Hi All -
Savannah is on the hard here in Philadelphia at a yard that does not offer mast removal services. I have two options for getting the mast down. First is to hire a crane and hopefully find an operator familiar with mast removal . . .. Second, is to borrow / rent a cherry picker which is on site next door to the yard and do it myself. Based on the low chance of finding a crane operator who is proficient in mast removal, I am thinking that option #2 may be the better choice.
Can anyone walk me through the mast removal process. How is the mast tied off and from what point? I would likely be using a block and tackle from the cherry picker (it is a big 60' lift) I suppose I would need to be directly over the mast and have at least 7-8' of purchase to clear the coachroof? At what point are the stays removed (i.e, must they be left on until the mast is tied off at the lift or can the mast support itself while the lifting apparatus is rigged)? Is it SOP to have someone in the cabin guiding the base out? How much does the mast weigh?
TIA
Matt
Procedures for pulling mast
Moderator: bobdugan
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fenixrises
- Posts: 450
- Joined: Feb 13th, '05, 08:01
- Location: SunShine S2 11c
- Contact:
Hi Matt,
According to Rig-Rite your mast section weighs almost 4 lbs/ft.
At 50' that's 200 lbs + all the rigging and hardware. So I'd say you ought to expect around 400 lbs.
That's a fair grunt with a tackle. A cherry picker may not have the capacity to lift you and the mast but a relatively small crane should handle it w/o problem. The crane operators I have delt with in the past can usually handle any job that their equipment can. I unstepped my 28 mast with a real big forklift.
Just go slow and easy. If possible have two helpers. Don't forget to disconnect the electrical wiring. Have your saw horses or whatever ready to go.
Since the mast is keel stepped it can be free standing until lifted out. Schedule your crane for a couple hours after you get to the boat. That way you have the time to un-wire and un-rig and generally be prepared.
You will obviously pre-remove the sails and boom. To pull the mast you need a lenght of 1/2"~3/4" line. This needs to be long enough to go round the mast and make to the hook of the lifting device.
Generally this is done as a strop. That is a circular piece of line that is doubled and then wraps around the mast and through itself. The more weight applied to the strop the tighter the loop becomes. This should be applied just below the spreaders or perhaps just below the lower shroud attachment.
If the is a big ball(usually there is) on the enf of the crane's cable you might want to pad it so it doesn't ding or scrap your mast.
Since the mast is keel stepped and the winches are down towards the bottom of the section the mast should remain upright as it is pulled out of the boat. Normally the lift is done on the front side of the mast.
For a deck stepped single spreader mast the spreaders are near the balance point. Then the strop is attached above the spreaders. This means you need to go up the lifting hook or the mast itself (b4 the rigging is undone of course) in a bosun chair to attach the strop. A tag line must be used from the strop down to a halyard winch and cleated off. This keeps the strop from sliding up the mast as it is lifted.
When restepping the mast be sure to put a tag line on the strop so you can pull it loose and back down to the deck.
This is when time spent in the "Thinking Chair" is well spent.
Take care,
Fred
According to Rig-Rite your mast section weighs almost 4 lbs/ft.
At 50' that's 200 lbs + all the rigging and hardware. So I'd say you ought to expect around 400 lbs.
That's a fair grunt with a tackle. A cherry picker may not have the capacity to lift you and the mast but a relatively small crane should handle it w/o problem. The crane operators I have delt with in the past can usually handle any job that their equipment can. I unstepped my 28 mast with a real big forklift.
Just go slow and easy. If possible have two helpers. Don't forget to disconnect the electrical wiring. Have your saw horses or whatever ready to go.
Since the mast is keel stepped it can be free standing until lifted out. Schedule your crane for a couple hours after you get to the boat. That way you have the time to un-wire and un-rig and generally be prepared.
You will obviously pre-remove the sails and boom. To pull the mast you need a lenght of 1/2"~3/4" line. This needs to be long enough to go round the mast and make to the hook of the lifting device.
