Hello
I arrived at our Mac yesterday (which is afloat on a swinging mooring on the Solent) to find that the pin/bolt holding the boom to the fitting was missing --- presumably it had sheared and the bits rolled off the deck.
I replaced the bolt with a temporary ill fitting one and relieved strain on the boom as best I could.
I will replace the bolt with a properly sized one in the next day or so. My question is whether the fitting itself will need to be replaced and, if so, how I might go about doing so. Please see pic
Any help/advice would be much appreciated!
Thanks so much
Stu
Stuart McWilliam
IMG_8292
Hi Stu
It doesn't look like there's any further damage, the bracket doesn't show signs of undue strain, and the linking bar is pretty tough anyway. I would suspect it just came unscrewed rather than sheared.
Mac's reliance on Nylok nuts to not come loose on bolts that are not fastened tight is a bit questionable in engineering terms. Nyloks are also only supposed to be used once! On swivel bolts in critical situations like this, use of a second lock nut is a good idea.
Replace the bolt with one long enough to take two nuts, then use a plain nut followed by a (new!) Nylok, locked against each other.
It helps to replace bolts with American UNC rather than metric - reduces the number of spanner sizes you have to keep handy. I find eBay is the easiest place to get them, plenty of choice of small quantities at low prices.
Rick Jones (Treasurer), former 26X & 19 owner, Isle of Wight
Thanks, Rick
I'm mightily relieved.
Silly question, probably, but should the fitting be that shape? Has it distorted?
Thanks
Stu
You can cut down the number of spanners carried by simply carrying two adjustable scanners. One Metric and one UNC. That way you’re completely covered no matter which nut you’re faced with.
Leigh Ross
Crieff
0777 558-4561
1990 MacGregor 26S Ptarmigan
1992 MacGregor 26S Pelican
The top and bottom plates should ideally be parallel, but they are made sloping slightly downwards. It's possible the bolt has been over-tightened in the past. It's intended to have quite a bit of slack in use, to ensure the boom movement is unrestricted.
Rick Jones (Treasurer), former 26X & 19 owner, Isle of Wight
Good point about the Nylock nuts Rick thanks.
I was checking my rudder mountings after a recent strenuous trip and noticed that the port rudder was flopping around a bit.
On checking them both I could see it was only the port mounting that was affected.
I had thought that the mountings had bent (as apparently they are designed to do) but, on closer examination, it turned out that, yes you guessed it, the Nylock nut had loosened.
The fault, as suggested, was mine as I re-used it when I refurbished the rudder system over the winter.
Live and learn, thanks again Rick!
MacGregor 26M 2009 - Sky's the Limit - Suzuki DF50
I inspect and certify loads of equipment held together using Nylocs. The manufacturers say single use to cover themselves but in practice they are good for quite a few mating cycles before the nylon loses its grip on the thread. The quality does vary from different manufacturers. You should feel the extra friction as you put the nut on and the nylon engages. You soon get to notice when they have lost their bite but err on the cautious side, after all Nylocs cost pennies and fixing the damage when they come apart....££££££.
I do like using captive pin shackles in place of clevis pins and bolts that act simply as pivot pins. No more lost nuts and dropped pins as you can tie the D part of the shackle to prevent its loss.
Does anyone have a better design of gooseneck on their boom?
I've used some that have a 180 degree twist to release arrangement (no good if, like me, you have roller reefing on the main)
Dave.
Dave Newton Sailbadthesinner
The best thing i ever bought for my 2001 mac 26 x was a Barton boom strut as these boats don't have a topping lift - the boom can crash down onto the deck.- this strut prevents this . but get one for a smaller boat than a 26 footer as it will be too heavy.
My PO installed a topping lift. I highly recommend one for a wide number of reasons, not the least is to get the boom out of the way when moored.
David Claassen
"Logan's Run"
2006 26M
I concur with David, to me a topping lift is essential and easily installed. You can hang the top block from the backstay fitting, and you only need 6mm line. Very economical!
Rick Jones (Treasurer), former 26X & 19 owner, Isle of Wight
I've enclosed the drawings for the boom to mast fittings. This is for a 26M so if you have a 26X they may not be the same. When i heard they were stopping the manufacture of the MAcgregor i downloaded all of the drawings from their website.
If you want me to upload them all on the website somewhere then let me know
Regards
Tim
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