H260 Mast Strut bends

[Tom2909]

Hi all,
I'm hoping to get some help from the forum on a problem I've had since my 1999 H260 was delivered. As you will see in the picture, the port side mast strut is bent when in the mast raised position. After the first sailing season, I took the boat back to the dealer to have it fixed, and I don't know what they did, but it didn't fix the problem.
I've since tried adjusting the strut length when down, doesn't help; when up, even worse because the strut isn't long enough to allow the mast to come down all the way (thankfully I was watching very carefully and stopped lowering the mast before anything bent or broke).
I've come to the conclusion that the strut base is off center from the mast pin, and Happy Camper's post (here) got me thinking about how to find the root cause and fix this once and for all.
In order to check for miss-alignment, I'm going to run a string from strut base to strut base and see if it is aligned with the mast base pin. I think I'll find that the port strut base is mounted a little bit forward of where is should be. If that is the case, I'll see if the deck-to-strut-base mounting holes can be elongated (or re-drilled) to allow the strut base to be slid aft enough to align with the mast pin.
@Crazy Dave Condon - Have you seen this issue before? Does my approach seem reasonable?
Thank you to all in advance for any guidance!
-Tom

 

[Doug J]

Are both struts exactly the same length? And are the mounting points on the mast and deck exactly the same in relation to each other?

 

[Regular Guy]

Wow, the strut looks a lot bended. Struts supporting the mast in beam direction and are especially needed when raising or lowering the mast since there is no support from the shrouds anymore. I can just think of that the mast is or comes quite a bit out of center when sailing because improperly rigged, shrouds to lose, etc.
I would check for center by using the halyard as measure to both sides and then adjust the shrouds, apply the proper tension.

 

[Tom2909]

Thank you for your replies!
Doug, I think you are on the right track. The mast stepping pin and lower strut hinge points would all have to be in line for the struts to maintain their same length going from down to up position. I think the port strut is compressed (and bent) because the lower mounting point is longer in the down position than up position. In the down position the strut is straight.
Regular Guy, the mast is straight from side to side and bowed top to bottom, as it should be, in both up and down position; and the halyard measures are even and shroud tension to spec. in the up position.

 

[Crazy Dave Condon]

@Tom2909
Measure the following
1. Length of struts
2 The distance of the holes from base of
mad where pinned to mast with bolt
3. Distance sideways from mast for strut
Bases
4. Any adjustment in struts?
5. Length of both struts
6 Do the strut bases appear to be
Centered with the mast
Maybe photos would help. One of the mast sideways up position to see if strut bases in parallel to mast both sides.

Let us know

 

[Tom2909]

Thank you, Dave. I'll take a look next time I get to the boat, probably in a few days from now.

 

[Regular Guy]

One thing is certain, the mast bends more as suppose to. The shrouds have proper tension and assuming the measures, mentioned by Dave, meet the Hunter specifications. What else is left, what gives about an inch on slack?
I am wondering if always the same strut is bended? When that is so, why gives the other side? Supposing the mast foot is solid, could it be that something, the end connection anchors inside the strut pipes are moving, are not holding under load?

 

[BobSail]

Crazy Dave will have the answer for you. In my instance, if you imagine a line drawn down the center of the boat from bow to stern, the strut deck brackets were not originally mounted perpendicularly to this line. One sits forward on the deck mounting pad, and the other sits aft. When the mast is lowered, it cannot be dropped into the bow pulpit yoke because the struts force it to the side (due to the bracket alignment). But when the mast is vertical, the offset effect is basically eliminated. If we were to elongate one of the struts to allow the mast to fit in the pulpit yoke, it would potentially be too long when the mast was vertical (which might cause it to bow in response to the equal length shrouds?). Don't know if this is what you are experiencing or not. Our solution for trailering is to rest the lowered mast on the pulpit to the side, unbolt the struts from the mast, immediately bolt them together to preserve the adjustment, and then lay the mast in the yoke. We trailer it with the struts unattached to the mast and lying on the foredeck bolted together. I had Hunter send us undrilled strut brackets in 2004 to redrill the bracket base holes so I could use the existing deck holes and align them properly, but have not gotten around to that one yet, since we drop the mast only once a year.

