Spreader broken at the mast bracket

[GreenLake]

My spreader broke at the mast bracket. Where the holes are for the pin. In other words, the last .25" brok off.

I'm tempted to try a repair rather than a replacement.

For a repair, I would use 2-3" of round aluminum stock, sized to fit inside the spreader tube. I'd drill that for the pin, and epoxy it into the end of the spreader, where it's broken.

My thinking is: as the load on that joint is mostly in-line with the spreader, that should hold, and may even make the inboard end of the repaired spreader stronger than the original.

To avoid a hard spot, I was planning to drill into the end of the solid stock so one end of it would be like a tube, leading to more gradual transfer of loads.

Anyone out there see a reason why this shouldn't work?

[algonquin]

Looks like you have a solution that will work. I would personally prefer finding someone that welds aluminum rather than using the epoxy method. Also it is very tricky to drill a hole that will run straight in a piece of solid aluminum stock with general home tools. Brad

[GreenLake]

The alternative would be a fiberglass plug...

I've actually repaired a number of usually "non-repairable" items with leftover laminating epoxy and glass. But in this case, the dimensions aren't favorable.

However, from these experiments, I'm convinced that I can get the necessary strength of bond. (Something that I could never achieve with the $5.00 epoxy syringes from the hardware store, by the way).

Your warning about the hole drilling is appreciated. Time for a drill press?

[shawn]

The replacement spreaders are about $15, is it worth the time and effort and also the possible loss of the mast? check Dwyermast or D R Marine.

[ChrisB]

Long before I discovered D&R Marine on the internet, I made a set of spreaders out of solid, round aluminum stock I purchased from a hardware store. They were on the boat about 14 years before they too failured at the mast bracket pin. Out of convenience, I opted for the heavy duty spreaders from D&R this time but I see no reason why your repair would not work.

[PG]

I had a similar incident last week. Got flustered at the boat launch when a motorboater pulled up on the water and the guy yells "Are you going to be long?", in a tone of voice that suggested "hurry up stupid sailboat owner". Like an idiot I hurried to raise the mast and had a line snag behind my spreader, snaping it off right at the hole where it connects to the mast bracket. I used duct tape to hold it in place, punched a hole to re-insert the clevis pin, then wrapped it all in duct tape once again. It held fine for the entire weekend and that included some 20 mph winds. But not wanting to tempt fate, I ordered a new spreader from D&R. By the time you factor in shipping it's almost $25. Seems like a lot to spend on such a basic part, but it won't break the bank and saves a lot of hassle and uncertainty. For the record, another motor boater who came by later was very nice and offered to help.

[GreenLake]

My jury rig repair used rigging tape, with a hook from a bungee cord as a backup (fixed with electrical tape).

The loads on spreaders are mostly in-line, except during setup. As long as the jury-rig prevents the remains of the spreader from jumping off the pin, it does its job, and it doesn't need to hold the full compression force on the spreader.

That's why I'm contemplating repair - cost is a minor issue, but timing is everything, with the last good days going fast....

[algonquin]

Your warning about the hole drilling is appreciated. Time for a drill press?

Drill press with a vise is the best bet. Also using a sharp bit which is obvious but a few drops of oil on the bit every minute or so helps the drill to stay sharp and the stock remain cool. Drill at a medium speed. Brad

[GreenLake]

Some results.

Drilling worked fine. But the pins are so thick that any solid stock that fits inside the tubes has not much left around the hole.

Also, the tubes are neither straight nor round at this point.

That would leave the option of totally re-placing the spreader bars - but I can't source the right material for a substitute.

So, I may end up replacing them with regular spares after all, and in that case, of course, both.

[Alan]

I'm beginning to get the idea that the heavy-duty spreaders from D&R, bought just as insurance (keeping the perfectly good standard ones as backups) was not such a bad investment.

[seandwyer]

As far as the spreaders from D&R let me just say that I think they are worth it. About three weeks ago I was attempting to raise the mast by myself during a really windy morning. I had my sister and her husband drive about an hour to meet me and although it was too windy for me to feel safe (20 to 25) I was determined to go out - maybe just use the jib to go down wind for a while then motor back. Anyway, just as I was raising the mast a really big gust came up - really strong. It sort of got me off my bearings and the mast began to tilt over to the port side - in a panic I pushed hard to center the mast and raise it - all the while wondering how the wind was exerting such force on the mast as to make me struggle so much with it. Well, it wasn't the wind - (that was a coincidence that probably did make me begin to go sideways), the the starboard stay had slipped through the spreader a lot somehow and there wasn't enough slack to raise the mast. I looked up and saw the spreader dangling from the stay, still pinned to the bracket. In my panic I had broken every rivet and completely detached the bracket from the mast - but in all that stress, the spreader wasn't even bent - not even a little. So then I got to drive 45 minutes to a hardware store for a rivet gun - but oh well.

On another note, a friend of mine has some homemade spreaders that work great on his DS1. I've made a few spreaders out of aluminum stock but the stuff at home depot is just too soft. He made his out of stainless, has had them for years and they work great.

Greenlake, you might try as he did - go to a metal scrap yard and see what kind of stainless stock they have. You may find exactly the diameter you need - then its just a mater of drilling a hole for the pin - at the other end I used a 4" grinder cutting wheel and it seems to be the perfect thickness to accept the stay. I think stainless sounds great if you are going to make them - but if not, the ones from D&R are definitely worth it.

[GreenLake]

I always thought that the spreaders weren't designed very well. That said. mine look like they are original, which meant that they lasted nearly 50 years.

I've decided to replace the spreaders like for like, mainly because I can't easily get hold of the right stock - otherwise the SS versions would be a nice way to go. Making them would not be all that hard.

What I don't want to do is switch to a different kind of bracket, because I don't think that I have the right kind of rivets and riveting tool for this kind of application.

However, I'll be more careful about where they are held to the stays. At the ends of the spreaders there's a small hole drilled at 90° to the slots, through which a wire is threaded that's wound around the stays and intended to keep the spreader up.

The damage usually comes on raising the mast - that's when the spreaders can be bent (mine went for the same reason as Sean described, but it happened before the mast even went up).

[Alan]

Just as a general reference (maybe useful in this or similar situations), the website www.onlinemetals.com has stainless in many shapes and lengths, along with every other metal product I can think of that might be useful to someone working on a Daysailer.

Full disclosure: I bought a piece of stainless from them, the correct product showed up on time, but I have no financial or other connection etc.

[shawn]

As aggravating as it can be when a spreader breaks, and in the posts so far you can see the many, I would much rather have a spreader break then do damage to the mast. Designing something so that it will never break means that something else is going to take the load. Just another thing to consider.....

[Alan]

Yeah, I've been wondering whether the standard chainplates are strong enough for the heavy-duty shrouds, and if I install stronger chainplates, should I install bigger retainers for the chainplates, and on it goes...