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The wench on my mast raising pole failed. I didn't get a manual for the brake wench that is on the mast raising pole. Is there a trick to reversing the direction on the wench when one is ready to lower the mast? The wench works fine in raising the mast but when I reverse the direction of the handle in an attempt to lower the mast, the bolt or crank piece that the crank handle is attached to starts to come loose rather than lower the mast.

Thanks for any advice. (I may have to ask for a new kit through a warranty claim with my dealer.)

Chip S.

Hi Chip....I have installed an M style mast system to my 26x. In my experience most of these winches have a three position lever that puts in in gear clockwise, neutral, or in-gear reverse. Check out your unit while just applying a pull on the line while playing with the lever...a lug flips into the gear engaging the unit...total replacements are commonly available for less than $40. Try Harbor Frieght...your boat shop, or on occasion even Walmart has them. Good Luck Jack

The M winch..at least the one on our boat...will rotate up and down with no lever. You just turn it each way whether you want to raise it or lower it.

Never took it apart or had a problem with the winch. so i can't help there..but be careful if you look for a replacement...

Shouldn't it still be under warranty...can your dealer help? Or the factory ...(sorry..couldn't help myself...lol)

Paul

Thanks. Glad I could embarrass myself with the mis-spelling of winch. Must have been wishful thinking on my part to spell it with an "e".

I have asked my dealer to send me a new mast raising kit. The wife is now refusing to go out with me until I have made sure that there are no more leaks, no broken mast raising winches, and that everything else works properly. Looks like I am on my own until I can prove that I can sail smoothly without her. Great...

There have been a number of posts regarding mast "rake" which appears to mean "bend." My mast seems to be quite bent/bowed to the rear upon being raised. I'm not even sure that it is going all of the way up. Should I move all of my side stays (the shrouds?) 1/8 inch up by going one hole up on all of my chain plates? When the mast is all the way up and the mast crutch plate is properly seated, is it obvious? I am thinking that my side stays (the ones directly hooked up to the mast and the ones on the spreader) are over-tensioned so that I can't even raise my mast all of the way. I noticed in other posts the mentioning of a "loos gauge." Is that a tool that I should buy to measure the tension on the wires and what should the tension be on a 26M? Thanks for any advice and I apologize for my gross ignorance on such basic matters.

Chip S.

Chip wrote: The wife is now refusing to go out with me until I have made sure that there are no more leaks, no broken mast raising winches, and that everything else works properly.

Chip S.

Soooooooooooooo

You are never going to take the boat out again I take it

hull, get that in writing ASAP! and make her promise

Seriously, my wife and I plan on taking the ASA Classes 101 and 103. As a new sailor, it is just not that bad of an idea


Rich

If yours is somehow broken, this is the wench I use my 26X mast raising system:

TRAILERWINCH (PERSONAL WATERCRAFT) West Marine #305054 $34.99
(this one had the reversible locking mechanism)

no wanton woman here - move along.

Chip,
The mast position (degree of lean) on a Mac should be between 3 and 6 degrees. The M is toward the 3 degree mark which is almost straight up. The X is toward the 6 degree mark which will give the mast a noticible rearward lean. The headstay should be tight but able to be pinned to the fitting on the bow. If the boat rounds up in moderate wind (turns into the breeze) then you can shorten the headstay a bit. The mast itself on the X should "bow" or bend a bit in the center about 1" to 2" forward of center. When tightening the shrouds (side stays) and stays be very careful to never cause the center of the mast to bend to the rear of center.

Chip wrote:Glad I could embarrass myself with the mis-spelling of winch...The wife is now refusing to go out with me

Good thing you corrected the spelling before you told us about the wife. Otherwise we'd be wondering which was the larger problem, the wife or "The wench on the mast raising pole [which] failed", and wondering why the heck you were complaining.

[Fill in hyour own wife/wench joke here] Yeehaw.

I was already considering asking you to post a picture of the mast raising wench.

Hey, if I can get a wench involved with my mast raising pole, you won't hear any complaining about it.

Dealer is going to ask MacGregor to send me a new winch. I got a new table in short order, so I'm hopeful about the winch. Otherwise, I'll get the West Marine version, thanks.

Rich, I took the ASA 101 course on a Catalina 27 in Clearwater and it was a great learning experience. My wife did it, too, and that made me think that it was going to be smooth sailing thereafter (with my wife)! It's just that the whole leaking thing and my recent struggles with basics such as raising and lowering the mast resurrected her acquaphobia. I'll put my Dr. Phil hat on and smooth talk her into some not so smooth sailing, I'm sure.
Unfortunately for me, I am a kayaker, diver, and new sailor, and I have an acquaphobic wife.

Tom, thanks for the info regarding mast bending issues. I must have my sidestays too tight (or maybe a bend in the shackle which I didn't look for this weekend when I was practicing raising and lowering the mast).

Chip S.

My wench has always been able to raise my mast with very little effort. In fact, sometimes I only have to look at the wench and it's almost like it raises itself. And although maintenance on the wench is sometimes a bit expensive, and it does require periodic attention or it gets a bit noisy, overall I'm quite pleased with my investment. Sadly, I don't think West Marine sells that model anymore, and I'd have to go to Czechoslovakia to get a replacement for my current one. And, admittedly, spare parts are nearly nonexistant too, but I'm reluctant to trade up to another model since I've become extremely comfortable with the controls....

The only drawback is that my wench didn't come with an operator's manual. Couldn't find one anywhere, and it took bloody ages to work out how to get it to do what I wanted. All sorted now though, and the wench is quite pleasing indeed.

One question though - has anyone ever got theirs to work silently?

Oh, and as to your question, Chip:

Is there a trick to reversing the direction on the wench ...?

Never, never, NEVER try to reverse the direction of your wench. You can get hurt.... badly. Let it reverse by itself. It's much safer for you, and the wench won't make nearly as much noise, either.

...wench must be periodicially cleaned and relubricated, but some require this way more frequently than others...

You guys are too funny!

Chip Hindes wrote:...wench must be periodicially cleaned and relubricated, but some require this way more frequently than others...

Sorry to hear that, Mr. Hindes. Mine appears to be a self-cleaning model, and it arrived with a nice, pleasantly scented permanent lubrication from the factory.

kmclemore wrote:

Chip Hindes wrote:...wench must be periodicially cleaned and relubricated, but some require this way more frequently than others...

Sorry to hear that, Mr. Hindes. Mine appears to be a self-cleaning model, and it arrived with a nice, pleasantly scented permanent lubrication from the factory.

Could you guys elaborate. I'm getting all confused.