MD 180 Broken Mast

I broke a mast on my Mirage 180 just this past Sunday, it broke right where the threads end on the mast and where the threads end on the threaded brass insert on the sprocket. It's not the first mast I have ever broke, I have broken several other masts over the years, this being the first one I have broken on the newer style drive. On the older Mirage drives repairs were always done quickly and easily with the replacement of a sprocket. On the new MD180...Those sprockets can't just be just swapped out like the older style drive. To my knowledge they don't even sell sprockets for the md180. You have to purchase, or warranty the entire spine assembly if the broken piece cannot be removed. This to me just seems like a waste of a perfectly good spine assembly that shouldn't have to be replaced because of a broken mast...

In my case I was lucky enough not only to be able to fix this problem myself, I have a great dealer (OEX) that helped me out with a set of new masts. But not every one has the tools or time and or experience to quickly fix this problem.

So this may be a stupid idea or it might be a great idea...But how about scoring the MD180 masts about an inch or so below the sprockets and or add another flat area in that spot for a breaking point and a wrenching spot. I realize that a weak point isn't good on a mast...but if a break were to occur, and they obviously do...it would be nice to have it break in a convenient location for an easy on the water repair, and not break off in the spot mine did. This would be awesome as spine replacement costs everyone time and money and unnecessary paddling and down time.


So here are some pictures of what I had to do to get my mirage drive working again.

That's a great idea, and well documented! I was hoping you might try out your suggestion by grooving and scoring your new masts, since you may break another sooner or later.