Absolutely correct David Grah! My M17, '84 #375 is A OKAY!! I know of many more M17's 10+, say 13+ years older that have steel ballast and cast iron boards that are still 100%. The issue is care and maintenance. Find out the boat's history and decide if you trust the seller. Ignore anything and it will fail - I'm sure some of us take our cars & trucks in for service every now and then ;-). Some of us may have rebed some deck hardware over the years. :: Dave Scobie :: M17 #375 SWEET PEA - m17-375.com :: M6'8" #650 :: SV SWALLOW - sv-swallow.com On Fri, Mar 8, 2019, 11:28 AM David Grah via montgomery_boats < montgomery_boats@mailman.xmission.com> wrote:
Not to take issue, but I believe my 1985 or 1986 Montgomery 15 has steel ballast and it has never caused a bit of problem nor bit of worry from me. I would acknowledge that lead ballast might be preferred, but would dispute that it is the only way to go. We love our steel ballasted 15! Videos to prove it: https://www.youtube.com/user/dgrah/videos?view=0&sort=dd&shelf_id=0
David GrahBishop California
Message: 6 Date: Fri, 8 Mar 2019 10:26:51 -0500 From: islandergirl80@yahoo.com To: Peter Zimowsky <rapidz@mac.com>, For and about Montgomery Sailboats <montgomery_boats@mailman.xmission.com> Subject: Re: M_Boats: M17 vs M15 Message-ID: <F60521E9-EB03-4821-8F2C-5CE96D2CA329@yahoo.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8
All great input. Some thoughts. Lead ballast boats, only way to go. I had an 1985. Bought her knowing board was stuck. Wasn?t a huge care. Would get around to it someday. Maybe. Where I sail, board would be up most of time. Worked on board once in a while, never making progress. Sailed her a couple years until, I decided to take one of the many outstanding offers to buy her at the local ramp. New owner was fully knowledgeable of stuck board but didn?t care either.
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