Mast Base Ball Bearing 26M BWY vs ease of rotation

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Hugh
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Mast Base Ball Bearing 26M BWY vs ease of rotation

Post by Hugh »

I'm finding the mast on our 2012 :macm: seems to be harder to rotate this year.
I have no idea about stay tension and the brief searching I've done mentions this may have something to do with ease of rotation.
I've only just put my mast up and down using the tension set by the dealer.
BWY has a BB kit. I'm assuming it's worth the install?
Comments?

Hugh
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Re: Mast Base Ball Bearing 26M BWY vs ease of rotation

Post by jimbo »

Kinda of related but I was worried about this when I tensioned the upper and lower shrouds using a loos gauge to measured tension after I fitted a Johnston lever to the forestay. The Johnson lever just allows the forestay to be connected with higher than normal shroud tension. (Normal for me was pretty loose shrouds this being the only, way I could pin the forestay before adding the lever). I was able to set the shrouds to something like 300 and 250lb (strum tight) and the mast still rotates under this tension. This tension would have been impossible without the Johnson leaver on the forestay. So maybe tension is the factor affecting you? Is the mast excessively bowed side to side in any manner? If it is then it will tend to pop from side to side and not rotate smoothly. This was the case for me before setting up the above tensions
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Re: Mast Base Ball Bearing 26M BWY vs ease of rotation

Post by yukonbob »

Check the above, and if you have the stock plastic plates, shoot some sailkote or other dry lube in between them. The BWY bearings do work well, but you will have to look at replacing them every other year or so as they break down rather quickly.
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Re: Mast Base Ball Bearing 26M BWY vs ease of rotation

Post by raycarlson »

Don't leave anything adjusted the way the dealer left it. Redo everything yourself so you know it's right!!! Ball bearing kit is not worth the money. Since you need to lower the mast once a year anyway to adjust the pivot bolt which works loose just add some large stainless fender washers and grease them with the blue boat trailer wheel bearing grease. and readjust bolt tension. your mast will glide back and forth like it's on ice if you do this every spring.
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Re: Mast Base Ball Bearing 26M BWY vs ease of rotation

Post by Highlander »

the B/B mast kit is just junk I have one & removed it I now use it on my masthead backstay swivel for now as its taking a beating there with not much pressure on it @ times, now looking for something like a cone / cup roller bearing set-up but a one piece bearing for both top & bottom of mast swivels when ever i get the time !

J 8)
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Re: Mast Base Ball Bearing 26M BWY vs ease of rotation

Post by Russ »

Buy the BWY bearings.

I did....4 years ago after being annoyed at constantly greasing and adjusting the swivel bolt. My mast would rotate for 2 weeks and then bind up and I would need to drop the mast, re-grease, adjust, pray. Saw BWY had bearing, bought them and have had no trouble ever since. Mast rotates with total ease.

Earlier versions reported failures. I suppose they weren't proper rating or something. Mine have been fine. I may have adjusted them once since. May have lubed them at the time. Otherwise they work well. If your pivot bolt is tight, it should not need adjustment. Mine hasn't.

You can fashion your own out of thrust bearings if you are on a budget. Go to your local hardware store. Nothing special there. Factory should have installed bearings from start.

Image
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Re: Mast Base Ball Bearing 26M BWY vs ease of rotation

Post by mastreb »

I've done the ball bearings and then gone back to washers. On my boat, the bearings were crushed after about two years. With proper rig tension, I find the bronze washers work just fine and with a little WD-40 once in a while, they stay clean and clear.
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Re: Mast Base Ball Bearing 26M BWY vs ease of rotation

Post by Hardcrab »

Consider using any good anti seize compound for the mast washer lube.

A little messy if you over lube, but that stuff is perfect for the job at hand.

Lasts for multi seasons.
Third seasonn for me and still showing no need to re-lube yet.
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Re: Mast Base Ball Bearing 26M BWY vs ease of rotation

Post by u12fly »

The bolt holding the mastbase cap to the mastbase hinge plate should not be rotating on its own. When you put the assemble together the welded threaded 1/2 stud needs to be totally clean, i.e. no grease. Also the nyloc nut should be in good condition or it must be replaced. If you are still having issues with the nut rotating on its own, I would recommend replacing the nyloc nut with a stainless steel lock nut (typically called expending hex lock nut).

