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thinwater · 21-03-2011, 09:51

Quote:

Originally Posted by FrankZ

Since the mud palms seem so important, and highly suggested, why are the anchors just not made that way? A bolt on solution can't be as good as one forged.

Is it merely storage, or are there times having the palms on the seafloor a bad idea?

The original reasoning was that the palms could limit burrying. Their purpose was that they aided setting in soft mud.

In mud, they don't restrict burrying. No problem.

In hard sand, the holding power is remarkable without the anchor burrying very far, and it turns out they don't really restrict burrying. My understanding is that they are now standard.

Fortress can answer, but since the fabrications are extruded, bolting is the best attachment method. Welding or forging would be worse because of heat effects. There is really no strain on the palms and I doubt they are subject to damage. They arn't structural, anyway.

One "weakness" of this anchor is that it can generate enormous holding forces with light materials. Thus, it can be damaged in certain tests, but generally under conditions where any equivallent mass anchor would have all ready dragged. Personally, I like it as a kedge (easy to carry) and when twin anchoring (2 anchors at ~ 120 degree spread to limit swing or face a fast wind shift). The primarry danger is bending the shank when pulled hard from a 90 degree angle; my applications do not expose that weakness and thus, it excells.

thinwater · 21-03-2011, 09:57

Does anyone actually take a Fortress apart for storage? They store flat and I have always been able to find a good place under or behind something. Perhaps if I wanted to carry a very large huricane anchor, but for every other purpose....

Just wondered.

Therapy · 21-03-2011, 10:09

Quote:

Originally Posted by thinwater

Does anyone actually take a Fortress apart for storage? They store flat and I have always been able to find a good place under or behind something. Perhaps if I wanted to carry a very large huricane anchor, but for every other purpose....

Just wondered.

I have this huge Danforth and even though I have enough space to store it I would like to have a lighter anchor that would take up less space. It is really heavy to haul out of there.

Fortress · 21-03-2011, 10:22

Quote:

Originally Posted by FrankZ

Since the mud palms seem so important, and highly suggested, why are the anchors just not made that way? A bolt on solution can't be as good as one forged.

Is it merely storage, or are there times having the palms on the seafloor a bad idea?

FrankZ,

I have been told by production that it is not possible to manufacture an extrusion with that particular shape. We recommend permanently installing the Mud Palms, which are included inside the box with every Fortress anchor, as they will help the anchor set faster in any type of sea bottom.

Thinwater, well written & much appreciated.

I have attached an image of the anchor broken down and inside the Stowaway Bag, which includes the wrenches needed to quickly assemble & disassemble the anchor.

Thanks,
Brian

Kettlewell · 22-03-2011, 17:38

Just as a point of reference, I bought a couple of FX-23s back before they came with mud palms--I think they might have been an extra cost accessory back then. I have used the FX-23s hundreds of times in all sorts of mud and sand, and only very rarely have not been able to get a strong set. I tried the mud angle on the anchor a couple of times, but it never seemed to make much difference that I could detect without a strain gauge and a tug boat to pull on the darn thing. The only places I had trouble getting a bite were a couple of spots in the Chesapeake (also found in Cartagena, Colombia) that have this strange gelatinous mud that floats the anchor on the surface. In those spots I recommend putting over your heaviest anchor and letting it sink at least overnight before you back down on it. The upper six or eight feet of the goo just won't provide any grip and you need to get the anchor down to where things are firmer. Maybe the mud palms would help there. And maybe the mud angle would work there to your advantage, but I find that it is just too much trouble to change things for those very rare cases where the regular angle doesn't work.

Fortress · 23-03-2011, 08:51

Kettlewell,

As a performance note to all, any pivoting fluke type anchor (Danforth, Fortress, Hooker) can run into setting issues in soft mud when you are attempting to set it by using a normal scope, ex. 5:1.

What can happen in soft mud with a long scope is that the weight of the chain can sink the shank below the flukes, so the flukes stick up and not down into the bottom.

The Mud Palms should help prevent this from occurring, but as an added safety measure, set the anchor initially at a shorter scope in soft mud, ex. 2:1 or 3:1, which will keep the shank up and give the flukes a chance to dig in first.

Once the anchor sets, let out more scope to 5:1 or greater and then "power set" the anchor as always to make sure that it is well buried and on its way to China.

I have attached an image below which might help illustrate this better.

Regards,
Brian