Spreader Socket Broken

[Bogle]

I cannot find the newsletter with the drawing of this casting. Can someone please fax it to me at (718) 797-1983?

RigRite has several different ones that may fit/have been used by Pearson. My commander hull is #92. If someone that has confirmed bolt hole dimensions on a boat close to mine and would be kind enough to let me know, I would appreciate it.

(It seems the yard moved La Saladita, Commander #92, and upon raising her with the crane she leaned forward and the port spreader socket disentegrated. Foreman said there was nothing that hit it, but I wonder. There was a lot of freezing and thawing this winter, and these castings are 38 years old. Time to replace both sockets, and maybe all the standing rigging.

At least I will have to have the mast down and take the stays to a rigger for a close inspection.

So, I followed a prior thread and found that RigRite carries these. Any other ideas? I have not located my Winter 2002 newsletter which is supposed to have a drawing of this casting, but I'll keep looking.
Regards to all,
David)

[marymandara]

a number of tritons have lost spreader bases recently, it seems that the castings just sort of give it up eventually. james baldwin just lost one on a triton he was delivering for someone else, i understand.

probably best to replace these. tips, too...although i've never heard of it happening yet, i have seen a lot of chalky corrosion on old aluminum tips where the shrouds contact, and worry what would happen if the tip turned to cookie crumbs. losing the tip, base or tube hard on the wind in 20 kt. or better does not appeal to me as the results cannot be expected to differ from parting a capshroud.

FWIW, i'm replacing the bases, tubes and tips on our triton, and am looking into machining the bases and tips from billet stock.

best,
dave
(maybe with my using m's login, i'll just sign
Dude Looks Like A Lady)

[Bogle]

Thanks again, to Bill who faxed me the diagram. I copied the dimensions in a larger faxable size and shot it over to RigRite. They have quoted me and I have ordered one. I thought about getting two, but at $180 ea, I thought I would have a good look at the remaining one and only if it shows cracks would I replace it.

This will give me a chance to have the mast down and take the rigging over to a local rigger for a complementary inspection. At least he offered me that a few years ago. So much for early-season launching.

[glissando]

$180 each! Ouch.

I replaced the two spreader bases on my Triton this year and paid $106 for both pieces. My old ones had hairline cracks that were only visible after close inspection.

The new ones were stock items from somewhere; I ordered them through a rigger I have used in the past. It's amazing how much tighter the spreaders fit in the new bases than the old.

Tim
Triton 381

[Bogle]

Well, Tim, I would love to know the name of the rigger so we could find out where he got them. I may need another one, but I will not know until I take a closer look at it.

Tim, do you know if these are identical for the Tritons and Ariel/Commanders? I know from the Manual drawing of the mast that it, at least, is the same extrusion for both rigs. If the spreaders were the same, I would think they would use the same. RigRite wanted a drawing with bolt holes dimensioned, etc., as if there were several that it might be...

These are not in stock anymore at RigRite. Fabrication may be what I am up against.

[dasein668]

I also got two new sockets at the same time as Tim. (I remembered them as being 35 each... but I haven't looked at the bill recently) Anyway, our rigger was Maloney Marine Rigging out of West Southport, Maine:

Maloney Marine Riggine, Inc
Boothbay Region Boatyard
PO Box 364
West Southport, ME 04576
207-633-6788

As I recall, when he went searching for the bases he found them in Massachusettes. They weren't actually in stock, as I recall, but the company had the molds to cast new ones.

Good luck!

And as Dave said: everyone should inspect your castings very carefully next time the rig is down. 40 years is a long time for a cheap aluminum casting! I suspect many boats are past the useful life expectancy on these parts.

[glissando]

The spreader bases were $49.40 each, plus tax and shipping for a total of $106.99 delivered. This was for the raw casting with no holes drilled. Drilling the holes to match is easy.

It's a 3" x 6" spreader base. Sorry--I don't recall the diameter of the spreader tube...perhaps 1-1/4"? Don't quote me.

Give Jay Maloney a call at the number above in Nathan's email.

Tim

[Bogle]

Thanks to both of you. I have contacted Jay Maloney and requested a quote. I like your idea of drilling the holes myself. Maybe I'll order another one from them if they get these cheaper.

I have not measured my mast holes. I ordered based on the diagram from our fellow Ariel/Commander owner's newsletter.

Rig Rite has shipped my order already. Hope it fits.

Thanks again. David - commander #92, La Saladita

[Bogle]

So, the other source for these (that Jay Maloney uses) is D and R Marine. I have ordered two (2) from Rudy over there. Jay did not really need to broker this deal, so he was kind enough to just give me his source. He has had a hard time working with RigRite, and since their price is so high, I wonder if I will ever try again.

They do have some gooseneck parts that I need, but that will be another thread.

[mrgnstrn]

since someone else obviously has replaced these buggers recently, i have questions for you:

how are these mounted to the mast?
are the bolts tapped and screwed directly into the mast (each spreader base mounted indepently)?
or is there a through bolt, and the port and starboard are bolted to each other through the mast (clamped on each side basically)?

many thanks,

[dasein668]

Mine were (and the new ones are) drilled and tapped. Which, apparently, was stronger than the casting, fwiw...

[Bogle]

Spreader bases are through bolted with no bushings inside the mast. Original upper bolt was a 1/2" x 4.5" and the lower bolt was 1/2" x 5". Lower bolt also holds the lower shroud tangs.

I found that with the new cast bases, which are slightly thicker, that I needed a longer bolt for the lower, so I used 5.5" length for that. Another interesting thing about the existing lower bolt on #92 was that it was slightly bent!

[mrgnstrn]

so one is through bolted and one is tapped into the mast....
darn, i was hoping to avoid a trip over there just to find out.

[dasein668]

Ok, ok... it was late, there was a screaming baby in the background... my brains had apparently turned to cottage cheese. Fear not. My bases are, indeed, through bolted.

[commanderpete]

My spreader bracket had been giving me some concern for a while now. You might be able to see the thin vertical crack above the bolt hole.

I felt a bit less nervous after seeing that two of our boats had their spreaders banged off during hurricanes without losing the rig.