Question about replacing bent turnbuckle jaws

[davidmhull]

Good morning . I have a question about shroud turnbuckles. On the port side I have two turnbuckle jaws that are slightly bent. I never really noticed them before but I'm sure this probably occurred during mast raising some time in the past. The turnbuckle barrel is fine it's just the bottom part that screws into the barrel and has the pin in it that secures to the chain plate. I'm really glad it is not the top of the turnbuckle as this would require swaging on a new one. My question is this. What would be a good source to get a new set of turnbuckle jaws? I have been doing a good bit of sailing this summer with no problems but I just feel funny about trusting my mast to bent turnbuckles even though they are not bent much. My main concern is that since there is a straight pull on the turnbuckle then the threads may be trying to straighten out whenever I put a load on them. If this is in fact happening then I could see metal fatigue as a problem. Thanks.

 

[capta]

Good morning . I have a question about shroud turnbuckles. On the port side I have two turnbuckle jaws that are slightly bent. I never really noticed them before but I'm sure this probably occurred during mast raising some time in the past. The turnbuckle barrel is fine it's just the bottom part that screws into the barrel and has the pin in it that secures to the chain plate. I'm really glad it is not the top of the turnbuckle as this would require swaging on a new one. My question is this. What would be a good source to get a new set of turnbuckle jaws? I have been doing a good bit of sailing this summer with no problems but I just feel funny about trusting my mast to bent turnbuckles even though they are not bent much. My main concern is that since there is a straight pull on the turnbuckle then the threads may be trying to straighten out whenever I put a load on them. If this is in fact happening then I could see metal fatigue as a problem. Thanks.

Any used chandlers in your area? Sailorman in Lauderdale, Marine Consignment Wickford, RI, etc. I've always seen lots of turnbuckles in those places.

 

[Charlie Jones s/v Tehani]

Defender Industries ( and others, such as C.S. Johnson) sell either end of turnbuckles fairly cheaply

http://www.defender.com/category.jsp?path=-1|118|2358491&id=2358499

 

[davidmhull]

Thanks guys. Capta I don't know if there are any used chandlers around here or not. There must be something on the Chesapeake bay but I'm not aware of them. Thanks for the tip on Defender TSBB. That looks like just what I need.

 

[agprice22]

It sounds like you may have bent the T bolt and maybe the toggle? You can replace those online quickly. It sounds like you might have the closed turnbuckles. If you have barrel type (closed) turnbuckles, this might be a good time to switch to open type. The closed type are deprecated due to the danger of not being able to see and pin the bolt inside the turnbuckle.

Thanks,

Andrew

 

[davidmhull]

You are correct agprice these are the closed barrel type. There is a locknut on the turnbuckle threads that I would think would do a good job of keeping the jaws from unscrewing but I could be wrong. The locknut is screwed down pretty tight because I do not loosen my stays. When I raise or lower the mast I leave them right where they are. The only thing I do is haul up the mast with the jib halyard which I disconnect from the furling drum. When I get the mast up about 3/4 of the way where the shrouds start to tighten I will check to make sure nothing is twisted. No need to have baby stays or anything since I get the mast up in a hurry. Something obviously went wrong somewhere in the past to bend these but it is only slight. I will replace them this winter. The heat has finally broken here so going out today. This is really the start of my sailing season. Too damned hot on the bay in the middle of summer. Thanks for the replies.

 

[Charlie Jones s/v Tehani]

on your 22 footer, those turnbuckles should be fine. I prefer open ones on larger boats myself, but sailed a 21 footer for many miles using closed, with lock nuts .

Problem I found over there summers is little wind. Hot here too, but we've got wind almost always. Makes it better (except DDW )