Schafer Outrageous Pricing
- Thread starter kloudie1
- Start date
My boat is just about all Harken hardware: blocks, winches, clutches, etc. They are not perfect, of course, but no one is. I have found my Harken hardware to be really good, and Harken customer support to be nothing short of superb. They have even consulted with me for Harken things I have purchased used, and have one more than one occasion sent me things for free. I had experts consulting on and explaining product specifics, like strength and application. I'm sold.I ponder that Harken subsidies them secretly so that Harken can maintain higher prices, albeit really driven by their significant R&D budget.
You didn't read my original post well - I said a couple had broken, but thought to replace them all.Ha, ha! Wow, you have a dozen of those stanchion blocks? That seems like a lot. I. think I might have - four? - on a 38 foot boat. You said "a couple" in your post. For a dozen, on a 40' boat, you'd have to have stanchions spaced maybe 2' apart from cockpit to bow! Wow.
For me, I now have more more time than money, so I wouldn't count time spent searching for stuff.
I have two roller furlers as I run a cutter rig. Rethink your math. I have a roller furler line on both starboard and port sides. While I have a 41 foot boat, I also have a bowsprit, so that adds distance for the roller furler lines to run. So you have 4 on your 38 foot boat. I have a 41 foot boat with a bit more than a 4 foot bowsprit. Think about it...
If Bacons were closer to me, I'd go hang out there instead of seeing a movie...
The other day I was there with my brother and it was his first time there. He walked in and said, "OMG, this place is REALLY dangerous. Look out for your wallet...." We were there getting the blocks for my staysail. The staff there is very knowledgeable and helpful. I first went in with my calipers, rule, and the two blocks I needed to replace. I first went through their used equipment section without success. One of the guys working there saw me and asked if I needed help, I did. He then spent probably a good hour, or maybe longer, going through all their display parts, (I'd exhausted the used section) then through all the catalogs. The catalogs yielded nothing. Then we found one of the display blocks and could measure various bits and finally found a solution. This is not the first time Bacons has "done me right"....dj
Because I'm not just coastal cruising or day sailing. The ones that hadn't failed were still exposed to the same time/conditions as the ones that had. Clearly the reason for their failure was UV damage to the polymer pulley. So how much longer do the others have before they also fail? Now, if I'm 4 days off shore and the stink is coming up, do I really want to worry about my roller furling systems?
dj
I thought about that. But the originals were riveted together, not bolted, and they had delrin bearings. Not something I'm going to reproduce. The entire block was not manufactured with remanufacturing in mind.... They are quite nice blocks actually. If I hadn't had another more economical option, I would have bought them again without hesitation.
By the way, Starboard is HDPE. Now I don't know if the Starboard manufacturers put UV resistant filler in their product, but HDPE is not a UV resistant material. Without knowing their formulation, I will use starboard only in locations that are out of direct sunlight. But that's me... For parts that are going to be exposed to full sunlight, I'll use UV resistant delrin.
dj
Interesting point. I have some Starboard exposed to the sun for over 20 years, still looks OK!
Starboard has UV stabilizers:
UV STABILIZER AND COLOR STABILITY OF KING STARBOARD®
Nice! That's useful.Interesting point. I have some Starboard exposed to the sun for over 20 years, still looks OK!
Starboard has UV stabilizers:
UV STABILIZER AND COLOR STABILITY OF KING STARBOARD®
I do note that they say 8 to 10 years for mechanical properties. That's pretty good. I still prefer to use an inherently more UV stable material than HDPE. But this is very good to know.
Is King Starboard the only manufacturer of Starboard?
dj
There's another similar product called Marine Board.
Marine Board & King Starboard | Interstate Plastics
Solutions for marine applications including cabinets, walkways, and other marine paneling and flooring.
www.interstateplastics.com
They use plastic with excellent UV resistance but I agree, they are very overpriced and half of their blocks dont even use ball bearings. You can get another name brand block with bearings for less