yet another Mast crutch thread....

Mar 20, 2015
3,094
C&C 30 Mk1 Winnipeg
Hello All,

I'm in the process of making a mast crutch, and have a few questions for those who have pintle mounted mast crutches.

I have the custom kickup rudder with pre-drilled mast crutch mounting holes.
I've been considering the various mast crutch types.... wood, metal, fixed height, adjustable height, telescoping etc.
I'll be towing on rough gravel roads, not just nice pavement.
I have wood support at the mast step to help support the mast and lessen the load on the pintles.

I prefer the idea of having a telescopic metal crutch because:
a) I could easily adjust it's height from the cockpit. (unlike an adjustable one with just 2 sets of pintles)
b) I'm hoping to leave it on the boat all the time while it's on the trailer.

I notice that some people who have wooden pintle mounted mast crutches, have some type of brace/support against the transom to minimize a lever action against the pintles.
Some also have some type of strap/brace attached near the top, to minimize any swaying.

Question:
Have those of you who have pintle mounted mast crutches, WITHOUT any transom bracing, had any problems due to the lack of bracing ?


I'm considering buy this, removing the narrow end, and simply adding another section of square tubing to extend it's length.


It already has a perfect crutch end, and also has eyelets that would work for attaching some straps to minimize sway.

To me: Rough roads = bracing of some type required.
But do I really need to configure some type of transom bracing in addition to some straps at the top out to stern cleats ? or will the just the straps do ?

Anyone towing down rough roads have some hard won advice ?

Thanks guys,
Roy
 
Jul 23, 2013
487
1981 Catalina 22 #10330 Bayview, ID
I know exactly what you mean, Roy.

I dry sail and have to trailer around 100 miles each way over some bumpy Idaho state and county roads to get there (it's well worth it!). I built my own telescoping steel mast crutch that mounts in the gudgeons. I had D rings welded at the top of the lower section to attach motorcycle straps that lead to the stern mooring cleats. As you can see in the picture below, I also leave my outboard mounted.



They work great. I wouldn't want to tow without them. I do lash the front of the mast down to the bow cleats with another strap and a saddle over the pulpit. I also brace the mast over the cabin top. But if the mast were to slide aft more than an inch or two, either the crutch would bend or the gudgeon holes through the transom would crack. Better to be safe than sorry.

I'll be posting an article on my blog in two or three weeks about my single-handed, tool-less mast stepping system. I do it with or without the boom as a gin pole. It will also describe how I secure the rig for trailering and fastest stepping. There will be several clearly narrated, HD video demonstrations.

Followers (subscribers) of my blog will receive a newsletter shortly thereafter that will include links to download two bonus PDF files: my two-page prep and launch checklist and a dimensioned drawing with materials list to build the crutch. Subscribing is free, just click the Follow button on any page.

Watch for the article. Maybe you can get a few tips out of it.
 
Apr 26, 2010
434
catalina 22 lake tillery NC
Mine is one piece with 2 sets pintels, square aluminum about 2.25" light weight and very strong. When at the ramp I set the mast aside lift the crutch then set the mast on top the crutch. It rolls very easy when I walk the mast back. has worked great so far. I can lift the crutch to the higher position from inside the cock pit no problem. IMO I would not use wood.
 
Sep 30, 2013
3,538
1988 Catalina 22 North Florida


Mine is one-piece wood with two sets of DIY pintles. Or, more correctly, three pintles total, which allows for two height settings. It's simple and I like it, it's been working like a champ for almost two years. I have no plans to change anything. I don't employ any side-to-side bracing, although I do throw a long bungee over the mast and down to the pulpit on either side.

My pintles are made of a piece of stainless angle with a bolt through it. "Hard won advice": don't try to use aluminum angle! The first pic below is what I have now, the second pic is what (quickly!) happened to the "beta" version I made, using aluminum angle: :eek:



 
Mar 20, 2015
3,094
C&C 30 Mk1 Winnipeg
$tingy: Good to hear. I was also concerned about sliding the mast back when stepping it. When fully extended, that crutch is a very long lever, and it wouldn't take much pressure on the top end to damage the pintles. Straps would solve that. Just leave them attached until the mast is up. Not to mention, in my case with the custom rudder, it would hold the rudder from moving. One thing I like about modifying that motor mount support for this use, is that it has an internal shock absorber. Hopefully I'll get time today to go see one for real. All the ones I've looked at were not usable because the actual cradle meant for the motor is too small for the mast. In this model from Reese, the other ears on the end, which are meant for attaching to a trailer roller, look to be the right size. Hopefully a small roller will fit between the ears.

