Bamar In-Mast Furling Halyard Replacement

[sailcrazy]

HELP!! Does anyone have any experience with a Bamar in-mast mainsail furling rig? Mine is on a Taswell 43, 22 years old and the wire halyard has never been changed(and it's raw)! I'm doing a complete re-rig, the mast is out of the boat, we're trying to get rid of the wire halyards, and I can not find any way to get access to the upper swivel head or the halyard attach point---except to cut a new "doorway" in the mast!!
Any advise/experineces/and suggestions.....for changing the halyard, maintenance to do, how to dis-assemble the system, and/or things to look for/fix on the rig will be very much appreciated. Somehow cutting a chunk out of the mast just doesn't seem to be a good plan! Thanks in advance.

[davewtsnape]

Hi. Did you get a reply to this? is it possible without taking the mast down? Cheers

[sailcrazy]

Never heard a word, so I took a Dremel Tool, cut the opening larger (just above the boom attach point, and had a new (larger) cover plate made. With the added access, I gained access to the halyard attach point, and was able to replace the wire halyard with a dynema one.....so far its worked perfectly. Incidently, a couple of years after I had the halyard issue, we had the bottom bearing in the upper swivel freeze up, and let go.....the whole M/S came down! Because we had the added access at the base, we were able to disconnect the mandrel from the drive mechanism, pull the mandrel out far enough to remove the top swivel, and work on the bearing. The rigger (in Athens, Greece) we found and used was able to find a perfect replacement bearing, rebuilt th entire top swivel, put it all back together, and it's worked perfectly ever since.

[neilpride]

Wich mast Brand? there is a slot window in the bottom , close to the bottom drum? its a selden mast? my 2 cents , best bet approach could be if you dont have slots in the mast is to disconect the mast head and pull the furler swivel from there.....

[sailcrazy]

The whole thread and question revolved around a Bamar Mast and in-mast furler. The Selden brand was never a part of this discussion! And after some 28+years of being assembled and in the salt water environment, disassembly is a great idea.....but it doesn't always go as planned. Marry that with no directions/instructions/skematics from the manufacturer, and...well, you do what you need to do to make it work!

[davewtsnape]

Originally Posted by davewtsnape

Hi. Did you get a reply to this? is it possible without taking the mast down? Cheers

Thanks for the response. Maybe I'll do it next year

[Junica-Om]

Originally Posted by sailcrazy

Never heard a word, so I took a Dremel Tool, cut the opening larger (just above the boom attach point, and had a new (larger) cover plate made. With the added access, I gained access to the halyard attach point, and was able to replace the wire halyard with a dynema one.....so far its worked perfectly. Incidently, a couple of years after I had the halyard issue, we had the bottom bearing in the upper swivel freeze up, and let go.....the whole M/S came down! Because we had the added access at the base, we were able to disconnect the mandrel from the drive mechanism, pull the mandrel out far enough to remove the top swivel, and work on the bearing. The rigger (in Athens, Greece) we found and used was able to find a perfect replacement bearing, rebuilt th entire top swivel, put it all back together, and it's worked perfectly ever since.

Hi,
I seem to have the same system and also asking to BAMAR for some information, however as i read your message i believe i will not have an answer soon.
Is it possible to send me a picture of what you have done to renew your halyard.
A good idea to replace it for a denyma brand, as its lasting longer (I HOPE) so will try to do the same here on my moody 42.
Not knowing the exact type i have i believe we more or less have the same brand and type.. as i read something about 110???
Hope you can help me out

[sailcrazy]

Junico-Om...We're in MN now, and the boat is in Puerto Rico, so I can't get you any pics. But what I wrote previously is what we did. I took an angle grinder and dremel tool, cut out a piece out of the bottom of the mast (where the sail foot comes out), dressed it down, painted it, and had a new Al cover plate made at a local machine shop-we were in Phuket, Thailand at the time. After the cover was made, and the compound curves were bent and the fit was "close", I marked where the old threaded holes were (to reuse them) and added a couple more (with threads) to hold the new cover in place. With that piece removed, I had (reletively) easy access to the halyard,and replaced it with 6mm dynema-it's worked perfectly ever since! Bamar was no help whatsoever....I even found an Italian-speaker in Phuket, and had him call Bamar. They had a nice conversation, but no help, guidance, pics, or advice was offered-they claimed they no longer make those items, all the literature has been thrown out, and "nobody knew nothing". So I winged it, made it up as I went, and it worked. Another option might be to remove the masthead, remove the sheeves and axles, and gain access that way-but I was not sure I could gain full access that way so I chose the way I went. Hope this helps.

[Junica-Om]

Hi SailCrazy,
Thanks for the message , sorry it took me so long but i found out ourtlook have a separate mail place .... so found your reply so late.
I do have seen my haliard inside the mast, and with some long nose pliers perhaps i can manage to catch it, if not i will also go for a alteration of the opening...

Its a bad service of Bamar as they not keep just some items in stock, a simple copy would help a lot.

Still, because the system is working still i see no need to rep[lace it.
And i also will change to 6 or 8 mm dynema rope for longer use.
Again.. thansk for your reply.

[sailcrazy]

I would absolutely agree...."it it ain't broke, don't fix it!". We did have one issue with our Bamar system-after several years of periodic issues with pulling the m/s out (never a problem rolling it back in, only coming out), the upper (top) bearing froze. We had the m/s about half out, and trying to either get the sail all the way out, or back in, the bearing case unscrewed itself and the bottom half dropped down-along with the sail! We found a loft in Athens, Greece, that did a super job of getting the mandrel off the bottom drive, getting both halves off the mandrel and repaired, and found new bearings to put in. The system has worked smoothly and perfectly ever since. But without the extra space and access my "expanded" access hole offered, just above the gooseneck, I don't think they would have ever gotten it apart to repair. Good luck.

[Junica-Om]

Until now i did not have any issues with the system (i think type 110) only the last time i took off the sails for storrage i noticed that indeed the lower bearing was some what hard toturn, still no space in between where water can get in, or it does not have any tolerance what so ever so i expect some old grease...
Its an idea to see if i can take some parts apart like you told (take off the lower part where the rope is mounted) and see for some new grwace/inspection... better safe as sorry later as iḿ a single sailor ..
Thanks again for the advice and mentioning.
And indeed, when its not broken doen fix... the boat is a Moody 42 from '78 and almost origional even with an old Neco auto pilot and...works well.

Regards