Neat tricks to unstick a stuck Furler?

[picklesandjesse]

I'm having problems too so have an interest in this. The jib is stowed below when I leave as it's in Sydney an 8 hour drive south. When I was down there last week I hoisted it and pulled the furler rope. Not easy and it stopped after 3 turns. All clear up top. Tried a few times but gave up as I wanted to drive home. I saw a small hole in the side of the drum and sprayed corrosion block in there. Hope it works as I plan to sail the boat back up the coast in a few weeks. It's a NZ furler of some sort, has a line going to it that releases a pin that stops it unfurling but that's working OK.

[goodnumbers64]

Sailmaker I consulted told me spray the first three feet of the leach of the with McLube. Do it several times. It reduces the friction of the cloth. Helped a lot. Raising the boom to go out also helps.

[Jim Cate]

1. He doesn't really say whether it is an in-mast furler or a headsail furler. Awaiting further specifics.

2. He does say that it behaves the same with or without a sail, so slacking the halyard will not be the answer, for he has already done that experiment.

So, OP, give us more info about the furler, and maybe we can help.

For Pickles and Jessie (hi, John), that sounds like a K-Z furler, designed by Bob Graham in the Bay f Islands. Very robust equipment which uses stacked automotive axle bearings and seals. Fairly easy to replace IIrC and cheap to buy from any bearing supplier. Those bearings are not stainless, and if salt water has gotten to them, likely rusted up. We had such a furler on our previous boat and loved it... truly bullet proof but kinda heavy if that worries you. Dunno if Bob is still with us... he retired years ago, but I believe the company still exists, and may be able to help.

Jim

[Chotu]

Whoops. Misunderstanding and poor choice of words. It's a cutter. It is not the mainsail furler, but the larger, foremost headsail furler that's giving me the issues.

I'll try everything here so far. Thanks for the tips. Great ones!

I won't be out to the boat for a week or two so please expect this thread to pop back up once I get there to get the make/model of the furler.

[picklesandjesse]

Originally Posted by Jim Cate

1. He doesn't really say whether it is an in-mast furler or a headsail furler. Awaiting further specifics.

2. He does say that it behaves the same with or without a sail, so slacking the halyard will not be the answer, for he has already done that experiment.

So, OP, give us more info about the furler, and maybe we can help.

For Pickles and Jessie (hi, John), that sounds like a K-Z furler, designed by Bob Graham in the Bay f Islands. Very robust equipment which uses stacked automotive axle bearings and seals. Fairly easy to replace IIrC and cheap to buy from any bearing supplier. Those bearings are not stainless, and if salt water has gotten to them, likely rusted up. We had such a furler on our previous boat and loved it... truly bullet proof but kinda heavy if that worries you. Dunno if Bob is still with us... he retired years ago, but I believe the company still exists, and may be able to help.

Jim

Hi Jim, thanks for the info. I will be back down in Sydney at the end of the month so can't check what it is till then. Luckily I can still use it like a hanked on sail as there's a switch that allows it to drop below where the sail is fed in, so it remains in the slot and I guess another sail can be fed in. Might have to sail it that way as I want to get the boat out of Sydney and Lovett Bay mooring fees. Please can you arrange a nice westerly ( not too strong ) for the trip north?? Your closer to God's country down there !!

[Jim Cate]

Originally Posted by picklesandjesse

Hi Jim, thanks for the info. I will be back down in Sydney at the end of the month so can't check what it is till then. Luckily I can still use it like a hanked on sail as there's a switch that allows it to drop below where the sail is fed in, so it remains in the slot and I guess another sail can be fed in. Might have to sail it that way as I want to get the boat out of Sydney and Lovett Bay mooring fees. Please can you arrange a nice westerly ( not too strong ) for the trip north?? Your closer to God's country down there !!

Jphn, I had a look at KZ marine's website and they seem to now only build high end spool type furlers for flying sails like code 0 and assy kites. But there may still be corporate memory that would help you, once you get more details on which model you have. Bob G was a mechanical genius and an inveterate tinkerer, so his products morphed all too quickly, and even when he was still actively involved with the company he sometimes forgot what was inside early models! Lovely chap, though, and a true innovator. I still think that the locking pawl to take the torque loads when reefed was a great idea.