As for rough roads, The best lake here are on the rough roads IMO. NW Ontario, and Northern Manitoba are full of fantastic lakes full of fish, and lacking crowds of people. The trick is being willing to drive on what used to be logging and mining access roads. There's one I go to at least once a year where the "gravel" is 2" chunks of sharp edged rock.
That's another reason I want to upgrade to tandem axles.

piedpiperIII: I saw the photos you posted. It was one of a few examples I found with dual pintles. Interesting about not having issue adjusting height from the cockpit.
I was basing my concern on the fact that I have the 1/2" pintle upgrade on my boat and you have to work the rudder back and forth to get it to seat in the pintles. As the bushing wear though, it should be much easier.

Thanks for the advice !

Cheers,
Roy


EDIT: Hey Gene, Yeah not surprised about that aluminum pulling out. It gives someone a good idea of the forces involved. I had looked into using high grade T6 aluminum square tube for that reason. (instead of T5).

EDIT AGAIN:
FWIW, Here's another option that totally eliminates the concern about the pintles. It's on a Seaward 22, but the same concept would work on the C22 if you had the pushpit. My concern about that setup is simply it's size/complexity. It's easier to stow a long pole, than a large T shaped system IMO.



Yet another option is to build a permanent pivoting A frame on the pushpit.
When up, it's a mast crutch, when down it's a dinghy towing point. I figure that if done the right way, it could even have uses as a mount for a hoist for outboard, dinghy etc.
It has the advantage that if you need to lower the mast on the water it's always there.

 
Mar 20, 2015
3,094
C&C 30 Mk1 Winnipeg
Ok. That motor support was close, but won't work. The width of the jaw will hold a 3" roller but it's not deep enough. Looks like I'm building from scratch.

If I can't find some thin wall stainless tube I may end up using alumimum. I hope it won't fail. For hooks I'll bend some 3/8 rod and cut threads on the end. That should eliminate the problem Gene had with the side loads ripping out the aluminum angle.
 
Apr 26, 2010
434
catalina 22 lake tillery NC
Also the pintles on my crutch are not all the same length the pintle that is on top is a little longer which helps me start that one and line up the bottom.
 
Dec 23, 2008
771
Catalina 22 Central Penna.
crutches

For 24 years I’ve towed my boat with the mast tied to the stern pulpit. I keep it over on the port side just above a vertical pulpit post. Now, the center is not over the mast step where a center mast support can be utilized, I use a fender between the mast and the hatch cover to decrease the mast bounce. With the mast at an angle from the bow to the cockpit allows all of the cockpit to be free of a mast and stays for ease of movement in the cockpit and cabin entrance, the mast crutch is only used for raising and lowering. My crutch is wood and over 15 years old, I have the transom side support as well as an over the transom hook to eliminate the load and the stress on the gudgens when pushing or pulling the mast at the top of the crutch.

I use two crutches, one at the stern and a second one in the companion way where I walk the mast up and forward and set the mast on the second crutch. At this height I can walk around the deck and check to see if anything is not correct before doing the final lift to vertical. Up till age 60 I could lift it my self but, over the last 10 years I make sure I have help.
 

Attachments

Mar 20, 2015
3,094
C&C 30 Mk1 Winnipeg
You know Jerry, I have a feeling that having the mast sit on the corner of the pushpit may end up being my preferred method for towing.

I've used that method when I've been working on the boat.
I'd like to be able to put the poptop up though and with my current setup, it's not possible. I'm hoping that my crutch will be high enough, in combination with a new taller pullpit mast holder instead of the "10minute build" one I made to get the boat home.

Who knows.. My only option for that may be to use pulpit and pushpit supports , both of which are to the one side.
I'm embarrassed to say I haven't tried that to check the clearance.

I found some 1.5" chrome extendable closet bars at a habitat store for $10. Potential height would be 11ft long fully extended and 4.5 ft collapsed. We'll see how they work.

Cheers, Roy
 
Mar 20, 2015
3,094
C&C 30 Mk1 Winnipeg
Well, here's what I came up with.. for now at least.
I bought a 3" bow roller, and then picked up 2 large L brackets from Home Depot.
I'm not sure what the brackets intended use is, but they worked well for my needs.

The Roller attaches to the L brackets, which then bolt to the steel chrome closet bars I got from The Habitat for Humanity store.

First I determined where the brackets had to be bent so that they were the width of the roller at one location, and the width of the pipe at the other.

Once I marked the bend locations, I put the brackets in the vise on the markings, and along with a hammer and channel lock pliers, bent them to the shape I needed, checking as I went.

Once I had the brackets the correct shape, I drilled holes for the 5 inch long, 1/2" roller bolt.
Once I bolted the roller and brackets together, I clamped the other end of the brackets, to the pipe, and drilled a hole all the way through both brackets and pipe. I then put a 3/8 bolt though the hole and tightened it up. I then repeated the process for the second home. The advantage of drilling one hole, then bolting it, before making the second hole, is that ensures the holes line up correctly.

