Forgot to add, for the detail-oriented... Original crutch was 1" square steel, so I just used some 3/4" square steel to telescope inside it. Crutch top metal "U" was fabbed by a local welder. I installed the roller and fabbed and installed the 1/4" kingboard cheeks on the inside faces of the "U". 1/4" quick-release pin holds crutch in extended position. cheers, John On 8/1/23 22:10, John Schinnerer via montgomery_boats wrote:
Hi all,
Here's a few pics from first use of the telescoping mast crutch I made. This idea came from a video someone posted quite a while back showing this concept implemented for mast raising/lowering on a Catalina 22.
For mast raising: Crutch is extended before sliding mast base back to mast step. Spreaders remain in front of crutch the whole time. Improved starting angle for raising line - mast is already as high or higher than even a tall guy like me could lift it, especially lifting with one hand, since the other is managing the raising line.
Lowering will be the reverse. Mast will lower down to be resting on crutch while there's still adequate angle on the lowering line. Then unfasten base from step, slide it forward, lower crutch to traveling height.
-- John Schinnerer - M.A., Whole Systems Design -------------------------------------------- - Eco-Living - Whole Systems Design Services People - Place - Learning - Integration john@eco-living.net - 510.982.1334 http://eco-living.net http://sociocracyconsulting.com