Keel guard installation advice!

[Walleye1875]

I have seen several posts about keel guard installation on our birds... people not wanting to cover up their wings etc. While washing the boat yesterday, I noticed my guard is already peeling at the bow portion. After talking with Dan at gator guards, he determined mine was installed to low on the bow causing the failure. The bow portion of the guard needs to be a minimum of 6-9" ABOVE the waterline when the boat is resting in the water. They were nice enough to warranty the keel guard for me however now I get to have some fun removing the keel guard. Next time I am out I will measure how far the first wing is out of the water, mine is probably installed 6" below the first wing. Just wanted to give everybody a heads up so they don't experience the same issue.

UPDATE: I just finished up on the keel guard removal. And started at 7 am. So 12 hours of nonstop labor other than a 5 min lunch break. She is like a mirror once again. It cost me 80-100 bucks in adhesive remover and was a PITA!!! I hope to never have to do that again. After the long tedious process of adhesive removal and a bunch of words I won't repeat, I gave here a quick wet sand and a thorough buff job with the orbital. I think I am going to go guard-less for now and do not want to cover up the wings. She is like a mirror so it's hard to get the shop floor reflection out of the photo.

[MIZ-ZOU]

I know that I I didn't want the first bow wing covered up, but my dealer said that they wouldn't install one unless it was. They told me that starting below the bow wing would cause it to come loose. So, my first bow wing is covered and I've never had anyone comment on how bad it looks. It still bothers me a little, but I'm pretty much over it now. I will say that the first would be in the water if you were running with the bow down. The benefits of the keel protector far outweigh the negatives.

Good luck on removing it the old one. It's installed with 3M VHB (Very High Bond) tape, and I happen to work at 3M where we have made this tape...and I have had to take one off on a previous boat before. VHB is a very fitting name for this tape, LOL! There are a couple of methods for removing the adhesive. First, a hair dryer and a lot of work to roll the adhesive off a little at a time will work. It works a little better if you get some citrus goo-gone type cleaner to douse it down to get off the excess adhesive every once in a while. Also, I would wear a latex glove or something like that to help grip the glue and to protect your thumb from the hot adhesive as my thumbs hurt for a week.

If you are replacing it, 3M makes an adhesive removal disc that you use with a drill that will get the adhesive off. By the time that I got the adhesive off of the hull and cleaned up, I was wishing that I would have bought the adhesive removal disc. If you use the disc, I would probably tape the area off around it, just in case you slipped. It's not supposed to scratch, but I'm a little OCD about my boat. Removing the guard took 5 minutes, but getting all of the adhesive off took hours. Good Luck!!

[Walleye1875]

Thanks. If I can get it all off and cleaned properly, I won't be installing another one.

[fishin couillon]

Blue Bird, that was the same issue with mine....it was installed directly under the wing....after several trips it was gone.....i'm now going the Hamby's route and pretty much decided to put it over the loweset wing..... dont want to but like Miz said, i'll be over it....worst case you can paint the shiled to match the wings in that area.........to take it off, i bought a set of Putty knives (plastic) at Autozone and used some Goo Gone to help with removal....it was a job but not as bad as i thought.....

Here are the plastic knives: http://www.autozone.com/sandpaper-an...set/540149_0_0

[Walleye1875]

Thanks Jeremy. Did the plastic putty knives mark up the gel? I'm sure I will have to do some buffing reguardless. Maybe I will strip another foot off to get it started, then trim down from 78 mph to get rid of the guard. Nah, I'm more worried about that glue. I removed a small bit of it already fairly easily with adhesive remover just to see how it worked. I think 6 foot of it will be a pita but I'll get er done like always.

[fishin couillon]

I dont believe so but before the KG is installed they have to "rough" up the area with the 3m scuff pad.....once you get it off and cleaned up you may notice that its not nice and shiny like the reset of the hull.....that is the procedure to get the tape and bonding agent to stick to the keel.....and then or course if you continue to bank it with no shield you will start seeing the scratches on the keel....

[Walleye1875]

I can wet sand and buff that out. And I don't beach my boat. Keel guard was more of a precautionary thing.

[liv4bassin]

Pic I've posted several times....dealer installed Hamby's on my 2013 when new, just below wings, no issues.

[Walleye1875]

Pic I've posted several times....dealer installed Hamby's on my 2013 when new, just below wings, no issues.

yet

[fishin couillon]

Those hamby's are sealed up pretty good on the edges as compared to the keel shields....

[Walleye1875]

It depends on which one you have. Just doing research on them I found a bunch of people complaining of the same issue.

[MIZ-ZOU]

Here's a shot of mine over the lowest wing. Like I said, I wish it weren't there, but I can live with it.

[Walleye1875]

Judging at how your boat sits in the water mine is probably right at the water line. O-well will make for a fun project on Wednesday. Does anybody hav theirs installed over all 3 wings?

[Srford280]

I've got mine over the middle wing. With me standing on the front deck of my 618, the lower wing is completely under water.

[tjstack]

I have a Hambys on my 920. It almost covers the bottom wing but not completely. I had it installed by my local fiberglass guy who worked directly with Roger at Hambys regarding placement and proper installation steps.

[Fidgetcranker]

Mine's under wings on 2016 921...I'll be keeping an eye on it for sure. Gonna go look...still there for now...
I have a Keel Shield, not a Keel Guard... Same adhesive I believe.
Unless you used Keel Guard as a "generic term". Though there is a Keel Guard keel protector.

[Walleye1875]

Mine is a keel guard. It was intact Saturday and Sunday was not. The Bluebird is to fast for a keel guard must be.

[haus9393]

Mine is a keel guard. It was intact Saturday and Sunday was not. The Bluebird is to fast for a keel guard must be.

Oh god

[jeepin85]

Maybe those new wheels added some HP... lol

[Walleye1875]