Let's talk keel guards

[Fish the Mitt]

When I purchased my Skeeter, it came with a keel guard. However, in my opinion, it isn't long enough or forward enough. 

 

So my question is two part:

 

1. How far up on the forward part of the hull do your keel guards go?

 

AND

 

2. If I were wanting to extend mine another 2ft, would you add to the existing, or replace with an all new guard?

[WRB]

The bow of the boat is in the water when moving slow or stopped. The keel guard only needs to be a few inches above the water line when the boat is stopped. When you pull the boat into a beach or ramp the bow end of keel guard will be out of the water, the back end in the water and the hull setting on the guard somewhere inbetween, depending how far on shore your boat is.

You should replace the entire guard so it's 1 piece.

Tom

[Fish the Mitt]

15 minutes ago, WRB said:

The bow of the boat is in the water when moving slow or stopped. The keel guard only needs to be a few inches above the water line when the boat is stopped. When you pull the boat into a beach or ramp the bow end of keel guard will be out of the water, the back end in the water and the hull setting on the guard somewhere inbetween, depending how far on shore your boat is.

You should replace the entire guard so it's 1 piece.

Tom

Thanks, Tom.

 

Currently, my keel guard is under water while my boat is at rest. So I will look into replacing that.

 

I mainly asked because 2 specific lakes I fish have raised banks (roughly a foot or two) so even if my guard protected me from the lake bottom, I run into the possibility of running the non keel protected portion onto land. I've gotten in the habit of banking my boat slightly sideways, which helps, but then makes getting on and off more difficult (not to mention pushing off).