"Hood" Sea Furl bearing replacement

[Stede]

Hi everyone. I would like to get your input concerning an issue I'm having with my boat. My Mariner 36 sailboat has a "Hood"- "Sea Furl" furling system. The system uses regular metal mechanical bearings in both the halyard swivel unit, and the drum at the bottom of the extrusion piece that covers the forestay. I've verified the halyard swivel unit bearings have a lot of corrosion, and suspect the bearings in the bottom drum does as well. To remove and replace the bearings I need to remove the forestay at the bow and remove both of the furling system units. I intend to support the furling system extrusion that covers the forestay with the jib halyard while doing this. The only other halyard I have is for the mainsail. Maybe I could use it as an additional safety as a temporary forestay while doing the work? The mast of my boat is keel stepped. I'm nervous about taking the forestay loose to do this work. Will the remaining stays on both starboard, port, and the backstay support the mast properly while I do this work?

[boatman61]

I would recommend you remove the extrusion in all its sections carefully and store them below till you've done the bearing replacement and then reassemble...
As for mast stability... your genoa halyard and spinnaker halyard will/should be more than adequate for the job.. just tension them up using your mast winches before tying them off.

PS: I don't think its possible to remove the top swivel without removing the extrusion

[gjordan]

I replaced the bearings in my old Hood Seafurler twice in the 8 years that I owned the boat. I dont remember the details, but I didnt have to remove the extrusion, and being a well stayed, keel stepped mast, there was no trouble/danger of it falling. It was an easy job, but corrosion could make disassembly difficult. The bearings are standard automotive bearings that are available from any large auto parts store. If you intend to do any distance cruising, it would be a good idea to buy two sets , and put the extras in a sealable bag for future use. You can also buy the bearings from Hood, for 3 or 4 times the price, for the same bearings. I liked my old Seafurl, and found it worked very well. When you find it is getting harder to furl in a squall, it is time to change the bearings. Good Luck, _____Grant.

[gjordan]

Just another thought, if you are happy with the way your rig is tuned, then loosen your backstay and headstay by however much is needed to remove the headstay, and write down the number of turns, so that when it goes back together you tighten them up by those numbers and your rig is fine. _____Grant.

[Stede]

Thanks for everyone's input. It's much appreciated. The job looks simple enough, but I learned some time ago it's much better to be sure, than sorry.

Stede

[gjordan]

Please post back when you are finished. We all like to know the outcome of these sort of projects. _____Grant.

[bstreep]

The bearings are stainless and torlon. You can buy them online - Harkin for the torlon. We've done both of ours.

Frankly, it's a waste of time. I should have bought new furlers. The old technology just doesn't compare. BTW, if you stay with Hood, they will give you a decent trade in on your old one.

[gjordan]

bstreep, I am confused, are you saying that the Hood Sea furl bearings are stainless??? The ones that I changed out in my system were standard automotive bearings, which is what the local rigger told me I would find. I am not sure what Harkin and torlon have to do with Hood Seafurl. Maybe you are thinking of a more modern version of Hood. My Sea Furl worked great as long as the bearings were fresh. ????????Grant.

[George Da Porge]

Originally Posted by gjordan

bstreep, I am confused, are you saying that the Hood Sea furl bearings are stainless??? The ones that I changed out in my system were standard automotive bearings, which is what the local rigger told me I would find. I am not sure what Harkin and torlon have to do with Hood Seafurl. Maybe you are thinking of a more modern version of Hood. My Sea Furl worked great as long as the bearings were fresh. ????????Grant.

The pictures I've attached may shed some light on the bearing questions.

So I am undertaking maintenance on my Hood SeaFurl 810LD, specifically bearing replacement. I've worked with Marty Barnett at Hood/Pompanette. She's been pretty helpful.

Purchased our Catalina 30T in May 2014. Newbie to big boats, spring was too short and really didn't have a proper sea trial. Oh well... Our Hood furler is difficult to furl in, especially with heavy wind (even pointed in to wind). There is a "hitch" in every rotation. When the breeze is up I have to brace my feet against the cabin bulkhead to be able to pull the dang furling line.

I do use the furler as a reefer also, even though technically it's not designed for that. I find that as long as I have solid tension on both sides of the furling line it holds well.

Anyway, I figured I needed new bearings for the drive assembly. Ordered them off Hood/Pompanette website and consulted with Marty. I ordered a pair of "Part 13" from the owner's manual and Hood website, which is P/N H6120 (the manual has P/N 6181-000).

I took the drive assembly apart yesterday. Ball bearings everywhere!!! But alas, I have 1/4" plastic (delrin?? or torlon??) ball bearings at the top and bottom of the bearing tube. I recovered all of them! However, the P/N H6120 (Part 13) bearing assemblies are not just ball bearings. These have cups/cones (races) and small stainless steel bearings and a little smaller plastic bearings between the SST ones.

My furler is a little screwy, because it has what appears to be half of a halyard swivel assembly affixed just above the drive unit sheaves. This is not shown in the manual. However, the bearing assemblies on this swivel ARE clearly the P/N H6120. I saw another Catalina 30 with the same furler, and it did not have the "half of a halyard swivel" above the sheaves.

See the attached file for pictures and notes.

It would seem to me that I leave off the halyard swivel, and replace the 1/4" bearings (I would use torlon).

The conundrum: I am not seeing any wear on the bearing tube races that lead me to believe the bearings were a cause of the rotational hitch I mentioned. The sheave assembly is held firm to the turnbuckle tube with 4 set screws. When I took the sheave assembly off, I found 1 set screw missing, and others loose (annual maintenance note: tighten set screws). I am now wondering if the "hitch" could have been the sheaves wobbling???

I've read the manual even further, and I think I will also have to confirm that the centering collar is located properly, and that the top of the luff sections stop 1-3/4" from the bottom of the headstay wire terminal, and where the halyard swivel is located when the genoa is on.

Any ideas?

[gjordan]

I suspect my Hood Seafurl was older, and larger than what is on your 30 footer. The rigger that told me to go to the automotive store was familiar with the Peterson 44s, so he had probably done it before. Hood probably made many changed over the years, and many different sizes. I just assumed (very dangerous practice) that they all used automotive bearings (with a huge mark up). As I said before, mine worked good, and when it got a little harder to use, I slapped in another 30 or 40 dollar set of bearings. C.F. is always a learning experience. ______Grant.

[jackmox]

Hi as you have a keel step mast you dont have to worry to much, although run two lines down forward , the main halliard will go round the mast ok, you will need to slacken the back stay to get the pin out of the furling swivle but thats all, its best to take the complete unit off and put on the dock then you can see if there is any other problems ie joiners etc good luck!!