Fortress Anchors

[Penelope]

Hi I wanted to share this with all of you. I bought a fortress FX-55 sitew unseen I was told it was in new condition. When I picked it up I noticed the Shank was bent about 7/8ths of an inch I took it anyway. When I got home to Penelope I inspected the Anchor much closer and found the stock had a slight bend and there was corrosion on the clips. So I called fortress and asked them what I should do they said throw the parts away we will send you new ones. And they did new Shank, Stock, 2 clips with bolts and nuts. My cost was shipping! $26.89 Now this is excellent customer service in my book. So being the Curious type I thought I would straighten the shank just to see if I could. I did well almost I got it within a 1/4 inch. I probably could of got it right on but Im going to saw it in half anyway so there was no point in it. what i found totaly amazing is how much stress i had to apply to the shank to bend it back. I have uploaded these photos for you to see . The welding table is 5/8ths thick steel plate 5x10ft with heavy duty under carraige the table also has a 350# shot peen head sitting on it . I clamped the Fortress FX-55 shank to the table using a heavy duty clamp. i hooked a over head crane to the eye in the shank. I figured this was the best way to take the bend out ,as it was also put in by a side load. I ended up lifting the end of the table off the the floor and created a jerking motion by toogling the hoist button to get the bend out. the flex to 45 in didnt do anything the shank just went back to where it was. I have added these attachments for your viewing. Keep in mind the anchor had to hold in the Bottom to get Bent and have a huge side load. all the best, Capt. Peter

[scook1]

That is great customer service! Thanks for the pics.
Spencer

[ActiveCaptain]

I had a very similar experience. I was leaving the St. Augustine Municipal Marina. I had come in for my first time ever in slack tide and didn't pay much attention to the current flow (a mistake I will never, ever forget). I backed out of the slip and was immediately shoved sideways against the row of slips I had just exited. It was a complete out-of-control situation and all I could imagine was coming beam against all of the waiting anchors of the other boats. In a moment of clarity, I edged forward to bring my nose against the large concrete piling on the corner of my slip. That put my Fortress 55 right against the hard surface.

Using the anchor (in a non-anchoring situation) I was able to pivot my 75,000 boat against the front of the anchor and get out of there. The result bent the shank a significant amount (2+ inches).

A couple of days later I had the boat hauled on the Dania Canal near Ft. Lauderdale. A local friend came and saw my bent anchor. He said that Fortress was just a few miles away. Perfect. We lowered the anchor into his truck and off we went.

One look at the anchor and they brought me out a new shank and hardware. I asked how much it would be and they said "nothing." I told them it was my fault but they said that it shouldn't ever bend, ever, and wouldn't take any money.

I will buy anything Fortress makes. What an outstanding company.

Wouldn't it be nice if these weren't unusual stories?

[David M]

Its great when a company stands behind their product, even if the damage is clearly from abuse.

[btrayfors]

Fortress is a great company. Great products. Lots of stories like these!

Aluminum is VERY strong. I once tried to straighten a bend in a 1" square aluminum stanchion on a houseboat. One of those hollow, welded ones.

After trying everything I could think of, including sledgehammer, Spanish windlass, etc., etc., I got two heavy steel L sections. Put 'em each side of the bend, and applied pressure using very large C-clamps.

Guess what? THE STEEL L-sections bent. The aluminum did not.

That made me a believer :-)

Bill

[endoftheroad]

very interesting,
thanks for posting.

[Jmolan]

Thanks for taking the time to post that. Right on! You could get Fortress to put that on their website.
I have the biggest Guardian made (125). It is taken apart and stowed with the chain and rode in my fwd. bilge, ready to deploy for storm conditions. I traded my radar for it.....