Mast Stepper

Status
Not open for further replies.
sinnettc

sinnettc

.
May 23, 2007
1,306
Catalina Capri 22 Albany, Oregon
I was trying to figure out why you had that big post in the middle of your deck until I figured out that was the sling in the background! Sling aside, your mast stepper looks pretty good.
 
Sailinnsc

Sailinnsc

.
Feb 11, 2011
51
Catalina 22 Lexington sc
Looks pretty simple ........couple of questions??

how high do you have to lift the mast crutch to allow the stepper cable to have the minimum angle to begin lifting the weight of the mast?

looks like the winch is manual, so r two folks required at least till tension is on the jib halyard and the top of the mast begins to be pulled up?

did the attachment point on the trailer require welding? i do not currently have that skill......

once you start cranking in the winch, is there any lateral stabalization?


thanks........i like the concept and have been wanting to use one since i only sail single......

Fair Winds


Sailinnsc

SK #11659
 
K

Ken Secor

.
Jan 13, 2013
214
Catalina 22 Lake Champlain
The problem never seems to be getting the mast up. But rather keeping it from lateral de-stabilization.

I'm not happy with what I inherited from the PO but it does work. Every time (twice) I didn't use the lateral stabilizer, things got very squirrelly. The three times I did use it, everything went fine.
 
Chris Patterson

Chris Patterson

.
Oct 17, 2011
2,809
Ericson 29 Southport..
I went to an ass load of trouble building a gin pole, that now resides somewhere around the boatyard if someone hasn't scavenged the winch off of it. Turns out that it is WAY simpler to just grasp it like a man, and stand the silly thing up. I doubt that the whole pole is more than 75 pounds.
 
A

alabamaranger

.
Sep 5, 2012
78
Macgregor 26D Pell City AL
how high do you have to lift the mast crutch to allow the stepper cable to have the minimum angle to begin lifting the weight of the mast? I have the mast extender in the back - raised to the highest position and start cranking. I have the Mast Stepper high enough not to put anything in a bind.

looks like the winch is manual, so r two folks required at least till tension is on the jib halyard and the top of the mast begins to be pulled up? Yes, it requires 2. All I do is just hold on to it as it's winched up. Once winch - it's taken loose and the front stay is attached.

did the attachment point on the trailer require welding? i do not currently have that skill...... Last year it was not welded since the boat was not on the trailer to test fit. So I made it so it could be bolted on. After I loaded the boat on the trailer and tested it. I welded it this year. Harbor Freight sells a 110V wire (mig) welder for $100. I used it for many years for home projects.

once you start cranking in the winch, is there any lateral stabalization? The rear and the middle stays are connected so the mask will not go sideways. Plus I hold on to it just in case.

I never tried it by myself. I'm sure you could find someone to help at the marina.


t
 
A

alabamaranger

.
Sep 5, 2012
78
Macgregor 26D Pell City AL
Chris Patterson said:
I went to an ass load of trouble building a gin pole, that now resides somewhere around the boatyard if someone hasn't scavenged the winch off of it. Turns out that it is WAY simpler to just grasp it like a man, and stand the silly thing up. I doubt that the whole pole is more than 75 pounds.
Click to expand

Yea - I did that and ended up cracking my hatch cover with the mast. So now I have a easy way that is more secure.
 
Chris Patterson

Chris Patterson

.
Oct 17, 2011
2,809
Ericson 29 Southport..
Ranger, I'm not trying to stray your topic, but POSSIBLY keeping with the O.P., is that little squirt-gun welder any real use much? I'd thought about outfitting my truck with one, as my high-freq. tig requires a trailer to move it.

Sure would be nice to have a "spot welder" in the field.
 
allen-deckard

allen-deckard

.
Aug 11, 2011
759
catalina 22 Islamorada
If your talking about his 110 mig I love mine easiest and quickest thing to get out and do spot welds and supprisingly will penetrate thicker than a person would expect.

If that's not what ur talking about sorry and please ignore me I didn't mean to interject.
 
StanFM

StanFM

.
Jun 26, 2012
276
S2 7.3 Lake Pleasant, AZ
Cool! Does it come with the flux capacitor already installed?

Stan
 
T

txtowman

.
Mar 8, 2009
530
Catalina 22 Kemah,Texas
I use the boat trailer winch to raise my mast. I made a pulley that sits on top of the bow pulpit. no gin pole needed. I put 1/4 amsteel rope on it last summer.

I have pad eyes to install on the cabin top on each side, and will make cables with turnbuckles to stop lateral movement of the mast during raising and lowering. Right now I use a couple of ropes, but they stretches and don't work too good.
I have only had help raising the mast twice in the 7 years I have had my boat. It's just easier to do it by myself, when I have help something gets broken.

I carry My Hobart Handler 140 welder in the back seat of My truck and it has saved me many times, and some others too.
 
Harleyreef

Harleyreef

.
Jul 27, 2010
69
Catalina 30 MKII Morgan City, LA
txtowman said:
I have pad eyes to install on the cabin top on each side, and will make cables with turnbuckles to stop lateral movement of the mast during raising and lowering. Right now I use a couple of ropes, but they stretches and don't work too good.
Click to expand
I have the pad eyes on my cabin top also. Rather than fight the cables and turnbuckles, I use a couple of ratchet straps. Quick, easy, and no stretch. I easily raise and lower my mast with the gin pole and main sheet. I added snap shackles to connect and disconnect it quickly also.
 
K

Ken Secor

.
Jan 13, 2013
214
Catalina 22 Lake Champlain
Every suggestion regarding mast stepping and how each of us does it would be awesome to have in sequenced pics!

Ranger's pics are the perfect example.

I'm still trying to minimize the time it takes to step and unstep, and resolved the mast induced damage to the hatch when an "oops" occurs, but have two major problems that gets little attention:

1. The balance point of the mast being beyond reach at the moment of pin to tabernacle yoke engagement (and more important, at dis-engagement when preparing to trailer home) - making stepping difficult and

2. The nature and design of the gudgeon engaged crutch, that would allow # 1 above to be easier than it seems to be now.

At the moment, I am stuck with the PO's system. That being - this:
 

Attachments

A

alabamaranger

.
Sep 5, 2012
78
Macgregor 26D Pell City AL
Ken Secor said:
I'm still trying to minimize the time it takes to step and unstep, and resolved the mast induced damage to the hatch when an "oops" occurs, but have two major problems that gets little attention:
Click to expand
That was the main reason. I had 2 OOPS with the hatch. So I fixed the problem.
 
K

Ken Secor

.
Jan 13, 2013
214
Catalina 22 Lake Champlain
The gin pole is not the issue.

It's the prevention of lateral motion so the neighbor's car doesn't eat the spreader ;)
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Top Bottom