[Rhodes22-list] failure of mast step

[Lowe, Rob]

Richard,
And as Mary Lou pointed out, they are designed to break away if needed.  I pulled my mast step off from my standard main a couple of times when I made mistakes raising the mast.  Caulk and new screws fixed it right back.  You really want the mast step to pop rather than the cabin top to pop. - rob


-----Original Message-----
From: rhodes22-list-bounces at rhodes22.org [mailto:rhodes22-list-bounces at rhodes22.org] On Behalf Of Mary Lou Troy
Sent: Wednesday, March 21, 2012 10:46 AM
To: The Rhodes 22 Email List
Subject: Re: [Rhodes22-list] failure of mast step

Hi Richard,
The only failure we've experienced in 15 years of raising and lowering the mast is when we had an improper set-up for raising and lowering - failure to push the poptop slider closed which pried up the tabernacle. When that happened the set-up worked as it was supposed to - it pulled the screws up out of the cabin top. They didn't break but if I recall correctly they bent and we replaced them
- probably with stainless but I don't remember. As Rummy says the repair itself was simple: a bit of epoxy and new screws. May have been some caulk involved. The only time those screws take any load is during mast raising and lowering.

Best,
Mary Lou



At 02:14 PM 3/20/2012, you wrote:
>I use Stan's mast crane system to raise and lower my imf mast. It works 
>well but I see that the part that takes the greatest stress is the mast 
>step or tabernacle. It's fixed to the cabin top by screws which seem to 
>be a non stainless steel metal. These have been out in the weather for 
>quite some time and are subject to corrosion. Has anyone had these 
>screws fail which would allow the mast to fall?
>Would it be a big project to replace them with stainless steel? 
>Another possible problem is that the cabin top portion that the screws 
>go into has deteriorated from water leaking into the area although that 
>doesn't seem to be a problem in my boat. Any thoughts on this?
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