Anyone Remove their Hood Furler Drive Unit?

May 19, 2016
127
Catalina 30 Riverside, NJ
Hello,

I had issues with my furler this year, which is a Hood 707SL. I spoke to Hood (Pompanette) and they recommended pulling the drive unit and shipping it to them for bearing replacement. I was wondering how to remove it.

Hood sent me the installation manual, but it's not intuitive on how to install it, so reversing the process is not intuitive either. I planned on using one of my halyards and connect it to the bowsprit, then winch it down to support the mast. Then disconnect the stay from the bowsprit and work on disconnecting the drum from the foil, but I really don't understand how it's built, and if the stay would clear the drum.

Any advice or experience would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Snoopy
 
Mar 9, 2020
28
Catalina 30 MkII Oyster Bay NY
I have a different hood model (810) so i'm not familiar with the specifics of the 707 but after a glance at the spec sheet (http://www.hoodyachtsystems.com/pdf files/sl707data.pdf) looks like to remove:
1) loosen backstay 2) loosen bolts at top of drive unit to separate extrusion from drive unit 3) probably have to lift furler up and loosen turnbuckle 4) disconnect forestay from deck attachment point 5) slide furler out from bottom of forestay

If you have the installation manual and could post a screenshot that would be helpful. basically as you said you just reverse the steps of actually attaching it to the extrusion and tightening the forestay, and securing it to the deck.

I think pompanette is also pretty helpful for technical support questions. you may want to ask them directly.
 
Mar 29, 2017
576
Hunter 30t 9805 littlecreek
1st remove sail loosen backstay and slack rig slightly uppers mostly. on the bow (pull boat bow in at dock ) if in water hang the umbrella trick or put your ding on front boat to catch anything. pull jib and spin halyards real tight on nose and pull main haylard down too. remove the original nylon but probably stainless Philips screw about top drum maybe 1' above then top clamp comes out in 2 pieces 1st side with screw then push unit over and slip other side out ya might need shake it around alot. Now get some vice grips pull unit straight up and expose head turn buckle.
Now mounted around turn buckle is furler bottom bearing made of delron which is probably your problem
 
Mar 29, 2017
576
Hunter 30t 9805 littlecreek
To get the bottom off just drum and line furl section you gonna have to slack Headstay and pull pin but you can leave track standing
 
May 19, 2016
127
Catalina 30 Riverside, NJ
Whatfiero,

What do you mean when you say "remove the original nylon but probably stainless Philips screw about top drum maybe 1' above then top clamp"? Do you mean the top of the tube (#1) or the drum (#2) or somewhere just above the drum?

furler-drive2.JPG
 
Mar 9, 2020
28
Catalina 30 MkII Oyster Bay NY
Yes the #1 in your diagram above. It looks like you need to unscrew the screw and punch out the tack socket pin to separate the extrusion from the furler. See page 30 of the manual. Not a hard job
 
May 19, 2016
127
Catalina 30 Riverside, NJ
d-marko,

Thank you. I reread the indicated page and will give it a try tomorrow.

Snoopy
 
Mar 9, 2020
28
Catalina 30 MkII Oyster Bay NY
Good luck! Now that I think about this again you can probably just take the turnbuckle all the way off and save yourself the last step of disconnecting the forestay at the deck. You should Mark the turnbuckle threads with some electrical tape to remember tension setting. Also another tip is to use the halyards to hold the foils and/or furler up while working
 
May 19, 2016
127
Catalina 30 Riverside, NJ
I was defeated today.

I used my jib halyard to relieve the forestay, then loosening the tension on the backstay, cranking down on the jib halyard so that I could remove the furler. However, I could not get the furler higher than necessary to gain access to the turnbuckle within the furler. The turnbuckle had cotter pins that need to be removed to loosen them.

