Pylons stuck in Corner Castings

Hi All - I have inherited an 1976 (approx) H16. There are quite a few areas of delamination on the hulls, I would like to remove each hull for ease of repair (I've purchased all the necessary materials for fixing the problem, thanks to this forum and other web postings ;-). I disconnected the rudder, side shrouds, and jib shrouds, jacked up the boat, removed the pylon bolts (easy), but I cannot get the pylons to slide out of the corner castings. I even tried rigging up a jack-like system with threaded rods to force the hull/pylon assembly away from the frame (I applied as much pressure as I dared, quite a bit). No joy.

How do I get the pylons out of the corner castings?

It will take me about a year to fix the boat up unless I can get the hulls off (it's at our bay house where I have limited time to work on it).

Thanks for any help!

I just had the same problem, but only one of mine was stuck. I useg a rubber mallet until I broke off the head of the mallet. then used a block of wood and a small sledge. Took a few minutes but it finally came off.

I suppose you could heat the casting to try to break it free but I would be very careful not to weaken it.

Joe

_________________
Joe Fikentscher
www.jerseyplanning.com

Thanks for the Info, Joe.

Can I ask what you hit with the mallet / wood? The fiberglass part of the hull where the pylon enters?

Place the wood under the corner castings and hit the wood with the mallet. That way the wood cushions the blow thereby not cracking the cornetr casting. It will probably take repeated blows. Don't hit it hard enough to damage the castings.

Joe

_________________
Joe Fikentscher
www.jerseyplanning.com

NOOO! Never hit the fiberglass! You'll crush the foam core and really make a mess of it.

Hit the underside of the corner casting. It's an oblique blow, but it'll work eventually. The boat may have been glued together in the past, in which case you'll need to heat up the casting with a torch to break down the glue. Be careful with the heat, though.

Another method I've used is to have someone "wiggle" the frame while you're hitting the casting with the mallet / wood / sledge. Essentially, they grab the opposite corner of the boat and shake it up and down while you hit. That method has worked every time.

BTW, is Dville short for Deltaville?

Thanks to all. I get the idea mostly now, upward blows against the underside of the corner castings, protected with some wood. Won't hull movement absorb too much of the energy? In any event, it's worth a try. I'll also try some heat.

Another question: might the tramp tension impart some twist to the frame, making it difficult to remove the pylons? I was thinking of loosening / removing the tramp.

And yes, "Dville" is a reference to Deltaville, Va. We keep the Hobie there.

Yes, you need to take the tramp off, or at least loosen it. You'll need to take it off if you plan to use heat.

Deltaville was where I learned to sail 40 years ago. We had a cottage at the end of Stove Point where we kept a Sailfish (later a Sunfish) a Flying Junior and starting in 1972, a Hobie 16. I used to race out of Fishing Bay Yacht Club.

We sold the place in 1989, but my aunt still has what was my grandfather's place at the base of Stove Point that he built in 1948.

As Matt said, you must take the tramp off, but also take the tension off the dolphin striker. A previous owener may have tightened it up.

Good Luck

hey everyone,

ok so I've tried EVERYTHING. Solvents, heat, endless beating, and i even tried using a jack to "press" it off. I cannot get the pylon out of the corner casting. 3 out of 4 slid right out but this one is really stuck. It looks as if a previous owner "shimmed" the pylon with a piece of metal but i can't get it out.

Any suggestions would be helpful

THANKS

Same problem here with forward 2 pylons. Not sure why it was shimmed and the boat was exposed to some salt which I am sure is not helping. Any other suggestions?

I'm not to sure how you were able to get 3 of the 4 pylons out without also getting the 4th out at roughly the same time. The pylons fit in the castings with such precision that forcing one pylon out will cause the adjacent pylon to bind even tighter. I had to walk in circles around the cat hitting the castings one at a time in a clock-wise fashion (moving each just about 5 mm at a time) to get all 4 pylons moving upwards at a rate that reduced the likelihood that they would bind. The more I hit one pylon with the rubber mallet, the less likely I was able to get the others off. Even if you disassembled the tramp, both the bow and stern pylons would have to detach at roughly the same time otherwise one will bind. I know this is not a suggestion. I would just be worried that the 4th (and last) casting and/or pylon has been bent/bind in a manner that prevents it from detaching. However, maybe you found a method for getting 3 of the 4 pylons out without binding that I cannot think of. Just a thought.

If he is still beating on that 4th pylon after almost six years, I'll bet he is really frustrated by now.