Jim

PS The model you describe could be used with what he called "Kiwi slides" or some such. These were small plastic rods, the same diameter as luff tape cords which were sewn on the luff of the sail. They were fed into the luff groove of the furler foil and then the gate closed. Thus, when lowered, the sail was still attached to the foil, not loose on the deck. With the gate a foot or more above the bottom of the groove, one could lower the primary sail, leave it tied on deck and feed in a different sail's slides above the stack of the previous sail's slides. Meant that one could actually consider changing headsails at sea if needed... way cool IMO.

[picklesandjesse]

Originally Posted by Jim Cate

Jim

PS The model you describe could be used with what he called "Kiwi slides" or some such. These were small plastic rods, the same diameter as luff tape cords which were sewn on the luff of the sail. They were fed into the luff groove of the furler foil and then the gate closed. Thus, when lowered, the sail was still attached to the foil, not loose on the deck. With the gate a foot or more above the bottom of the groove, one could lower the primary sail, leave it tied on deck and feed in a different sail's slides above the stack of the previous sail's slides. Meant that one could actually consider changing headsails at sea if needed... way cool IMO.

Nothing wrong with your memory Jim. This is the model that's on the boat, has the Kiwi slides sewn on the luff of the sails. I'd never seen them before. seems like a great idea and will work for me at the present time if I can't fix it when I get back to Sydney. The couple that used to own the boat did many thousands of miles in her and went to Alaska and BC for 4 years, lived aboard for 20 years.

[Max Nankervis]

I had a similar problem with my Furlex furler recently. It had been getting harder and harder to furl (but seemed to unfurl OK), With the sail off both ends of furler spun, though noisily. Had "the man" look at it. He washed it out with clean water then lubricated it. Seems to be working well now. It is suggested that they be lubricated annually. So, perhaps you just need a good wash and a "grease and oil change".

[mercater]

I have seen this problem were the top of the furler mechanism has an incorrect angle relative to its halyard. If the top bearing is worn allowing excessive play then this would exasperate the problem. Best of luck

[Chotu]

At the boat right now.

The lettering is worn off, but here's a picture of the furling drum. No brand visible but it says System and possibly 310. It’s on a 50’ Gulfstar.

Also, there is no sail and no halyard on the furler and it's as jammed as ever. Extremely hard to turn but not rough in the sense of shot bearings. More like opening a pickle jar. Really hard at first, but spins ok for a moment. Then back to really hard the minute it stops turning.

Almost like a delrin bushing is overtightened or not sliding properly.

[Matt Johnson]

Originally Posted by Chotu

At the boat right now.

The lettering is worn off, but here's a picture of the furling drum. No brand visible but it says System and possibly 310. It’s on a 50’ Gulfstar.

Also, there is no sail and no halyard on the furler and it's as jammed as ever. Extremely hard to turn but not rough in the sense of shot bearings. More like opening a pickle jar. Really hard at first, but spins ok for a moment. Then back to really hard the minute it stops turning.

Almost like a delrin bushing is overtightened or not sliding properly.

That's a Schaefer furler. Check to see if the foil has dropped.

Matt

[daletournier]

As said above it's a Schaefer.

Very easy to pull apart, there's a instructional video on utube.

The bearings require no lube, rinse with water or if real bad warm water and vinegar.

For the foil to drop the grub screw holding it up must of come out?

[lewisa]

I had a similar problem with my Schaefer 3200 furler. I purchased a new bearing unit and installed it easily on the mooring. The president of Schaefer has a wonderful YouTube video demonstrating the complete process from removal of the old unit to the installation of the new. Piece of cake!

[Mr O]

Check that the halyard is not wrapped around the stay. Binoculars are helpful. As others have said, rinse bearings with fresh water. Work it back and forth. Check for furling line over-wrap in the drum. Good luck.

[rick bertram]

If it’s the main sail furler the comments about the boom bang and main sheet are absolutely correct. When you unfurl the sail the boom actually lifts up so if the boom band and main sheet aren’t free it cannot rise and the car jams on the track. I used to make that mistake early on.