 

[twalker H260]

2 additional items I would check - both struts mounted same way on bracket - I believe the are usually mounted inboard. The second is due to a discrepancy I see between your photo and regular guys and bob sails info/photos - do both brackets measure the same height (to bolt hole Center from deck)?

 

[Crazy Dave Condon]

That is only one item I needed to know as to measurements and photos.

 

[Tom2909]

Hi all,
Thank you for your help.
I have resolved the issue with the port side mast strut bending, but am still perplexed on the cause. Here are my notes on the various measurements:

• Strut lengths are the same at 71 inches,
• Mast base to upper strut mounting point, 67 7/8 inches, both sides
• Lower strut bracket to strut mounting holes 4 5/8 above base, both sides
• Distance between inboard surfaces of lower strut mounting bases is 41 1/2 inches and the mast is on center between them
• The mast is perpendicular to the deck.
• The mast raising pin is parallel with the deck measured just forward of the mast base and on the center of hinged cabin top (iphone leveling feature -- included in the compass app -- is very handy for taking level measurements).
• In the down position, the mast is centered side to side just above the strut-mast connection point, measuring from the combing at the lifeline stantions just forward of the cockpit.
• From aft of mast, taking a level sight across top of strut bases was 2 degrees off compared to a sight through the mast pin center -- this is the root cause of the problem. Using the center line of the mast pivot pin as the frame of reference, the port side strut base is higher than the starboard side, so the port side deck is higher than starboard side.

In order to find the correct location for the port side lower strut to base connection, as shown in the picture below, I marked 2 arcs using the strut with the mast down (green line) and the mast up (black line). The intersection marks the proper location.
A 3/8 inch hole was drilled, the strut attached, and the mast raised very carefully while monitoring struts for compression or tension. All went well and the struts are now straight in the up and down positions, and I am a happy sailor!

The second image shows the end result.

 

[Regular Guy]

Well, yes, the cause for the deck height asymmetry keeps one wonder. Glad you found the solution. Keep us posted whether everything works out after the first sailing trip.

 

[MaxinCalgary]

Your mast looks different than my 2002 H260 .
The gin pole system looks different also. Maybe a different supplier.
Maybe the strut mount was bent at one time which caused this issue . You should be able to raise the mast remove the struts and adjust the length to match the length.

 

[GGordonWoody]

Wow...you guys got struts? Beautiful ship. Love those clapboard houses!

 

[Tom2909]

MaxinCalgary,
Thanks for your comment. I have a 1999 model year. The gin pole is my own design (modeled after the Macgregor system), the original SS tube and mounting system bowed and made me very nervous.
The mast hinge pin and lower mast strut pins all need to rotate on the same axis in order to work smoothly. For some reason, the port side deck under the strut is about an inch higher than it should be. I feel lucky that drilling a single hole was the solution! I wish I had figured it out many years ago!
GGordnWood - Thanks for your comment. The house in the picture is in MA and the original structure dates back to the 1800's, I believe.

 

[Crazy Dave Condon]

The last photo shows what you were talking about and the adjustment made. Thank you for taking the time to look.
Years ago when Z Spar who supplied masts to hunter, basically pulled a fast one and without further discussion, that name left our shores. It left Hunter up in the air. There were several mast manufacturers that Hunter had to go to which included Charleston Spare and Dwyer Mast. Later it was U.S. Spars. Hope this helps that answer.

 

[Tom2909]

Thank you for your help, Dave!

 

[Crazy Dave Condon]

@Tom2909
No the thanks goes to you investigating finding the problem and solution. We merely try to help you to make the fix. Reporting back with photos is greatly appreciated and now sir welcome to the forum and I look to future posts from you.

Enjoy the Rainbow taken from my front porch two days ago up here in the mountains

Crazy Dave Condom (@flynhi4u Did I mispel my name again? Ha)