much easier.

Also, wiping some grease on the hull or even just hosing down the trailer will make it slide on easier.

[Bulldogger]

Best of luck with this! Get someone to stand by and take pictures and video. I'm sure this will be interesting.
BDGR

[johnnybar]

Invest in two things:
Time with Google search engine, preferrably with model, year & hull #
If still in doubt, a good quality 1/4" drill bit and cordless drill.

PS: Tearing one down is a huge chore...use sawzall instead of circular or chain saws...less glass dust. Wear a paint/dust 3m mask, the rubber type with cartridge filters to prevent silicosis. Absolutely do not breathe the fumes when smelting lead with fiberglass resin in it!!!! Huge health mistake, wear the same mask then too.

[popper]

1" plywood won't take 2000# load. Leave the rails up and use railroad ties to build the ramp. Or hire a sling boom or fork lift.