I was alone, so I think if I had my son with me I could have disconnected the forestay by removing the cotter pin and banging the pin out, but I was afraid of doing that by myself with the weight of the foil. I did have the foil lashed with the spinnaker, but once the furler was free I would have all that weight. It's windy at my marina today and thought I would not be able to get the stay re-attached to the bow (stem) fitting.
drum.jpg
turnbuckle.jpg
height.jpg


I will try again with a second person to help. I will also reach out to Hood for suggestions.
 
Mar 9, 2020
28
Catalina 30 MkII Oyster Bay NY
Alright half way there. Just to confirm: you were able to slide the furling drive unit up over the foil? That should give you the necessary clearance to access the turn buckle. When I removed my I just left the foil slide down inside the furler tube and rest on the top of the turnbuckle.

I would not recommend ‘banging’ out the pin unless the forestay has slack. Try without the jib halyard. Just loosen the backstay as much as possible. The mast will be supported by the other stays fine.
 
May 19, 2016
127
Catalina 30 Riverside, NJ
d-marko,

Damn. :( Now that you ask, I don't think I was sliding the drive unit up and over the foil. I think I was just pushing the whole furler up the stay, which would of course not give me clearance to the turnbuckle.

Above, you stated that I needed to remove the TNP Tack pin, but I did not. I loosened the set screw that holds the tack pin, then pushed the pin with my fingers, but it did not move and I became timid about removing it at the fear of how much I was getting into the job and if I could put it back together. I assumed a nail-set or screwdriver and hammer would have been able to "tap" the tack pin through. Do you think that is what I need to do?

Thanks,
Snoopy
 

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Mar 9, 2020
28
Catalina 30 MkII Oyster Bay NY
Yes. Separating the drive unit from the foil is the key to getting enough clearance to access the turnbuckle. Once you do that the foil will slide down and/or you can lift the drive unit up over the bottom of the foil. I re-red my original post and it was not clear enough about that, sorry. In the installation guide, it is pg 28 step #2. You're doing this step but removing the furler instead.

From re-reading the manual I am pretty sure it is the TNP tack pin (and set screw) holding the foil and drive unit together. If not then it is somewhere between the pin and the "feeder" (see diagram on pg 13). The pin should definitely not come out with finger pressure alone. I would try tapping it with a punch/screwdriver/etc and hammer. I wouldn't strike it with extreme force but it should start to slide out with some light to moderate strength taps. some wd-40 is a good idea to it loosen up and help it slide easier. Might also help to hold the foil up or jiggle the foil, to take the weight of the foil off the pin and cleaner path through the hole when you punch it.

Will help to have another set of hands but is doable by one person if you are smart about utilizing the halyards to hold the pieces up
 
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May 19, 2016
127
Catalina 30 Riverside, NJ
d-marko,

Thank you much, I will give it a try next Friday; next day off. I would love to get this thing shipped off for overhaul and back on the boat so I can feel I completed at least one job. :)

Snoopy
 
Mar 9, 2020
28
Catalina 30 MkII Oyster Bay NY
You're welcome - if you've gotten this far and then you can separate the two pieces, you should be able to get it completely off. Report back and let us know how it goes.
 
May 19, 2016
127
Catalina 30 Riverside, NJ
Success!

After removing the TNP tack pin the furler disconnected from the foil and was able to raise up and over the foil. We then had to remove the turnbuckle to get the drum and the swivel free of the stay. I wanted to send both off for overhaul.

We reattached the stay to the stem fitting, loosened the jib halyard from the stem fitting, then tightened down the backstay to hold the
furler.jpg
mast steady until it all goes back in.
 
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Mar 9, 2020
28
Catalina 30 MkII Oyster Bay NY
Great glad it worked out for you. Just reverse the process to put it back on. Make sure to tension the headstay while you have it accessible before securing the furler back in place
 
May 19, 2016
127
Catalina 30 Riverside, NJ
Update: Furler overhaul worked perfectly from CDI. They shipped everything I needed to re-install it and it worked like a dream.

Thank you all very much for the help and advice in getting it off and back on.
 
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