Generally this is done as a strop. That is a circular piece of line that is doubled and then wraps around the mast and through itself. The more weight applied to the strop the tighter the loop becomes. This should be applied just below the spreaders or perhaps just below the lower shroud attachment.
If the is a big ball(usually there is) on the enf of the crane's cable you might want to pad it so it doesn't ding or scrap your mast.
Since the mast is keel stepped and the winches are down towards the bottom of the section the mast should remain upright as it is pulled out of the boat. Normally the lift is done on the front side of the mast.
For a deck stepped single spreader mast the spreaders are near the balance point. Then the strop is attached above the spreaders. This means you need to go up the lifting hook or the mast itself (b4 the rigging is undone of course) in a bosun chair to attach the strop. A tag line must be used from the strop down to a halyard winch and cleated off. This keeps the strop from sliding up the mast as it is lifted.
When restepping the mast be sure to put a tag line on the strop so you can pull it loose and back down to the deck.
This is when time spent in the "Thinking Chair" is well spent.
Take care,
Fred
You should always have an odd number of holes in your boat!
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renmihalov
- Posts: 28
- Joined: Oct 14th, '07, 22:15
- Location: CD 27, Vieira de Mello, Mayo, MD
mast raising
With the help an 18 foot tall A frame made from 2x4's, I was able to raise the mast on a CD 27 with the help of a few friends. Sea Belle provided the plans for the project, but the link to those plans is gone. After I supplied the pix below, another fellow tried it with his boat in the water and was quite successful.
Here's the photo link from my mast raising. I can probably find the diagram of the a-frame if you think you might need it. But your length mast may push the limits of the project.
http://s280.photobucket.com/albums/kk16 ... C_0006.jpg
Here's the photo link from my mast raising. I can probably find the diagram of the a-frame if you think you might need it. But your length mast may push the limits of the project.
http://s280.photobucket.com/albums/kk16 ... C_0006.jpg
Rennie Mihalovic
Greenbelt, Md
Greenbelt, Md
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renmihalov
- Posts: 28
- Joined: Oct 14th, '07, 22:15
- Location: CD 27, Vieira de Mello, Mayo, MD
mast pulling
although I showed the mast raising, the same a frame and same tackle was used to lower the mast as well. Bringing her down was easier than taking her up.
rennie
rennie
Rennie Mihalovic
Greenbelt, Md
Greenbelt, Md
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kerlandsen
- Posts: 154
- Joined: Sep 10th, '07, 15:06
- Location: Sea Sprite 28, Emma L. #13
Based on your initial post, this sounds like your first time doing this.
It seems to me that you are going to spend a lot of time and energy figuring it out, thus the "thinking chair". What is it that is so important to take the mast down? Is there a particular issue that needs to be attended to.
I was in a similar situation last fall. The truth was I did not want to pay for mast removal. Now over the summer, I have been to top enough times that I have inspected everything, thus allowing me to put off taking the rig down for a few more years.
Is there a place you go and watch someone else do it first? There are so many steps involved and mistakes can be high risk mistakes.
Call me cautious but some of this makes me nervous. The mast on a 33 is lot more structure than a 27.
Kyle
It seems to me that you are going to spend a lot of time and energy figuring it out, thus the "thinking chair". What is it that is so important to take the mast down? Is there a particular issue that needs to be attended to.
I was in a similar situation last fall. The truth was I did not want to pay for mast removal. Now over the summer, I have been to top enough times that I have inspected everything, thus allowing me to put off taking the rig down for a few more years.
Is there a place you go and watch someone else do it first? There are so many steps involved and mistakes can be high risk mistakes.
Call me cautious but some of this makes me nervous. The mast on a 33 is lot more structure than a 27.
Kyle
Mast Party this weekend
We rent a crane and get together to share the cost. We can average 3 boats an hour coming down. Even with the ketches, yawls and double spreaders.
