MacGregorSailors.com

I would like to see some pictures of factory mast raising system. I need to make my own and it would not harm to know what are the baby stay lengths etc

thanks,

-arto

If all you need is the side stay lengths I can give you those.
Stays are 73" I can't post pictures but if you do a picture or a drawing with # arrows I can give you the #'s right now as its all setting in place in the drive.

thanks, this is perfect. 185 cm.
I think the factory cost is quite cheap but the shipping cost was too much for me.
What about the length of the rod where the winch is?

BR,

-arto

72" pole 1-1/2" OD
Winch from TOP to center of winch 40"
Pulley at top. Rope going to the bow with loop to go around cleat.
Keeps pole forward by a very few degrees
How are you going to Fab the ? Yoke/adapter ? at the bottom

thanks a lot. I am going to use the standard connections. What I needed was those part dimensions. One additional question: what is the length of wire/rope you have in the winch approximately?

BR,

-arto

20 feet

Divecoz wrote:72" pole 1-1/2" OD ...

Very important to also note that the pole (called gin pole, or winch pole) must be a fairly heavy wall thickness. The pole takes a great deal of stress, very, very high compression loads. Just guessing, it's at least 3/16" or 1/4" thickness ... at least 5mm, I think.

Edit to add (based on Dive's comment below):
I'm describing the pole for the 26X. If Roger's now using a pole with reduced wall thickness .... I still like my heavy-duty gin pole!

Further, I modified my basic 26X gin pole by adding a light-duty winch. It's attached with U-bolts, as Dive suggests, but my implementation needs improvement. When the mast's weight has me "really cranking" on the winch, it is prone to twist and move from it's mounting on the pole.

Finally, I'm dismayed by my choice of winches. This one was advertised such that I expected it COULD NOT run-free when lowering the mast. Sad to say, I've not discoverd exactly what benefit from flipping that little switch on the winch, but it doesn't have the desired effect. Without adding lots of muscle on the winch handle, the mast would just drop freely. Anyone have a link to the correct winch for preventing this??

I would have expected that as well Frank. But I was amazed when I saw it is not... Ahhhhhh imo it is = to say EMT. But I hazard to guess its some sort of a alloy? I would guess 1 1/2" EMT would work. . . key point, till it failed . That would be a BAD Day even if no one got hurt.
On Edit: ( I like the way FrankC does this in green )
I would use U bolts and NOT drill thru the pole to mount the winch!

Frank,

Sounds like you need the winch off of the new Macgregor 26M pole.

Since I have the 26M mast for my 26X, I bought the 26M raising kit. The winch I have does not have the flip switch like the trailer winch. Instead, it has some sort of braking clutch. When raising the mast, I can just stop and the winch will hold. When lowering, I just crank the handle backward until the clutch releases, then I can lower the mast. When I want to engage it, I just give it a turn forward to engage the brake.

The actual thickness of the gin pole (just measured mine from the M) is 8MM. OD=40 MM, ID= 32 MM

By the way, if anyone needs a mast raising system for an M I have one. Contact me in a PM.

Ray

FWIW the winch manufacturer is Dutton-Lainson, I don't have the model # handy, but remember checking it out for a friend a while ago. Imagine Google should turn up something though.

Regards,
Shane

Trav White wrote:Frank,

Sounds like you need the winch off of the new Macgregor 26M pole.

Since I have the 26M mast for my 26X, I bought the 26M raising kit. The winch I have does not have the flip switch like the trailer winch. Instead, it has some sort of braking clutch. When raising the mast, I can just stop and the winch will hold. When lowering, I just crank the handle backward until the clutch releases, then I can lower the mast. When I want to engage it, I just give it a turn forward to engage the brake.

Thanks Guys. I don't understand its behavior for releasing the clutch. One free-turn backwards and it fully releases? That means you must restrain the entire load just with the winch handle? Sounds as if you can stop and it holds at anytime on the way up, but not as the mast is dropping?

But, it must be one of these ...

Brake Winches

.

This sounds a lot like the winch on my 1976 MAC25. Can't read any markings on it since it was pretty rusted when I got it. It works on a friction clutch from what I understand, and it cranks in both directions. Since I got the boat I have removed it, cleaned and painted it with POR15 to minimize future rusting, and now it is ready to go back into the boat. That is as soon as I can remove and refurbish the swing keel. Speaking of the keel, mine seems like solid cast metal with paint only (badly rusted and covered with sea creatures). I thought I read somewhere that these keels were covered with fiberglass. ???