Masthead pin is Frozen

[Joe]

Went up the mast a few months ago to remove old forestay. The pin was frozen in to the masthead unit. I sprayed some liquid wrench on, tried the vice grips... then retreated for fear of busting the whole thing. A week or so later, after carefully planning what tools and methods might be useful on my second assault, I went up again. Still no luck removing the pin. I even took a drifter (punch-like tool) to try to tap it loose. So... I talked to a few riggers and they told me that this is a very, very common problem with older Catalin 27's. Removing the frozen pin was one of their most disliked jobs, which translates to expensive. All the riggers recommended putting a toggle between the pin and the terminal. For the cost of having the rigger repair this, I could probably drop the mast and replace the entire masthead unit! So here is my plea:Question 1: Has anyone had this problem?Question 2: How did you solve it?

 

[Jeff Church C320 #545]

Heat

I wouldn't try this without confirming it with someone more knowledgeable than me, but couldn't you try heating the pin with a propane torch? It doesn't need to get red hot, just needs to expand and contract slightly to cause the the dissimilar metals to separate from eachother.?????

 

[Dave Slepoy]

stuck pin

At my pervious job we use bearing pullers to remove stuck pins in alum frames in office equipment. If you have room put a bearing pulling tool ( they come in different sizes ) with the center screw arm against the bottom of the pin and the clamps on the masthead assy,( we are going to push the pin not pull the the masthead assy ) tighten fairly good; but do not try to force the pin out, once there is tension on the pin rap the end of the SCREW ARM with a hammer ( tap-tap) be forceful but not enough to knock it to the next boat. The shock going through the screw arm has almost always gotten the pins out of the alum frames. Don'y forget to tie the clamp to a string in case it comes off you will not have a dent in your deck. Good Luck

 

[Joe]

Thanks guys...

Two excellent suggestions I hadn't thought of. I'll give it a try.