We typically get it under $100.00 per boat. We'll be doing 15 or so boats this Sunday if you'd like to see it done a few times. We're in Atlantic Highlands NJ. One will be a CD 30 and my RH 36 but you'd see quite a variety of sticks come down. The biggest will be a Tartan 4400 tall rig and I believe I have a Pearson Ariel on the list.
GD
We typically get it under $100.00 per boat. We'll be doing 15 or so boats this Sunday if you'd like to see it done a few times. We're in Atlantic Highlands NJ. One will be a CD 30 and my RH 36 but you'd see quite a variety of sticks come down. The biggest will be a Tartan 4400 tall rig and I believe I have a Pearson Ariel on the list.
GD
Mast Party
We start at 8:30 and will go 'til around 1:00.
We are in the Atlantic Highlands Municipal Marina.
1 Simon Lake Dr Atlantic Highlands NJ 07716
We are in the Atlantic Highlands Municipal Marina.
1 Simon Lake Dr Atlantic Highlands NJ 07716
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mahalocd36
- Posts: 591
- Joined: Feb 5th, '05, 10:51
- Location: 1990 CD36 Mahalo #163
- Contact:
Seeing it for yourself is probably best but here's what we've done, if it helps...
We've always been there when our mast is pulled and stepped as we were getting the boat hauled home at it pretty much was a requirement from Brownell to do all the prep work yourself, and you were present for it as we drove our own boat onto the trailer, etc. They had crane trucks, and since we've moved to Maine the boatyard does it with a crane too, using the same procedure.
Below deck: disconnect all wires from the mast. Ours has many wires that come out for all the lights, radar, antennaes, etc. One is accessible in the head, the others through the floor outside the head. If they aren't labelled now is a good time to do that for reconnection later.
On deck: you have to loosen all stays at the turnbuckles. If you had the turnbuckles taped or have cotter pins in them, remove that. Straighten the cotter pins holding the pins in. The boom and all sails are removed. All halyards, lazy jacks, topping lifts, etc tied off in bundles at the mast. Both the boatyard and Brownell don't actually disconnect the stays until they had a strap around the mast, probably for OSHA reasons, but it is pretty stable itself being keel stepped -it's not going to go anywhere. The strap is placed underneath the spreaders. Brownell used to have a guy in a bosuns chair attached to the crane to put the strap where they wanted it. We have furlers on both forestays so it's tough to disconnect them without disconnecting everything else first.
Once the strap is on and everything is disconnected slowly lift the mast. Someone was always below in the head guiding the mast and the wires straight up. Also helpful to have someone on deck dealing with the furlers if you have them, guiding them so they don't scrape along the deck until they are cleared. It has to be pulled straight up until it clears the deck, then gravity takes over depending on how well balanced it is, normally someone guides the bottom of the mast until it's laid where you want it as long as it's in reach of the boat.
Hope this helps.
We've always been there when our mast is pulled and stepped as we were getting the boat hauled home at it pretty much was a requirement from Brownell to do all the prep work yourself, and you were present for it as we drove our own boat onto the trailer, etc. They had crane trucks, and since we've moved to Maine the boatyard does it with a crane too, using the same procedure.
Below deck: disconnect all wires from the mast. Ours has many wires that come out for all the lights, radar, antennaes, etc. One is accessible in the head, the others through the floor outside the head. If they aren't labelled now is a good time to do that for reconnection later.
On deck: you have to loosen all stays at the turnbuckles. If you had the turnbuckles taped or have cotter pins in them, remove that. Straighten the cotter pins holding the pins in. The boom and all sails are removed. All halyards, lazy jacks, topping lifts, etc tied off in bundles at the mast. Both the boatyard and Brownell don't actually disconnect the stays until they had a strap around the mast, probably for OSHA reasons, but it is pretty stable itself being keel stepped -it's not going to go anywhere. The strap is placed underneath the spreaders. Brownell used to have a guy in a bosuns chair attached to the crane to put the strap where they wanted it. We have furlers on both forestays so it's tough to disconnect them without disconnecting everything else first.