Once I had the brackets completed, I took them apart, and used a bench grinder to round off the sharp 90 degree corners.

The finished top of the mast crutch looks like this:


The brackets worked perfectly. The original L portion, had a hole in them, which will work perfectly for attaching stabilizing straps when using the crutch for towing.
I under estimated the length of bolt for the roller, because the locking nut wasn't on far enough, while allowing the roller to spin freely. When in actual use the bolt will stick out of the nut.


The bottom part of the crutch needed to fit in the pre drilled holes in my ruddercraft kickup rudder.

First I drilled 2 holes in the metal pipe, where the pins needed to go.

I could have simply used bolts for the pins, but I'm not a fan of having rough threaded bolts being used a "pins".

What I decided to do, was to use a long bolt that only had threads part of it's length.
I then used a 3/8" die to cut the threads further up the bolt.

By using 2 nuts + 1 nut, I could attach the bolts to the pipe.
2 nuts between the rudder and mast crutch would not only fasten the pin/bolt, but would also act as a spacer between them.

I then cut the head off the bolts, leaving the section of bolt without threads.
I then used a bench grinder to taper the tips of the bolts.
To lock the pins in place on the rudder, I'm using hairclips.
I used a punch + bench vise to mark the location of the hairclip holes, and then used a drill to carefully drill holes for hairclips. I then used a larger drill bit to taper the holes.

I made sure the hole were far enough from the end of the pin, so that I could adjust how tight the pins would be against the rudder, by simply tightening the "spacer" nuts on the other side.

My explanation might be somewhat confusing, but here's a photo, that hopefully makes it clearer.


Pin in place, before tightening the outer nut and trimming the threaded end.


Here's the mast crutch in place, while I was determining how long it needed to be.
As shown, at 6 ft 6 inches tip to tip, it was tall enough to allow the pop-top to be fully raised, and fairly good clearance for entering and exiting the cabin, when on the trailer.

I have yet to fully determine how long I will cut the inner and outer pipes so that I can lower it for travel, and raise it for putting the mast up, and camping/working in the boat on the trailer.

When complete it should fit in a bag slightly less than 3ft long.



Cheers,
Roy
 
Nov 19, 2008
2,129
Catalina C-22 MK-II Parrish, FL
Or, simply get the Rudder-Craft adjustable mast crutch designed for their rudders. Slips on, slips off, no tools required....

By the way, a GREAT company that is one of the major supporters of our upcoming C-22 National Regatta. They have also come out with a neat maintenance free mast support that fits on the bow pulpit when trailering.

Don
 

Attachments

Mar 20, 2015
3,094
C&C 30 Mk1 Winnipeg
Or, simply get the Rudder-Craft adjustable mast crutch designed for their rudders. Slips on, slips off, no tools required....

By the way, a GREAT company that is one of the major supporters of our upcoming C-22 National Regatta. They have also come out with a neat maintenance free mast support that fits on the bow pulpit when trailering.

Don
Ruddercraft are a fantastic company. Best I've dealt with in a long time.

Their crutch is nice, but it's $295 USD which would be $320 CAD + shipping + taxes. So it would be around $400 CAD for me. With the way the exchange on the dollar is going, buying stuff from the USA is getting a bit dear. That said I had planned to buy it from them until the Canadian dollar took a dive due to oil prices.

My DIY version will be:
$20 for tubing from building supply thrift store
$7 for roller
$13 for L brackets
$10 for bolts and pins
Total = $50 ($40 USD) + 1 hour of my labour

No tools required either. It just slips in the holes, and uses clips+pins to hold in place and pins to adjust height
 
Apr 26, 2010
434
catalina 22 lake tillery NC
Let us know how well it works when you slide the mast back. That was always a concern of mine, that's why I went with a strong aluminum square tube.
 
Mar 20, 2015
3,094
C&C 30 Mk1 Winnipeg
I slid it back once when determining height needed to clear the poptop and allow easy mast pin insertion.
It rolled so easy that I might need to prevent it from doing that when towing.
The mast crutch itself was fine, but it hasn't been trimmed yet for it's final 3 piece configuration.

Rudder craft uses round tube on top, square tube on the bottom, for their telescoping model.

This closet rod I used is thick wall and not the typical light weight crap you see most of the time. It's thin enough to be light but I think it's thick enough to stand up to the loads.
In addition it's double thickness where the tube slides into each other.

Also, like Stingy, I'll be using bracing straps when towing and possibly when the crutch is extended.

Worst case, the project cost goes up by $20 and I get some square tube. Time will tell.