I was given a Harken roler furler for my jib. It is too long for my Cat 22, does anyone know if it can be made shorter or if I can shorten it myself to fit? If so, how?
Roller Furler Modification
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Check the model on Harken's website. You should be able to access the complete manual for your unit. If the luff is a one piece unit, you might be able to order a unit to fit your rig. If it is segmented you might only need to emove a segment or shorten one to make it fit. Great furler.
A lot of furlers made today use foil segments with the top foil being cut to length for any particular boat. You may just have to recut the top foil section. As previously stated, the manual should have all the info you need to do this.
Most furlers foils can be cut to size. On my Schaeffer, the top foil is specific and the others below need to be adjusted. Call the people at Harken, they will tell you what to do. The problem if you cant cut the top foil, will be taking apart the existing foils. That may be tough.
Thanks to all for the advise. I will check the website and see what I can do. I have all winter to play with it.
Happy Holidays to all of you.
Happy Holidays to all of you.
You will have to have a rigger shorten the wire and swage on another terminal fitting anyway. So, you may as well take pictures and model numbers and go talk to one. Many sailmakers also do rigging work so start with them.
The top of the foil on my 1980 Harken rig had a plastic collar to prevent chafe on halyards. They might have changed the design later but mine also had an extra length swage terminal so that the roller could turn on the shank instead of the wire.
My plastic collar fractured after nearly 3 decades in the sun and the little tab sticking out acted like a winch pawl on the spinnaker halyard. I could unroll the sail but not roll it up. I had to take it down the old fashioned way. There is no way to put a new collar on without cutting off the lower terminal and replacing it with a longer one. This is a special Harken part and I don't know about availability. I simply wrapped the top of the foil in a lamination of strips of cloth cut from an old hankerchief and epoxy which I then sanded smooth. Worked great all season and looked fine in the fall.
A rigger who went up the mast when I lost a halyard told me that the top of the foil is supposed to turn on the wire and not the terminal shank as I had it. I looked in the Harken instructions and it clearly said otherwise. Mine seems to work slightly better adjusted for the foil to turn on the shank instead of the wire but the riggers clearly have had good success doing it the other way.
If money is tight and you need several inches of length reduction, you probably could cut off the top terminal, cut the foil with a hacksaw, and smooth it up. Then put on a Norseman terminal leaving a couple inches between it and the foils. Fiinish by adding a collar like I did.
This would all require careful measurement and assumes that your model is the same as mine. Norseman terminals are expensive and you may not save all that much DIY.
If someone gave it to you, it's probably old enough that this would be a good time to replace the forestay. This is a pretty critical piece of gear as the mast comes down around your ears if it breaks. Unless you know enough that you didn't need to post this inquiry, taking it to a rigger would probably be the best course.
The top of the foil on my 1980 Harken rig had a plastic collar to prevent chafe on halyards. They might have changed the design later but mine also had an extra length swage terminal so that the roller could turn on the shank instead of the wire.
My plastic collar fractured after nearly 3 decades in the sun and the little tab sticking out acted like a winch pawl on the spinnaker halyard. I could unroll the sail but not roll it up. I had to take it down the old fashioned way. There is no way to put a new collar on without cutting off the lower terminal and replacing it with a longer one. This is a special Harken part and I don't know about availability. I simply wrapped the top of the foil in a lamination of strips of cloth cut from an old hankerchief and epoxy which I then sanded smooth. Worked great all season and looked fine in the fall.
A rigger who went up the mast when I lost a halyard told me that the top of the foil is supposed to turn on the wire and not the terminal shank as I had it. I looked in the Harken instructions and it clearly said otherwise. Mine seems to work slightly better adjusted for the foil to turn on the shank instead of the wire but the riggers clearly have had good success doing it the other way.
If money is tight and you need several inches of length reduction, you probably could cut off the top terminal, cut the foil with a hacksaw, and smooth it up. Then put on a Norseman terminal leaving a couple inches between it and the foils. Fiinish by adding a collar like I did.
This would all require careful measurement and assumes that your model is the same as mine. Norseman terminals are expensive and you may not save all that much DIY.
If someone gave it to you, it's probably old enough that this would be a good time to replace the forestay. This is a pretty critical piece of gear as the mast comes down around your ears if it breaks. Unless you know enough that you didn't need to post this inquiry, taking it to a rigger would probably be the best course.
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