Once the strap is on and everything is disconnected slowly lift the mast. Someone was always below in the head guiding the mast and the wires straight up. Also helpful to have someone on deck dealing with the furlers if you have them, guiding them so they don't scrape along the deck until they are cleared. It has to be pulled straight up until it clears the deck, then gravity takes over depending on how well balanced it is, normally someone guides the bottom of the mast until it's laid where you want it as long as it's in reach of the boat.
Hope this helps.
Melissa Abato
www.sailmahalo.com
www.sailmahalo.com
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bottomscraper
- Posts: 1400
- Joined: Feb 5th, '05, 11:08
- Location: Previous Owner of CD36 Mahalo #163 1990
- Contact:
Adding to what Melissa posted you will need some line to bundle up all the stays and keep them out of the way. Yankee Marina that does it now has some padded fabric bags that the gather up all the stays and another for the furlers to keep them out of trouble. The padded bags are probably overkill for one mast but it does work well.
If your turnbuckles haven't been moved in a while some Kroil, Liquid Wrench or PB Blaster might come in handy. Vise Grips are the easy tool for removing cotter pins. Just grab the round head of the cotter pin tightly with the Vise Grips and roll out, no need to straighten the legs. You don't want to reuse the cotter pins anyway.
If your turnbuckles haven't been moved in a while some Kroil, Liquid Wrench or PB Blaster might come in handy. Vise Grips are the easy tool for removing cotter pins. Just grab the round head of the cotter pin tightly with the Vise Grips and roll out, no need to straighten the legs. You don't want to reuse the cotter pins anyway.
Rich Abato
Nordic Tug 34 Tanuki
Previous Owner Of CD36 Mahalo #163
Southern Maine
http://www.sailmahalo.com
Nordic Tug 34 Tanuki
Previous Owner Of CD36 Mahalo #163
Southern Maine
http://www.sailmahalo.com
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CaptJester
- Posts: 5
- Joined: Apr 28th, '08, 17:45
330 mast is heavy!
Hi Matt -
I have a 330 and pull the mast every year. We have a "gin pole" at our club and pull it by hand.
The mast is quite heavy and I have radar on mine. I would say a good 400 lbs. If you have radar, put someone up the mast with the mast lifting harness before you loosen the stays. This also assumes you have already pulled off the sails, boom, and disconnected lazy jacks and staysail topping lift. Procedure to pull is as follows:
Electrical connections disconnected
Tape upper light wire (if you have one) to mast track
Loosen mast boot and expose mast deck collar
Take out mast collar pin
Loosen and take off lower shrouds including staysail headstay
Loosen upper side stays
Loosen backstay
Put on mast lifting harness and tighten with lift to spreaders
Take off side stays
Take off backstay
Take off headstay/roller furler
Slowly lift mast
Ensure upper wire in mast track does not bind on way out
Lift mast out
Collect wooden wedges for springtime
Remove windex and wind instruments from top of mast
Tie up all stays with a sail tie or line.
Stuff all wires into bottom of mast and cover with bucket or bag.
Whala!
I have a 330 and pull the mast every year. We have a "gin pole" at our club and pull it by hand.
The mast is quite heavy and I have radar on mine. I would say a good 400 lbs. If you have radar, put someone up the mast with the mast lifting harness before you loosen the stays. This also assumes you have already pulled off the sails, boom, and disconnected lazy jacks and staysail topping lift. Procedure to pull is as follows:
Electrical connections disconnected
Tape upper light wire (if you have one) to mast track
Loosen mast boot and expose mast deck collar
Take out mast collar pin
Loosen and take off lower shrouds including staysail headstay
Loosen upper side stays
Loosen backstay
Put on mast lifting harness and tighten with lift to spreaders
Take off side stays
Take off backstay
Take off headstay/roller furler
Slowly lift mast
Ensure upper wire in mast track does not bind on way out
Lift mast out
Collect wooden wedges for springtime
Remove windex and wind instruments from top of mast
Tie up all stays with a sail tie or line.
