DIY Cleats?

[hpeer]

So I busted a cast iron cleat while doing some work on the bow. 14" long. Managed to hit it a glancing blow with a hammer, not real hard, and the horn snapped right off. Kinda scary how easy it broke. They are welded on, steel hull, so I cut it off with a grinder. While doing that I wacked the other horn, just for giggles, and it broke to, but not as easily.

I bought a replacement, came with CHINA stamped on the side.

Looking at buying new SS clets put me into sticker shock.

Someone here mentioned making your own cleats. I've got some 1" heavy wall SS tube, 0.12" sidewall. A cleat would be easy enough to weld up.

My gut says that the 1" heavy wall is plenty good enough. Better than the cast iron. Anyone here have an opinion on this?

[Steve Bean]

Cast iron is generally pretty brittle. Probably would withstand a strain from a line better than a sharp shock as you have found out. Still, it is disconcerting. How about a hammer test of the Chinese cleat?

[Stumble]

Hpeer,

The tube is no where near strong enough. Figure that pipe has a cross sectional area of roughly .177in^2, assuming 316 stainless you are looking at a theoretical max strength of 10,000 lbs, while a standard SS cleat would be more in the 75,000lb range. By the time you figure in a safety margin, and corrosion allowance you would have a SWL of about 1,500lbs, which is easily reached from normal docking, let along storm conditions.

If you want to make your own, start with solid bar stock, not tubing.

[sww914]

I'd be welding up some Samson posts if I had a steel boat. We have a pair bolted on our bow and it sure is nice to know that we have spots for lines that are strong enough to lift the boat.

[Panope]

Here is a shot of one of my DIY aluminum cleats. I beefed up the "vertical" segments with a gusset. The "horns" are hollow but for this application they see small loads. O.D. is about 1.25 inches and wall is about 3/16 inch.

I think your heavy wall (.12") SS will survive the hammer better than the cast cleat. But as mentioned above, use solid stock if you want to pick up the boat with it.

Steve

[hpeer]

Alright, you guys convinced me.

I bought the Vetus 1-1/2" cleats, a bit over 5,000lbs safe working.

Can't find another cleat with any load specs.

Cheapest direct from Vetus, $75 each and shipping.

[s/v Jedi]

Originally Posted by hpeer

Alright, you guys convinced me.

I bought the Vetus 1-1/2" cleats, a bit over 5,000lbs safe working.

Can't find another cleat with any load specs.

Cheapest direct from Vetus, $75 each and shipping.

I saw these pictures of a guy making a core out of steel and use carbon fiber and epoxy around that, looked real racy