Help! Broke 282 ski pylon base mount tubing

[akorcovelos]

Repair looks great! Is these protective plastic on the cover that is peeling off?

[282Captain]

Thanks. And I think you’re right about the plastic. Hadn’t noticed.

[AsLan7]

Super long overdue update!

Hello Cobalt family.


Husk (Mark)....these pics are for you! So appreciative for all your help. Your part looks right at home. Made the $1000 fix at Superior Fiberglass feel like a victory. Took it in a couple weeks ago.

Looks good as new. Waxed and buffed boat before heading to lake for the 2020 season!

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Nice update 282C! Thank you. Great to hear you’re back up and running.

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[282Captain]

Thank you! Great to be back. Sorry for the long absence. Been buried under new job. Looking forward to contributing to the Cobalt community.

[Big Block Power]

Thank you! Great to be back. Sorry for the long absence. Been buried under new job. Looking forward to contributing to the Cobalt community.

Well then let's get that posted in the what do you do thread then!!

[282Captain]

Quick follow up. If you have read this thread, then you might appreciate this piece. Here is the stainless bolt piece that’s welded into and apart of the stainless base mount that is connected to your transom stainless bracket. This is what broke. Imagine all the inner tubes and water sports over time that have stressed this piece. To me, I thought the base mount and any stress point for towing water sports would be the strongest parts of any vessel. To see this, I am surprised everything we have done off the inner tube pole hinges on this design. Maybe a miss by Cobalt? Not sure. I do know the strongest part for towing stranded vessels etc are the I-hooks at the lower port and starboard portions which you use for anchoring down during trailering.

[BobRae99]

I’m glad to see that you have this all resolved. As to you point about the tie down loops being the strongest points on the boat, I think you are right. I seem to recall a picture from the bacteria of a boat being lowered into the test tank being suspended by straps connected to the two transom tie points and the bow tie down. It shocked me.

[AsLan7]

Quick follow up. If you have read this thread, then you might appreciate this piece. Here is the stainless bolt piece that’s welded into and apart of the stainless base mount that is connected to your transom stainless bracket. This is what broke. Imagine all the inner tubes and water sports over time that have stressed this piece. To me, I thought the base mount and any stress point for towing water sports would be the strongest parts of any vessel. To see this, I am surprised everything we have done off the inner tube pole hinges on this design. Maybe a miss by Cobalt? Not sure. I do know the strongest part for towing stranded vessels etc are the I-hooks at the lower port and starboard portions which you use for anchoring down during trailering.

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Thanks for the follow up 282C. And thanks for the pics!

The way that ski pole leverage is applied against that bolt, it still makes me wonder why that weld broke.
I’m curious if you had ever checked all the bolts and fastening points of the ski pole mounts for tightness? . If they work their way loose then disaster follows. We regularly check ours due to the force generated by that leverage. Tight tight tight.

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[Big Block Power]

Ok I had to go back and relook at the pictures. I'm like that's the head of the bolt it didn't hold anything. Then you look at the picture and you think to yourself what the hell were they thinking. All the forces against a head of the bolt. Unreal. I'll have to peak at mine. I haven't checked the bolts and we do a ton of tubing. It's a but if a diff set up but not much. It's so glad this came full circle though.

[282Captain]

Glad the pics are helpful. Many restless nights about this over the winter season. Just now getting back to it with everything back together. I assume the bolts had to have come loose along the transom bracket that's attached to the firewall...or back of boat. This allowed flex and warping which put stress on the bolt head. When everything is tight, I'm sure it works as one distributing load forces more equally. I will definitely be checking those back bolts from now on. The repair shop is next door to a metal fabrication shop. They said they had to take my bracket next door to use some big wrench to straighten the bracket back.

One point I will share from fiberglass shop. He said the amount of fiberglass and resin used in my 282 was a lot. He pointed this out because he has had a few of the new R series in for different repairs and he said they don't make Cobalts like they used to. The newer R series only have half the glass compared to the older models. Thought this was interesting.

[AsLan7]

Glad the pics are helpful. Many restless nights about this over the winter season. Just now getting back to it with everything back together. I assume the bolts had to have come loose along the transom bracket that's attached to the firewall...or back of boat. This allowed flex and warping which put stress on the bolt head. When everything is tight, I'm sure it works as one distributing load forces more equally. I will definitely be checking those back bolts from now on. The repair shop is next door to a metal fabrication shop. They said they had to take my bracket next door to use some big wrench to straighten the bracket back.

One point I will share from fiberglass shop. He said the amount of fiberglass and resin used in my 282 was a lot. He pointed this out because he has had a few of the new R series in for different repairs and he said they don't make Cobalts like they used to. The newer R series only have half the glass compared to the older models. Thought this was interesting.

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Again, thanks for bringing this full circle 282C. Great work. Totally agree with ya' on the glassing point too.

It seems this ski pole engineering setup is designed to handle the stress imposed upon it since I have never seen, read or heard of this damage (except in this case) for the 260 and 280 series boats. It certainly is an anomaly that may be worth pursuing with Cobalt boats in a warranty claim.

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[Ytmsn]

Glad to hear your back in business Capt! We need to tie up sometime this summer!

[282Captain]

Sent you PM YTMSN. Absolutely!