mast track cleaning

[NiceBeny]

Hello, to help with raising and lowering my main sail and without going a loft what is the best way to clean and lube your track? is the spray lube the best or is there something that might last longer? thank you

 

[justsomeguy]

Folks around here seem to like the McLube, but I've found regular old silicon spray works just fine, too.
There are a few posts that mention how to build a halyard-drawn sprayer of lubricant using some sail slugs and bits of plywood or what have you. A search of the archives might turn up the examples.
Attach a messenger line to the bottom of your sprayer system, haul aloft and spritz away.

 

[jssailem]

Also have seen folks saturate a rag with lube. Attach it to the mast track and haul it up and down a few times adding lube to the rag as needed. Be sure to attach the messenger recommended by JSG. You do not want to haul the rag up and have no way to pull it back down.

 

[Justin_NSA]

What do you use to CLEAN the groove before you lube it? My mast is down.

 

[jssailem]

Justin. When I had my mast down I washed the track with soap water and a brush. I then wiped and dried the track. Then I took a rag sprayed with McLube and wiped the track down. I where there was dirt I kept wiping it till it was clean and lubed. Roughly 90 minutes of work on my 42 foot mast.

 

[Gunni]

I just had an opportunity spend a few days sailing a Jeanneau 37 that had a main sail set up pretty much like my boat with ONE exception; the sail slugs were fitted directly into the mast extrusion groove. The sail bound going up and down the mast. Nothing was easy about hoists and drops. My boat has a Tides Marine, Sail Track. For my money the single most cost effective thing you can do to improve the ease of hoisting and dropping your sail while eliminating virtually all need to clean and lube anything is the Sail Track system. It is a remarkably simple design improvement.

 

[Ron20324]

It has been a while, but Roger Long had a diagram of a gadget to lube the tracks. Maybe someone has it handy?

 

[jssailem]

Found it but Rogers web page is not working.

I wanted to pass on a trick I tried and one that works very well./quote]​

This works great after the mast is up:​

http://www.rogerlongboats.com/TrackLube.htm​

 

[jssailem]

Here is another idea from Maine Sail

Hi All,

I wanted to pass on a trick I tried and one that works very well.

Lube the mast track with McLube SailKote and a shot gun cleaning kit. The difference will be AMAZING. I also did a t-shaped spar track, of the guy next to me, and the gun cleaner conformed to that slot perfectly too..

Compass Marine How To (LINK)

My Forum - Musings With Maine Sail (LINK)

Bed-It Butyl Tape (LINK)

© Images In Posts Property of Compass Marine
Maine Sail, May 23, 2009Report
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[DrJudyB]

Take a look at this page:

How to clean and lube the mast track without going aloft