Ultra Anchors ?

[motion30]

I really like to see a picture of a failed Stainless anchor My experience is that stainless steel is much tougher then many think

[DaveC]

Originally Posted by craigsmith

Definitely an issue with an austenitic grade like 316L, all the more so given the low yield point (I would suggest lower than many perfectly foreseeable real world scenarios in the form of the Ultra's shank).

But you should be specific about the steel, because to knock all stainless anchors is misleading.

Well, I'm no metal expert but I believe all 300 series stainless steels are austenitic. That's one of the reasons why they resist corrosion well.

Can you give me some examples of non-300 series stainless steel anchors?

Also, I'm not saying that a stainless steel anchor is necessarily bad. I'm just saying that given the commonly known fact that stainless can stress and then break without warning, I would not trust it as much as a galvanized anchor or other mild steel anchor. They don't look as pretty, but they definitely will bend alot more before they break. And in a bad anchorage with 4 foot swells over the bow for hours on end, the last thing I want to worry about is whether or not the anchor flukes or shaft are flexing too much with the pulls.

[GordMay]

Originally Posted by DaveC

Well, I'm no metal expert but I believe all 300 series stainless steels are austenitic. That's one of the reasons why they resist corrosion well...

Indeed.
Stainless steels are generally classified as ferritic, martensitic, austenitic, or duplex (austenitic and ferritic). Generally, 200 and 300 series alloys are mostly austenitic, and 400 series alloys are ferritic or martensitic, but exceptions exist.
Types 302, 303, 304, 316 and 316L are all austenitic.

[CarlF]

Grand. An anchor argument. Been a long time

I also have never seen any anchor "break". I've seen bad welds fail. I've seen CQR pins fail. I've seen "rusted out", I've seen "bent". the Turkish made stainless Ultra seems potentially better in the "real world" failures over a Chinese made galvanized Rocna. Without visiting the actual fabricator, I'd give the nod to Turkish quality control and metallurgy over Chinese any day.

And tensile strength probably doesn't matter since all anchors depend on the literal "weak link" of the much smaller cross section of the most rusted link in your chain.

As to "the Ultra must be junk at that low price" argument - The Manson Supreme 60lb stainless is $2340 (US) on Defender. The Ultra 60lb list price is $2333 according to the sheet I got at the boat show. There was a 10% or so boat show discount but Defender would also be 5-10% cheaper "on sale". Seems pretty close to me. It sure seems interesting that a top New Zealand anchor maker makes a stainless anchor for the same price as that cheap dangerous Turkish knockoff.


Carl

[Christian Van H]

Originally Posted by CarlF

the Turkish made stainless Ultra seems potentially better in the "real world" failures over a Chinese made galvanized Rocna. Without visiting the actual fabricator, I'd give the nod to Turkish quality control and metallurgy over Chinese any day.

No he didn't! Did he just go there Girlfriend? AWE, yes he did! SNAP!

[RaySea Lady]

I had started that thread with the description from GMAC last October

Rocna Doesn't Fit...Do I Go with Ultra or Delta?

I just posted this on that thread.

Actually got to try it !
Hi again,

Got my boat in the water a couple of weeks ago and got to try out my new Ultra 77lb anchor twice so far.

I am glad to report that the only inconvenience so far is that it takes me 10 minutes to wash off all the dirt that it brings up on it... as well as 3 foot long grass hanging from it.

It does grab almost instantly as advertised. I am very happy with it.

I will post some pics of the installation this week.

thanks again for all your help, This was definitely the right decision for me.