26M Rotating Mast

[26'M'ike]

I have found my 26M mast very difficult to rotate. I have to go to the mast when I tack to help it around. Has anyone else experienced this?
The boat is rigged fairly tightly but no very tight.

[richandlori]

My 2004M has the same problem and is caused by the teflon washer being squeezd out and ...well, is gone.

The newer M's have a brass washer to prevent this. I haven't got around to fixing it yet.

Rich

[Catigale]

Ive never seen the rotating mast up close but I bet you could jury rig a wheel bearing onto this which would solve this problem.

[mtc]

I had the same problem with my '05 M with the bronze bushings and found that the assy was loose at the mast base. Removed the base, greased the bushing stack and adjusted the welded bolt/nut assy so there would be no slop as there originally was.

What was happening - the bolt/nut bushing stack is the only thing really supporting the mast. There was too much slop (the nut inside the mast wasn't screwed down enough) so when the mast was heeled; it became 'cocked' on the bolt and not really lying flat on the bushings.

Now the mast is very smooth and rotates freely compared to before. I haven't sailed her with this remedy yet, but will let you know.

The open bearing on the mast base would be great and would only take a refab of the base assy.

I should get into the Mac aftermarket game - we do spend a lot of money on these puppies.

Michael

[26'M'ike]

Thanks guys - good suggestions. It's getting near the end of the season here so I'll wait until I take the mast down to have a good look at the base assembly.

[baldbaby2000]

I've looked into a bearing and decided an appropriate one would be too expensive. I had some trouble with my rotation early on and just kept trying things and now it works well. I hadn't thought about the nut holding the mast at the base not being tight enough. I had the mast base on and off several times when I was designing my internal mast rotation sensor mount for the wind indicator. Perhaps I just happened to get the nut the correct tightness and that's why it works well now. I have the metal washers and also spray moly lube in there occasionally. Originally I thought the rig tension or the aft leading main halyard was the culprit but I have a tight rig now and still have the same halyard setup and it works fine.

[Jim Cate]

I understand that a temporary fix for the rotating mast bearing is to spray it with an appropriate lubricant. - Would a silicon spray be suitable for this purpose?

Jim

[Richard Lisch]

I made a Polypropilene washer out of an empty Adobo spice bottle. It worked fine for the last 6 months. PP is a very tuff but flexible plastic material.

[Sassy Too]

26'M'ike.......I had this problem as well.I went to my local "Ace" hardware store and bought a nylon washer,I think it was 1.250" X 1/16".I can't tell how long it will last, but it is working good now.

[DLT]

I've had good luck with just shooting a little WD-40 into the washers, whenever I drop the mast...

[RandyMoon]

I use Sail-Kote spray.

[baldbaby2000]

I understand that a temporary fix for the rotating mast bearing is to spray it with an appropriate lubricant. - Would a silicon spray be suitable for this purpose?

I've used silicone and it helps, I think the moly lube or something with teflon works better.

BB

[bwytodd]

We now have an all stainless ball bearing (with plastic bearing cage) "thrust bearing" availabe, we have run one on our demo boat for almost a year with no problems and also have one on "La Perla Noir". I will have to admit that they may not last forever, but a failure is a non critical situation (no damage, safety, or significant sailability problems if it fails) and the kit is easy to install, and only $20. The mast rotates like it's on, well, a ball bearing.

[richandlori]

I like this idea. I'll be ordering one of these. I'll report how the install and operation goes.