I have a 1996 Beneteau OC281 with a z-spar (now US Spar I think) furler. I want to remove the head swivel and furling drum to send in for servicing. The kicker is that I want to do this with the mast up. My plan is to loosen the shrouds and back stays and use both the spinnaker and jib halyards to hold the mast while I disconnect the head stay and remove the furler parts. I'm not sure but it looks like there is not a turnbuckle inside the furling drum and once I remove the drum, there will not be a way to reconnect the stay so the halyards will have to suffice, maybe all winter, or at least until a warm enough day ( I'm a fair weather deckhand) to replace everything. Does this sound reasonable? Anyone familiar with z-spar furlers? Without a turnbuckle, how would I get enough slack in the stay to get it unhooked/rehooked? How would I keep the foils on the stay until I can put things back together? Any thoughts are appreciated. Bill
headsail furler
- Thread starter Bill C320 Papillon
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Didn't know US Spars made headsail
furlers. Are you sure it's not a Profurl? The drum should come off the foil.
furlers. Are you sure it's not a Profurl? The drum should come off the foil.
Removing the forestay
Hi Bill, I really don't know a lot about furlers, but I do know that most of them have their own built in halyard for raising and lowering the sail, so that leaves the Jib Halyard which you can use to release your forestay and get the drum off. This is something that I've done for many years as a trailer sailor. If you have enough halyard to shackle to the bow plate and take up the slack after loostening your back stay, you can make the other end fast to the mast cleat. If not, then do as I've always done. Use a 3/8 inch line about long enough to hook on to the jib shackle (which is made fast at the top of the mast), and have it run through a single sheave on the bow plate, and back around the mast, above the gooseneck and attach it to a bow jam cleat. Loosen the back stay to put slack in the forestay, and take up on the 3/8 line until you can get your slack to remove the stay and drum. As long as you leave the line cleated,your mast will be okay until you get your drum back on, and everything connected again. It's worked for me for many years, and it can work for you.
Hi Bill, I really don't know a lot about furlers, but I do know that most of them have their own built in halyard for raising and lowering the sail, so that leaves the Jib Halyard which you can use to release your forestay and get the drum off. This is something that I've done for many years as a trailer sailor. If you have enough halyard to shackle to the bow plate and take up the slack after loostening your back stay, you can make the other end fast to the mast cleat. If not, then do as I've always done. Use a 3/8 inch line about long enough to hook on to the jib shackle (which is made fast at the top of the mast), and have it run through a single sheave on the bow plate, and back around the mast, above the gooseneck and attach it to a bow jam cleat. Loosen the back stay to put slack in the forestay, and take up on the 3/8 line until you can get your slack to remove the stay and drum. As long as you leave the line cleated,your mast will be okay until you get your drum back on, and everything connected again. It's worked for me for many years, and it can work for you.
Rick
It took some detective work to find out because there are no identifying labels on the furler. I don't know whether US Spars makes any headsail furlers today but apparently Z-Spar did in 1996. US Spars is the contact for parts and info on Z-spar equipment. Once the headstay is disconnected, I'm sure that the drum will slide off the foil but once it is off, I'm not of the best way to secure the foil on the loose stay.
It took some detective work to find out because there are no identifying labels on the furler. I don't know whether US Spars makes any headsail furlers today but apparently Z-Spar did in 1996. US Spars is the contact for parts and info on Z-spar equipment. Once the headstay is disconnected, I'm sure that the drum will slide off the foil but once it is off, I'm not of the best way to secure the foil on the loose stay.
Bill
Once you have the furler off just push the foil up the forestay and clamp a set of vice grips onto the forestay under the foil and the foil will stay up. This is how we usually work on Profurls. If there is no turnbuckle to re-attach, lash the works to the pulpit and make sure you keep the halyards taut.
Once you have the furler off just push the foil up the forestay and clamp a set of vice grips onto the forestay under the foil and the foil will stay up. This is how we usually work on Profurls. If there is no turnbuckle to re-attach, lash the works to the pulpit and make sure you keep the halyards taut.
Take it off
What "service" does a 9 year old furler need to have done? Why would that service require part get sent back to the maker? Are you having any problems with furler operation? I don't know of any furler that needs to be taken apart for routine service. Normal inspection and service are done with the furler in place. Any work that requires the drum and halyard swivel to be removed is easier with the furler off the boat. Trying to work on a furler while it is hanging in mid-air is an exercise in frustration at best. The reason you have a furler is so you *don't have to work on the foredeck*. Why would you attempt a job that you are not familiar with in the most difficult situation that can be imagined? If it needs "service" it can be done on the boat. Bearings that need service are designed to be serviced with the parts in place (Harken, Furlex, Hood). Pro-furl, Schaefer and other furlers with sealed bearings do not require service, they either work or need repair (bearing replacement). If it needs *repair*, take the furler off the boat. Taking the furler off takes less than an hour. You will save many times that by having the furler off the boat and easy to work on. You shouldn't have to ease the shrouds to get the furler off unless the rig has swept back spreaders that are used for pre-bend. Usually, belaying the jib halyard forward and easing the backstay(s) will give you enough slack to un-pin the forestay. With the jib halyard acting as a forestay, go up the mast on the main halyard. Tie a light line (1/4") as a strop to the furler with a tautline hitch and shackle the spin halyard to the strop to take the weight of the furler off the forestay pin at the masthead (so you can un-pin it). Lower the furler off the boat with the spin halyard. Installation is the reverse. In 100's of service calls, I can think of only a few times that an in-place repair has been effective. Don't even think about using vise grips on the forestay wire to support the furler. On the lower rigging stud okay, but not on the wire itself. You will nick the wire, the nicked strands will fail and the furler (and mast) will be on the deck where they are easy to work on.
