Stanchions

[Charlie]

Hi All:

I am looking at replacing my stanchions and bases. right now they are two piece stanchions. I was thinking of going with one piece for both base and stanchion. What are the advantages and disadvantages of each?

[model 10]

Think about this; replace the metal tube with a 1" fiberglass rod. There are several kinds of fiberglass rod. The most basic is just a resin and filler extrusion. The primo stuff is extruded fiberglass rod with the fibers running the length. I tested a 36" piece of Extrend 1" fiberglass rod using a bulldozer and a 6' cheater bar. I stuck the end of the stanchion into the tractor and put the 6' cheater bar over the the end of the stanchion and pulled. I got it to maybe 30 deg and chickened out. One of the yard workers took over and got it to about 45deg, that seemed like enough. It had started to fail at the lower lifeline hole but only the very beginning of a failure. As stanchions they do have some flex and it takes a bit of getting used too. Now that I am, I have the coolest bungee system you can imagine, spectra lifelines and springs for stanchions.

[JPA Cate]

Charlie,

The two piece ones, you can replace the stanchion easily when it bends, gets work hardened and doesn't want to unbend. The one piece ones, if it bends and you don't want to live with it, it's a whole remove, repair if possible--or replace, re-bed, etc.

We lash our lifelines, rather than have swages, and now have gone to dyneema for them, as well. Works fine. Inspect lashings and re-lash when beginning to chafe.

Cheers,

Ann

[roverhi]

The one piece type have a flat, relatively thin base plate that isn't all that hard to bend. Not fatal but may open up leaks when it does. Two piece type's base is normally cast, very stiff, and virtually unbendable.

The one piece type are initially stiffer as there no flex at the base. The two piece base is slightly oversize so the stanchion post can wobble a little though haven't found it objectionable.

[Jman]

I biggest thing is if you currently have two piece, and the bases are sufficiently beefy, are in good shape, nicely mounted and don't leak, then you don't have to do it over, probably with different different bolt patterns to make life even more miserable.

Go to garhauer.com if you are going to buy stainless ones. I cringe every time the launch driver grabs the top of one of ours, or a passerby at a dock thinks he is being helpful by "catching" the boat using the top of a stanchion as we approach a dock (can't he see the oversized fenders and that our destination is another 40 feet down the dock?), but after two years none of the garhauer stanchions have bent.

We did dyneema lifelines as well.


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[El Pinguino]

Originally Posted by Jman

I biggest thing is if you currently have two piece, and the bases are sufficiently beefy, are in good shape, nicely mounted and don't leak, then you don't have to do it over, probably with different different bolt patterns to make life even more miserable.

Go to garhauer.com if you are going to buy stainless ones. I cringe every time the launch driver grabs the top of one of ours, or a passerby at a dock thinks he is being helpful by "catching" the boat using the top of a stanchion as we approach a dock (can't he see the oversized fenders and that our destination is another 40 feet down the dock?), but after two years none of the garhauer stanchions have bent.

We did dyneema lifelines as well.

I'm planning on electrifying mine.....

At anchor I have a stern ladder... not perfect but its what I have. Alongside I put a step by way of the mast so people can step aboard while just steadying themselves using the shrouds.

So why does every dick and his dog have to ignore what is offered and haul all 120 kg of themselves on board using the ( permanently closed but its what she came with) 'gate' stanchions.. an 18 inch lever on 1.5 inch bolts.... no wonder the things leak.....

Rant over..
carry on...

[delmarrey]

IMHO the thickness of the base of a stanchion is what makes it good. Thin bases bend when bumped or pulled on, which intern loosens the bolts allowing the bolt holes to leak.

This is one of the reasons I added a 1" thick cap rail over the fasteners when I sealed the boats hull to deck joint. Any flexing in the deck will just be a down hill event no matter what stanchion is there. So more strength in the base, or cap rail is the objective, or both.

As for one piece or two, it depends where the water goes when it runs over the base. A two piece may retain dirt and then water, and may start to erode, even if there is a drain hole.
But even with a one piece, erosion can start under the base if it's not sealed to the deck, which is broken if it gets bent.
So your damned if you go one way or the other. The lack of flexing and erosion is what matters.
If I were to build my own, I would go one piece with 1/4" bases.

[JPA Cate]

Hi Charlie,

Something i didn't mention in my previous post, is about backing plates for stanchions.

I don't remember how your boat it, but whether you replace with one piece ones or two, the whole [excuse my french] sh*ttaree will be better off with backing plates.

Cheers,

Ann

[Charlie]

Thanks for the replies. I think I will go with bases instead of the one piece. I was able to find some bases which match with my existing holes. The Goiot bases I have are attached with only two screws and then connect to the toe rail. I will need to drill two more holes. I think that I am safe in not installing backing plates because the toerail serves as an alternative. For those of you using Dyneema what diameter do you use?

[delmarrey]

I used 1/4" dyneema. And it does stretch over time so give yourself about 4" of adjustment to start with.

Also I installed some plastic tubing (stitched in place on the dyneema) where it passes thru the stanchions to prevent chafe.

[Charlie]

Del do you have gates? If so how did you set them up. Also what did you use for the eye splice?

[delmarrey]

The gates are still wire. When dyneema is in a slack mode it snags too easily. Plus they are to hard to setup an adjustment b/c they are so short.

The very forward and aft ends of the main lines I eye spliced in 1/4" thimbles and attached that to the stanchions. The adjustment ends I eye spliced in 3/16" thimbles (a bit tight) so they would fit in the old turnbuckle clevis.

The old turn buckles had wire crimps on the one end but I found clevis ends online. I'll upload some pictures later.

[delmarrey]

Actually the pictures are on my blog but here ya go.....

And BTW they are 3 YO now and still in good shape. I had to adjust them 3 times now.

[Charlie]

Thanks Del. I think I will go with a similar method but use lashings as the adjustment.

[JPA Cate]

Charlie,

Where the plates go to the toe-rail, you will have a dissimilar metals situation if they're s/s and the toerail is aluminum. You can address this by making insulators for them. We used inner tube rubber, but I'm told you can cut up and use the skinny cutting plastics for it, as well. You'll also want to insulate the fender washer where it bears on the toe rail. If you don't, you'll be surprised how fast the galvanic corrosion works.

Ann