I am looking to buy 1987 31'Hunter, the spreaders are welded to the mast. The welds look neat, but concern me. The last two boats I owned had the spreader mounts bolted to the mast. Is this how the factory originally installed the spreaders or is this a later installation?
31 Hunter Mast Spreaders
- Thread starter Bob McKee
- Start date
I would be weary of spreader brackets welded to the mast the heat generated during the weld would be my reason for concern. The heat would cause a brittle point on the mast which could cause early fatigue at the point, ergo the reasons for rivets. Now if its the spreader arm itself is welded to the mast, run away and don't look back, but that is just my opinion and it may be wrong.
I am not sure how the spreaders attach to the mast brackets, And I have not been up the mast myself.
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JMCE 1587 That is exactly what the spreader brackets look like. Is this the way the factory installed them? Is there any cause for concern?
Here is a link to a Selden product catalog, you judge, I do not see one spreader bracket that is welded on to the mast, chances are the mast is not original or there was an issue in the boats history which caused the modification of the spreader attachment. In order to determine if there is cause for concern one must know what mast cross section you have, is there is any additional support behind the attachment point, I have looked at many pictures of spreader attachments and the majority of what I have seen are riveted on, or welded to a large backing plate shaped to match the mast profile and then the plate is riveted on. I think that you may want to get a professional rigger to have a look and possibly give you some insight first hand.
www.seldenmast.com/files/1322118734/595-808-E.pdf
www.seldenmast.com/files/1322118734/595-808-E.pdf
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Or maybe none of those things, maybe it's the way the mast was originally made, and it's fine!
Are you just speculating, or do you have other information?
I imagine the weld just locates the bracket, there isn't much force on it. I would hope there's a compression member inside the mast. Other than that I don't see a problem.
Bob, attached is another pic of a spreader bracket for a replacement mast I'm installing. You can see where the bracket mount is welded to the mast. I have other pics of the mast when off the boat but won't be home for another week to send these to you. The welded bracket is how the spreader mount was on my prior mast and the replacement. This has not been a cause for concern for me and the rigger doing the work has not stated anything to cause alarm. You do need to inspect the spreaders themselves to be sure there isn't any cracking at the ends. If so they need to be repaired by welding cracks. 
The question was asked, "Are these original by the manufacturer" given Hunter uses Selden spars and Selden as far as I can find doen't have welded spar sections, then the research I have done says no they are not original, ergo my speculative comment, there must have been an issue to cause the change. Conjecture yes, but not without some hours of research.
" I would hope there's a compression member inside the mast." Exactly!!, without the proper inspection this kind of attachment will lead to failure of the mast at exactly the wrong moment!
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Can't speculate on what you're saying. What I can state is my previous mast which was off the boat in April and and thoroughly photographed and inspected by the rigging company as well as my replacement mast look identical with the welded bracket mount area. Both of these masts are made by Isomat.