What "service" does a 9 year old furler need to have done? Why would that service require part get sent back to the maker? Are you having any problems with furler operation? I don't know of any furler that needs to be taken apart for routine service. Normal inspection and service are done with the furler in place. Any work that requires the drum and halyard swivel to be removed is easier with the furler off the boat. Trying to work on a furler while it is hanging in mid-air is an exercise in frustration at best. The reason you have a furler is so you *don't have to work on the foredeck*. Why would you attempt a job that you are not familiar with in the most difficult situation that can be imagined? If it needs "service" it can be done on the boat. Bearings that need service are designed to be serviced with the parts in place (Harken, Furlex, Hood). Pro-furl, Schaefer and other furlers with sealed bearings do not require service, they either work or need repair (bearing replacement). If it needs *repair*, take the furler off the boat. Taking the furler off takes less than an hour. You will save many times that by having the furler off the boat and easy to work on. You shouldn't have to ease the shrouds to get the furler off unless the rig has swept back spreaders that are used for pre-bend. Usually, belaying the jib halyard forward and easing the backstay(s) will give you enough slack to un-pin the forestay. With the jib halyard acting as a forestay, go up the mast on the main halyard. Tie a light line (1/4") as a strop to the furler with a tautline hitch and shackle the spin halyard to the strop to take the weight of the furler off the forestay pin at the masthead (so you can un-pin it). Lower the furler off the boat with the spin halyard. Installation is the reverse. In 100's of service calls, I can think of only a few times that an in-place repair has been effective. Don't even think about using vise grips on the forestay wire to support the furler. On the lower rigging stud okay, but not on the wire itself. You will nick the wire, the nicked strands will fail and the furler (and mast) will be on the deck where they are easy to work on.
Moody ....
I am the second owner of the boat so I don't know what the halyard swivel looked like when new. The furler works fine but when raising the genny, the halyard swivel apparently gets cocked and binds on the foil. It takes 3 people and the winch to get the sail up (and I have the track well lubricated witha dry lube). I think that there must have been a piece in the top of the head swivel to keep it centered on the foil and that piece is missing. My thought was as long as I have the swivel and drum off anyway, I might as well get them serviced. Again, I'm not sure about that but I do know that there is no way that it should be that hard to silde a sail up the track. By the way, the sail slides down the track very easily so it is not the wrong size bolt rope. I do have swept back spreaders but not to to develop mast bend, I have in-mast furling, so maybe the shrouds don't need to be loosened. Maybe your right, it may be easier to just take the set screws out of the foil sections and remove the entire thing. Thanks Bill
I am the second owner of the boat so I don't know what the halyard swivel looked like when new. The furler works fine but when raising the genny, the halyard swivel apparently gets cocked and binds on the foil. It takes 3 people and the winch to get the sail up (and I have the track well lubricated witha dry lube). I think that there must have been a piece in the top of the head swivel to keep it centered on the foil and that piece is missing. My thought was as long as I have the swivel and drum off anyway, I might as well get them serviced. Again, I'm not sure about that but I do know that there is no way that it should be that hard to silde a sail up the track. By the way, the sail slides down the track very easily so it is not the wrong size bolt rope. I do have swept back spreaders but not to to develop mast bend, I have in-mast furling, so maybe the shrouds don't need to be loosened. Maybe your right, it may be easier to just take the set screws out of the foil sections and remove the entire thing. Thanks Bill
Ahhh ...
