How to remove a hull

Hi everyone. I bought 2 used replacement hulls and am having major difficulties removing my old and damaged hulls. Most people I talk to say to just take out the 4 bolts and the hulls come right out of the tramp corner castings. However, the posts on my hulls were riveted to the corner castings (i drilled the rivets out). I still cannot get my old hulls off of my boat. I think there might be some adhesive in between the corner castings and the hull posts. Has anyone else run into this problem? And, can anyone give me a suggestion as to how to get these hulls off? I have tried mallets, levers (crowbars), wedges, and car jacks, but those suckers don't even budge!

Thanks for any help,
Chris

When I was sanding my 14 this winter I had one corner that refused to come off, I beat on it all winter and tried everything you can imagine, heat, lubricants, cold and heat, and anything else I could get my hands on, but no luck. So I just did the work with it still attached, but you don't have that option.

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Nacra 5.2 "Elsies"
Hobie 14T, "Blazin" I guess I am keeping her!

Well I was gonna say slide a floor jack in there and crank till it pops off, but it sounds like you have already went that route. I'd flip the thing over and start pouring some kind of adhesive cutter in. You might try Acetone or even a mild acid. Beware though, most chemicals like that will go after paint as well, not to mention what it would do to any fabric it had prolonged exposer to.

Before I used chemicals, I would try heating the joint with MAPP gas. If there is adhesive in there, it will most likely loosen it. The heat will also work on corrosion. I would heat the casting so that you will get more heat to the affected area. Do not, however concentrate the heat too long on one spot of the casting.

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Nick

Current Boat
In the market
Previous boats owned
'74 Pearson 30
'84 H16
'82 H18 Magnum
St. Louis, MO

Even a newer boat can take severe beating to get them apart. We use a dead-blow hammer, sand filled head, and swing at the maximum effort I can muster... sometimes we have used a steel sledge hammer and a 2x4 against the casting.

Corrosion, glue... misalignment? Many possible issues.

Maybe resort to cutting the pylons off the old hulls. Then cut from the inside and fold in on them selves?

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Matt Miller
Former - Director of Parts and Accessory Sales
Warranty and Technical Support
Hobie Cat USA
(Retired 11/7/2022)

Thanks for all of the replies. I got the hulls off, so I thought I post the "how". Basically, I ended up using a saw-saw to just cut the post off the hulls (right where the posts emerge from the fiberglass). Not the best way to do it, I know, but the hulls were damaged and useless anyways. I used heat guns and hammers after I sawed them off, but those suckers were just REALLY stuck - whoever put them in there lathered them with adhesive.

I ended up taking the hulls to a welder who used an air saw, a chisel, and a propane torch to get them loose. $70 later and my hull posts were out of the corner castings.

Hope no one else has this much difficulty taking hulls off!

All,
I had to remove my hulls so I can repaint them and ran into one post that was really stuck. After trying hammering and solvents, it still would not budge.
I finally had a great idea. I turned the hull on the side so the tramp was sticking straight in the air. I then got a piece of 1x4 about 3 feet long and put it's end right on the ridge of the corner casting where the post is inserted. I started hammering on board on the other end and it slowly forced the corner casting off the post. At first, it seemed like it wasn't working until I noticed the bolt holes weren't aligned. It took about 10 minutes of hard hammering on the board but it finally came out. Since I was hammering on the board, there was no damage to the casting or the post. Also, with the hull on its side, I had plenty of swinging room to dislodge it.
I hope that helps!
Eric