Stuff all wires into bottom of mast and cover with bucket or bag.
Whala!
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Steve Laume
- Posts: 4127
- Joined: Feb 13th, '05, 20:40
- Location: Raven1984 Cape Dory 30C Hull #309Noank, CT
- Contact:
I just had my mast pulled by a yard with a small crane. The procedure was pretty much as previously described. Raven is now home for the winter.
The only thing I question is the weight estimates. I am going to use my ancient backhoe to lower the mast onto a trailer and then set it on hooks under my barn overhang. In preparation for this I decided to test the weight of the mast as I plan to have a friend help me lift it off of the trailer and onto the hooks. With the mast on top of the boat supported by the bow and stern rails, all rigging attached and a radar dome I can easily lift one end. I know I am not lifting 200LBs. My mast is no where near 400LBs.
I hope this helps, Steve.
The only thing I question is the weight estimates. I am going to use my ancient backhoe to lower the mast onto a trailer and then set it on hooks under my barn overhang. In preparation for this I decided to test the weight of the mast as I plan to have a friend help me lift it off of the trailer and onto the hooks. With the mast on top of the boat supported by the bow and stern rails, all rigging attached and a radar dome I can easily lift one end. I know I am not lifting 200LBs. My mast is no where near 400LBs.
I hope this helps, Steve.
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Jim Cornwell
- Posts: 284
- Joined: Feb 2nd, '08, 08:14
- Location: CD 31 #52 "Yankee" Oxford, MD
- Contact:
Picking the Mast
I like the shared crane idea, with an experienced operator. That's the right equipment to use and a smart (and sociable) way to make the process affordable. Whatever you do, don't use a cherry picker (or "high-reach"). These are usually NOT designed to lift loads other than an operator and his small tools. Though the machinery may be powerful enough, the stability of the vehicle on the ground may be insufficient.
We tend to raise and lower masts (ourselves) fairly often up here, and I've also done it quite a bit transitting canals.
I've seen lots of screw-ups (busted spreaders, broken knees), and the key element in all of these has been panic. One person should be in charge, and they should have a clear view of the entire process.
http://www.rigrite.com/Spars/Spartan_Sp ... 20Sections
For the CD 33, the mast section is shown as CD4.5, with a weight of 3.83 lbs/ft. In the case of the CD 30, the section is a CD4, weighing 2.87 lbs/ft.
To these weights, as already noted, you must add the hardware and rigging.
I've seen lots of screw-ups (busted spreaders, broken knees), and the key element in all of these has been panic. One person should be in charge, and they should have a clear view of the entire process.
As Fred noted at the top pf this thread, the actual weight of these mast sections is available at:Steve Laume wrote:The only thing I question is the weight estimates.
http://www.rigrite.com/Spars/Spartan_Sp ... 20Sections
For the CD 33, the mast section is shown as CD4.5, with a weight of 3.83 lbs/ft. In the case of the CD 30, the section is a CD4, weighing 2.87 lbs/ft.
To these weights, as already noted, you must add the hardware and rigging.
Successful Mast Party
My record is 18 boats, on Sunday we did 17. 3 were ketches so we did 20 masts in 5 hours for 4 an hour. The crane guy charged us for one hour of travel or 6 hours. Everybody stays and everybody helps as best they can. The biggest time consumer is the operator moving and putting out the outriggers and getting the boom up and in position. Sometimes we get lucky and can do several lifts from one spot. And with 17 owners plus crew we have enough to send a forward team to help make sure the next boats in line are really ready and to position the strap between the double spreaders. We send a person up on a halyard to do that. It came to $80.00 per boat. Of course going up is a little slower operation. Especially the big ones with a lot of rake in some wind. But we can do 3 or so an hour going up.
Messing about in boats!
Messing about in boats!