'80 Venture 222 keel work questions...

[GonePostal]

So, this pertains to my new to me 1980 Venture 222. When I bought it the keel was resting on the trailer and the winch handle would just spin. So I figured the easy thing to do would be to just buy a new winch. If I can repair the existing winch, cool. Ive got a spare.

While placing the order I figure why not replace everything??? haha So I got a new keel cable, a keel pivot bolt assembly, a lock bolt assembly and a cable bolt assembly...

So... I have no clue what Im doing here really. Im assuming take the old piece off/put the new piece on... More or less.

Anyhoo... the main question I have first of all is can I do all of these things while my boat is on the trailer???

There is no boatyard or haulout option, at least not anywhere close. I dont have boat stands either...

I was hoping youse guys could at least give me a gentle push in the right direction

[Dougiestyle]

The winch you should use is a brake winch, because it is safer than a regular winch due to the handle will not get away from you if your hand slips off the handle. Search brake winch on this forum.

[tx87mac22]

I have done all you plan on my 87' 22, the comment about the brake style winch is valid. It seems like I recall having to get a little creative to get to the keel hinge bolt, you have to get the weight of the keel off it to replace it. I used a floor jack with someone inside the boat to tell me when it was loose enough to remove. Also I added some large teflon disks (like large washers) on each side of the keel to reduce sloppiness. It seems like the winch cable bolt on the keel was reachable from under the boat.