A tree fell on my Mac.

crpdm

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Oct 23, 2008
38
Macgregor 26D Highlake IL
A big Maple limb fell on my 26D. Bent the mast and railing and crushed the sliding hatch. Does anyone have a suggestion on where to find used parts? (in Chicago). BWY is way too expensive for me.

Regards,
Karl
 

Joe

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Jun 1, 2004
7,999
Catalina 27 Mission Bay, San Diego
In the long run, it'll be cheaper to look for a donor boat. You can probably find something people just want to get rid of....Many older, poorly kept boats are junked because the seller didn't know how valuable the parts were.... but .... you'll run across many "bargains" that have already been stripped by wiser sellers.... just sayin'... make a list... make sure the vessel in question has ALL that you need... then low ball based on condition. I'd be surprised if you spent more than$1000. Not surprised if you spent way less. You already have a trailer, so the seller may even pay you just to come get it off the proerty. :)
 

Tedd

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Jul 25, 2013
745
TES 246 Versus near Vancouver, BC
I would have thought any of those parts would be repairable, except you need the extrusion for the mast. If you don't feel able to do it yourself, a decent race car shop could repair any stainless tubing structures (or fab new ones), and the companionway cover. But repairing the companionway cover is likely to cost more than a new one, unless you do it yourself.
 
Feb 21, 2013
4,638
Hunter 46 Point Richmond, CA
A big Maple limb fell on my 26D. Bent the mast and railing and crushed the sliding hatch. Does anyone have a suggestion on where to find used parts? (in Chicago).....
Ouch!
Mast - as long as the mast isn't kinked or buckled anywhere, you can probably lay it across a couple of saw-horses and bend it back to working order OR slide it in between 2 trees and with some help bed it back and then re-install. We did the later on my dad's Catalina 25 after the mast was bent during a salvage operation after sinking it. Be careful to distribute the force over the entire bend. If it looks like you've created a weak spot you can go into replacing it, but it won't cost you anything to try to straighten the mast.

Railing - remove the railing, have a stainless steel tube shop bend back in shape then re-bed and install.

Sliding hatch - remove the sliding hatch and repair it with fiberglass yourself OR by a god gelcoat guy.
 

crpdm

.
Oct 23, 2008
38
Macgregor 26D Highlake IL
Thank you for all of the replies. The damage is covered under homeowners, but only up to $2000. The BWY mast would consume most of that by the time it shipped to Chicago. There is a definite kink in the mast. I am adventuresome, but my usual passengers are not, so it will require replacement. The original hatch top was lost years ago and is probably along I39 is Wisconsin somewhere. This one was home built from ash and oak. I guess I can build another one, but would prefer to find a used one. There is a crack/crater in the cabin roof, just forward of the starboard winch I did not see until today. The purple plexi companionway hatch is shattered, but no great loss there. If anyone knows of someone parting out a mac within a few hundred miles of Chicago, please let me know. Cheers.
 
Apr 11, 2020
708
MacGregor 26s Scott's Landing, Grapevine TX
Regarding the mast, perhaps you should consider repairing it. I broke the mast on my Hunter 170, and bought 11 feet of extrusion rather than replace the entire mast. I took a 2' section and cut off the slug channel. This allowed me to compress that section so that it would fit inside the portions I was splicing together. Once joined, these were secured with several 3/16" pop rivets. The good folks at Dwyer coached me through the process, and told me that the repair would actually be stronger than the original mast.

So, if you can salvage enough of the original mast, you can repair it in a manner that will be safe and unnoticed by all but those with knowledge of such things.
 

crpdm

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Oct 23, 2008
38
Macgregor 26D Highlake IL
Thanks for the suggestion. The splice Idea could work If I can find a straight section to use. I am no stranger to metalwork. The bent section is pretty long though.
 
Apr 11, 2020
708
MacGregor 26s Scott's Landing, Grapevine TX
I feel your pain. I cratered the mast on my H170 the first day I took it out by towing the boat with the mast up under a power line.
I was able to straighten a significant portion using a 6-ton hydraulic jack. I laid the jack on the ground with the bottom against a stell fence post and used the foundation of my house as an anvil, with wood blocks to protect the mast and spread the force. The fence post moved some, but it was easy enough to get it back in place using a sledge hammer. I got the last of the bend out by laying the mast on my driveway and driving my van over it, again using wood blocks to spread the load. By approaching it incrementally, I was able to get it straight enough that the remaining bend was virtually imperceptible. I have since sailed it in all kinds of conditions without a worry.

If you can find the company that made the mast originally, you can probably by a section.

Another option would be to find a surplus mast from another boat and trim it down. Hard to say which would be more time-consuming.
 
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crpdm

.
Oct 23, 2008
38
Macgregor 26D Highlake IL
The starboard railing was bent and my yet-to-be-installed stern rail that was in the cockpit. There are a few used masts on craigslist that I could adapt. So far, they are all larger cross section, so no more single handed mast stepping. I finally got some pictures off of my phone.
IMG_5085.jpg
IMG_5083.jpg
IMG_5061.jpg
 
Apr 11, 2020
708
MacGregor 26s Scott's Landing, Grapevine TX
Ouch! Only consolation is that it was not a result of your own stupidity, as in my case...

Yeah, that kink has got to go. It sounds like you have the skills to straighten those gradual beds if you can find the adequate immovable objects to brace the mast parts against. The sweep of the bend presents a challenge, as will keeping the section from rotating while applying the necessary force.
 
Aug 5, 2019
92
Macgregor 26 S NJ
A tree falling on my boat is how I ended up with it. It had sat out of water for 6 years. The limb that fell broke the mast and twisted & ripped out the bow railing and did very little fiberglass damage where the railing bolts ripped through. Either the original owner or the guy I bought it from had already gotten the bow railing straightened out and bought a used mast that came with the boat, all I had to do was transfer the mast fittings, which took me 30 minutes and remount the bow railing. My boat's old mast was still on the boat and it was majorly kinked, almost like a "v" and there was no saving it. Your's doesn't look a third as bad as mine did, I would take it to a couple of welding shops to see if they can save it if you can't find a local used mast. Or, like Stickinthemud57 said and did, try to straighten it out yourself (which I would try first).