Protecting canoe keels

Steve Sanford

Steve Sanford

Well-known member
All~

Does anyone here have experience with this product?

http://www.keeleazy.com/product/kayak-kit-16/

Sounds like the right fix for my gunning canoes - which I sometimes drag over gravel between my car and the water - the canoe being loaded with all my gear. Most of my canoes are 'glass and I'm looking for something much harder to protect the keel. I have not tried Kevlar tape.

I welcome any and all advice.

SJS
 
Interesting product Steve. My only question would be how good is the glue holding it on. Like most everything else glue related, surface prep is paramount for a good bond. As far as the PVC, its a good abrasion resistant material but 'may' have issues in the cold depending on what compound they used. Not nearly as brittle as other plastics but - still, it's plastic.

From what I see on the web site, I'd try it myself.
 
Considered glueing on that hyfax plastic or whatever it is they use on the bottom of ice fishing sleds? I'd bed that in 5200. That stuff holds up absolutely incredibly on rough ice etc behind four wheelers and trucks.
 
Steve:

I can't tell, but that looks like a variation of the "Kevlar felt" skid-plates that are sold for armoring the bow and stern of canoes.

I don't have experience with that product, but I have installed those skidplate kits. I find they are more expensive, heavier, and more prone to failure than a DIY approach with good marine epoxy and 2-3 layers of kevlar or glass. (Or glass mat if you prefer, but I think a couple of layers of cloth is stronger and provides more protection while maintaining a finer entry.

With your skills, No doubt you could do this yourself with materials on hand, provided you have a long enough piece of glass cloth.

If applied on a plastic or Royalex canoe, you'll do better with G-Flex than standard marine epoxies. For glass or composite boats, any good epoxy will do.

You will find varying advice on patch sizes, but I have done better putting the widest patch on the hull, and having the 2nd, 3rd (and more, if warranted) get progressively smaller.

For me, I don't armor my bow and stern until wear is evident and I feel it's warranted. Others prefer to beef them up when new. My preference may reflect that most of my canoe fleet is Royalex, so they wear slowly and withstand a fair amount of abuse. I have a 10 year old Old Town Appalachian that has been used hard, both in whitewater and for hunting and fishing, that has just reached the point it needs skid plates installed at bow and stern.
 
Considered glueing on that hyfax plastic or whatever it is they use on the bottom of ice fishing sleds? I'd bed that in 5200. That stuff holds up absolutely incredibly on rough ice etc behind four wheelers and trucks.
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The runners BOLTED onto the underside of an ice fishing shelter are typically made from UHMW plastic. Most glues will not stick to UHMW plastic. I'd check with the folks at 3M first to see if 5200 will adhere to UHMW. If Mark W sees this thread, I'm guessing he will have that answer about the 5200 sticking or not.
 
Well gosh darn it, use a strip of trex or pvc trim then. plug the bolt holes with 5200. Sand the side to be adhered first. Just shooting an idea out there.
Considered glueing on that hyfax plastic or whatever it is they use on the bottom of ice fishing sleds? I'd bed that in 5200. That stuff holds up absolutely incredibly on rough ice etc behind four wheelers and trucks.
Click to expand...

The runners BOLTED onto the underside of an ice fishing shelter are typically made from UHMW plastic. Most glues will not stick to UHMW plastic. I'd check with the folks at 3M first to see if 5200 will adhere to UHMW. If Mark W sees this thread, I'm guessing he will have that answer about the 5200 sticking or not.
Click to expand...
 
5200 will not stick to hyfax.

We do make double sided tape (can't recall the catalog number) that does stick to those types of plastics but it is very expensive.

Back in the days when I was in the marine business, there were two companies that made a product for exactly what you want to do. Once again I do t recall the exact name but is was something like Keel Guard or gator guard or something along these lines. They were exactly the same thing. One had a better method of attachment and the other had a lady who wore a red bikini at the trade shows to market her product. Want to guess which line was longer?

Mark w
 
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Many of us down here are running Line-X or Rhino Liner on our keels with fantastic results.

One of our guides had Line-X of Sarasota do the keel on his fiberglass 20' Young Gulfshore. I then had it do n to my aluminum 20' Xpress Bay Boat.

I applied it myself to the keels of my Jon-boat & canoe.

Flipped it, ran some tape lines & rolled it on.

Remove the tape soon after finishing or it will be forever part of your hull.
 
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Jeff~

Sounds interesting. Even though you remove it quickly, do you need cellophane tape or can you get by with masking tape ?

Thanks!

SJS
 
Here's an entire bottom of hull done.

Ours is run the entire length from transom to bow hook, (4) four inches each side of the keel, (8) eight inches total.

Per the GPS, no drop in speed was detected from the extra drag.

Like I said, the smaller boats we've done ourselves with the kits you buy from Auto Zone.

On my Xpress 20' the entire interior is sprayed with Line X from the factory.

I had the pros do the keel because the boat needed to be lifted up off the trailer.

It's amazing, I can beach the boats on the sandbars with no damage to the keel.

It's even saved me on an oyster bar or two!!!



image.jpg1_zpspovmiw4z.jpg

 
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Steve...if you decide to go the UHMW/HMW route, let me know. I have quite a bit of 3/8" thick material that I use for keels now and as a gesture for the sleeper handle patterns and all of your input on the scull restoration, you're more than welcome to some. It machines well. While I am using a specialty adhesive from Rel Tek that is quite expensive, the mechanical fastening is really what is doing all the work. I think the adhesive just beds it. Regardless and of use to someone with a small project, I had to do a small repair where I hung some thick ice against the front keel on my NFZ and pulled one of the sex bolts through. I used JB Weld 5 minute epoxy and it worked very well. With a canoe you could shape the strips how you wanted and use some sex bolts to fasten it to the hull.
Regards,
Brad
 
,,,,,,[font=Verdana,Arial,Helvetica]and use some sex bolts to fasten it to the hull.,,,,,,,,,,[/font]
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Brad,

Are you saying that the use of these special bolts will help the UHMW mate to the hull? :>) :>)
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I've installed several keel protectors on regular boats and if you prep it right they will not come off. They come with a surface applicator that reacts with the adhesive tape so once you touch it to the surface you can't adjust it. A canoe would be easy since it can be rolled over. Tape it in place, fold back half, expose tape, put down that half then do the other half.
Tom.
 
Steve:

I can't tell, but that looks like a variation of the "Kevlar felt" skid-plates that are sold for armoring the bow and stern of canoes.

I
Click to expand...

I once installed such a product with great success although I have no experience with the actual product Steve is referring to.
 
You CAN adhere UHWM with glues. you have to oxidize the surface you are gluing first. The Tolman skiff folks seem to be the experts on this. sawn edge is flame treated to scour the surface.
Acrylic adhesives seem to work best in thickness. I have wanted to try beding/glueing it with RedHead/Epcon A7 but not got around too it.

have you considered preglued UHWM tape? Ihave used slick strips for non boating applications and thinks its the cat's jammies. their 0.060 x 1" material is basically $1/foot.
they seem to make a 1/8" version too...

http://www.eplastics.com/Plastic/slick_strips/SLICKSTRIP0-125X12-000-PER-FT
 
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