Chris.
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Re: Mast Base Ball Bearing 26M BWY vs ease of rotation

Post by Globalhobo »

Reviving an old thread because I can't find the answer I'm looking for.
Can someone tell me how tight the nyloc nut should be on the mast base bolt? Too tight and the mast will have problems rotating, I assume, and too loose the mast will hit the plate and bounce around? We have the 3 bronze washers, not the bearing, btw.

TIA,
Leah
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Re: Mast Base Ball Bearing 26M BWY vs ease of rotation

Post by Highlander »

Globalhobo wrote:Reviving an old thread because I can't find the answer I'm looking for.
Can someone tell me how tight the nyloc nut should be on the mast base bolt? Too tight and the mast will have problems rotating, I assume, and too loose the mast will hit the plate and bounce around? We have the 3 bronze washers, not the bearing, btw.

TIA,
Leah
U need to put blue loc-tite thread locker on both the nylon lock nut & bolt threads & some lube on the three bronze washers then snug up & back off 1/2 to 3/4 of a turn so as there is a little bit of play to allow mast rotation , the blue loc-tite helps stop the nut from loosing over time due to vibration & mast rotation check it routinely when unstepping the mast so as u now it needs attention before requiring restepping

Hope this helps u out

J 8)
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Re: Mast Base Ball Bearing 26M BWY vs ease of rotation

Post by Russ »

I couldn't get my mast to rotate with the bronze washers. Some have. I couldn't. The Thrust bearings, like those sold by BWY, made a HUGE difference for me. I've had them for years and work great. Highly recommend bearings over washers.

--Russ
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Re: Mast Base Ball Bearing 26M BWY vs ease of rotation

Post by Globalhobo »

Highlander wrote:[

U need to put blue loc-tite thread locker on both the nylon lock nut & bolt threads & some lube on the three bronze washers then snug up & back off 1/2 to 3/4 of a turn so as there is a little bit of play to allow mast rotation , the blue loc-tite helps stop the nut from loosing over time due to vibration & mast rotation check it routinely when unstepping the mast so as u now it needs attention before requiring restepping

Hope this helps u out

J 8)
Immensely! Thank you...
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Re: Mast Base Ball Bearing 26M BWY vs ease of rotation

Post by Globalhobo »

RussMT wrote:I couldn't get my mast to rotate with the bronze washers. Some have. I couldn't. The Thrust bearings, like those sold by BWY, made a HUGE difference for me. I've had them for years and work great. Highly recommend bearings over washers.

--Russ
Thanks Russ - you're always so helpful. We went back and forth about it - I've seen 50/50 pro's and cons with both washers vs bearings on this site. Figured we would try out the washers first and then try the bearings. Our boat will be rigged 24/7 if we can ever get the damn thing done. We thought we were finally ready and raised the mast today and tried to tune the rigging. Today I was ready to throw in the towel and turn her into a pinata. :( Tomorrow is a new day so we'll hope for better luck.

Leah
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Re: Mast Base Ball Bearing 26M BWY vs ease of rotation

Post by Highlander »

Globalhobo wrote:
RussMT wrote:I couldn't get my mast to rotate with the bronze washers. Some have. I couldn't. The Thrust bearings, like those sold by BWY, made a HUGE difference for me. I've had them for years and work great. Highly recommend bearings over washers.

--Russ
Thanks Russ - you're always so helpful. We went back and forth about it - I've seen 50/50 pro's and cons with both washers vs bearings on this site. Figured we would try out the washers first and then try the bearings. Our boat will be rigged 24/7 if we can ever get the damn thing done. We thought we were finally ready and raised the mast today and tried to tune the rigging. Today I was ready to throw in the towel and turn her into a pinata. :( Tomorrow is a new day so we'll hope for better luck.

Leah
On another note after tacking if ur mast does not rotate around just grab the center of the mainsheet lines between the traveler & the boom & give them a good pull aft that will usually do the trick & around she,ll come :wink:

J 8)
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