Bill- Great info. Is it hard to hoist the sail all the way up or is it easy up to a certain point then gets hard? Have you looked at the swivel to make sure that someone didn't slide it on the foil upside down? (don't laugh, it happens)
Can you make the swivel bind on the foil by hand? Does it have enough play in the bushings to cock on the foil? Are there marks on the foil or inside the swivel from metal to metal contact? Have you tried hoisting just the swivel? Attach the bitter end of the jib halyard and a metal tape measure to the bottom of the swivel (use the sail tack shackle on the bottom of the swivel). Hoist the swivel and tape up the furler to see if/where it binds with no sail in the track. If it doesn't bind without the sail, try putting tension on the swivel from the deck as you hoist to see if you can make it bind. If it still won't bind, the problem is inside the luff groove or on the sail's luff tape. If it binds use the tape to note exactly how far up the foil it starts to stick. Then you can go up the mast knowing where to look for a problem. IIRC it sometimes freezes in Kansas, I've seen furlers damaged from water freezing in the luff groove and distorting the foil and or cracking the foil inside the luff groove. Usually happens if the furler is off the boat for winter storage and the luff grooves are up. Hope that's not too many questions! -Randy
Bill- Great info. Is it hard to hoist the sail all the way up or is it easy up to a certain point then gets hard? Have you looked at the swivel to make sure that someone didn't slide it on the foil upside down? (don't laugh, it happens)
Can you make the swivel bind on the foil by hand? Does it have enough play in the bushings to cock on the foil? Are there marks on the foil or inside the swivel from metal to metal contact? Have you tried hoisting just the swivel? Attach the bitter end of the jib halyard and a metal tape measure to the bottom of the swivel (use the sail tack shackle on the bottom of the swivel). Hoist the swivel and tape up the furler to see if/where it binds with no sail in the track. If it doesn't bind without the sail, try putting tension on the swivel from the deck as you hoist to see if you can make it bind. If it still won't bind, the problem is inside the luff groove or on the sail's luff tape. If it binds use the tape to note exactly how far up the foil it starts to stick. Then you can go up the mast knowing where to look for a problem. IIRC it sometimes freezes in Kansas, I've seen furlers damaged from water freezing in the luff groove and distorting the foil and or cracking the foil inside the luff groove. Usually happens if the furler is off the boat for winter storage and the luff grooves are up. Hope that's not too many questions! -Randyuse of halyards will work fine
Bill, I did something similiar with my halyards, so I could go up the mast on a chair to disconnect an unneeded shackle between the forestay and masthead that was causing too much mast rake. What I did was use one halyard (jib) attached to a bow-cleat. The other halyard (spinaker) I wrapped and wrapped and wrapped around the roller-furler extrusion from the top all the way to the bottom, attached it to the drum (in your case use a non-slipping knot around the extrusion) and tightened-up on the halyard to prevent the extrusion/drum from sliding down/off the forestay (Hood 810 LD on a Catalina 30 Tall-rig). I felt quite comfortable at the top of the mast on the chair, knowing that the breaking strength of the low-stretch halyards was much more than the mast or my 200 lb's... So you should be fine for quite awhile doing what you plan on doing... Hope this helps..
Bill, I did something similiar with my halyards, so I could go up the mast on a chair to disconnect an unneeded shackle between the forestay and masthead that was causing too much mast rake. What I did was use one halyard (jib) attached to a bow-cleat. The other halyard (spinaker) I wrapped and wrapped and wrapped around the roller-furler extrusion from the top all the way to the bottom, attached it to the drum (in your case use a non-slipping knot around the extrusion) and tightened-up on the halyard to prevent the extrusion/drum from sliding down/off the forestay (Hood 810 LD on a Catalina 30 Tall-rig). I felt quite comfortable at the top of the mast on the chair, knowing that the breaking strength of the low-stretch halyards was much more than the mast or my 200 lb's... So you should be fine for quite awhile doing what you plan on doing... Hope this helps..
Thanks everybody and Moody
I went out to the boat yesterday and tried to come up with some answers so here goes: The attached picture is looking down into the top of the halyard swivel. Swivel hoists ok until about half way up then gets hard; Not upside down; I can make it bind by hand; Foil track is ok. I tried running a tag line tied to the shackle that attaches the halyard to the swivel. If I pull on the tag line from the mast when the swivel begins to bind, it pulls the swivel back into line and allows it to run up the foil smoothly. I did not have the sail on but come spring I'll try this procedure as a temporary fix until the next time I have a reason to drop the mast. Then I'll get if fixed properly. Thanks for your help
I went out to the boat yesterday and tried to come up with some answers so here goes: The attached picture is looking down into the top of the halyard swivel. Swivel hoists ok until about half way up then gets hard; Not upside down; I can make it bind by hand; Foil track is ok. I tried running a tag line tied to the shackle that attaches the halyard to the swivel. If I pull on the tag line from the mast when the swivel begins to bind, it pulls the swivel back into line and allows it to run up the foil smoothly. I did not have the sail on but come spring I'll try this procedure as a temporary fix until the next time I have a reason to drop the mast. Then I'll get if fixed properly. Thanks for your help
Happy to help
Bill- Glad you got it figured out. Here is a link to Z-Spar furlers. I'll bet if you shot them an email with some close-ups of the swivel they could tell you what part # you need to repair it. Take care -Randy
Bill- Glad you got it figured out. Here is a link to Z-Spar furlers. I'll bet if you shot them an email with some close-ups of the swivel they could tell you what part # you need to repair it. Take care -Randy
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