Mast Raising w/mast support - Warning

I used my mast support w/winch to help lower my mast in the fall. The winch cable was looped around an eye bolt at the top of the support to provide friction while lowering (one person operation). I had a partial failure of the mast support. As it happened on the tube itself, I don't think is was from a bad weld. It could have been from poor manufacturing. I will use a come-a-long to support the top the support in future.

Here is the split in the support




This photo shows the support bent back.

That is not bad manufacturing... it is age. The trailer looks to be 80's or maybe even 70's vintage? The stand is hollow tube and has corroded from the inside.

_________________
Matt Miller
Former - Director of Parts and Accessory Sales
Warranty and Technical Support
Hobie Cat USA
(Retired 11/7/2022)

Pretty much every variety of mast stand I've seen would benefit from a safety line from the crutch to the hitch. And it's totally independent of age. The physics just don't favor the stand at all.

Brian C

As Matt pointed out, there is probably corrosion on the inside of the crutch. The crack could be welded and then sprayed with a galvanized paint to inhibit corrosion of the repair, but long term you should take your crutch to a welding shop and let them use it as a model to build you a new one. I would urge you to have a diagonal bar welded to the rear facing side of the crutch and have a longer base plate. The current design doesn’t provide any support beyond the welded joint at the base of the crutch. The diagonal bar will spread the stress over a larger area.