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Replacing Bearings in a Hyde Streamstay One Solid Rod Furling System

wburton444

Bill Burton
Advice will be greatly appreciated. My halyard swivel bearings need replacing and I am considering a complete bearing replacement including the terminal ends. This requires the solid rod system to be taken down. Anyone gone thru this?
 
With that system, no. But with a two or three people taking down the forestay and furler on a typical system is pretty easy. I expect it would be no different.

Go up the mast and rig a temporary forestay with jib halyard. Tie the spinnaker halyard to the furler with a rolling hitch. Have the person on the ground unscrew the turnbuckle at the bottom of the furler. Once loose, unpin the top. Descend the mast. Once down, unpin the bottom. Then one person takes the bottom end and walks down the dock with it, while the second lowers the upper end with the spinnaker halyard. Having a third person is helpful to catch things here and there and help support the middle, but isn't necessary.
 
With that system, no. But with a two or three people taking down the forestay and furler on a typical system is pretty easy. I expect it would be no different.

Go up the mast and rig a temporary forestay with jib halyard. Tie the spinnaker halyard to the furler with a rolling hitch. Have the person on the ground unscrew the turnbuckle at the bottom of the furler. Once loose, unpin the top. Descend the mast. Once down, unpin the bottom. Then one person takes the bottom end and walks down the dock with it, while the second lowers the upper end with the spinnaker halyard. Having a third person is helpful to catch things here and there and help support the middle, but isn't necessary.
Thanks, we will be trying this next week - weather permitting.
 
Yes! I rebuilt mine a couple years ago: a few lessons learned (Rig-Rite sells a rather pricey rebuild kit that comes with unfortunately scant instructions, which is problematic as the original bearings are no longer made and the kit is a re-engineering of sorts). Anyway, biggest thing: don't over-tighten the lock nuts. But the job really isn't that hard, it's a well designed system! I'd recommend also doing the bearings in the halyard swivel, too.

The job can be done (as indicated in post above) without unstepping mast. I did mine on the ground, but realized problems once the mast was up and rectified it aloft. Ooof.

Also, note: there are vast arrays of replacement bearings available on amazon/ebay, so if you aren't familiar with bearing specs find someone who is, learn, or buy the Rig-Rite kit! Just because a bearing is the right dimension, it doesn't mean they are strong enough to hold your mast up! I found write ups in other forums where people had bought $5 bearings from Amazon (with load ratings on par with fishing line).
 
With that system, no. But with a two or three people taking down the forestay and furler on a typical system is pretty easy. I expect it would be no different.

Go up the mast and rig a temporary forestay with jib halyard. Tie the spinnaker halyard to the furler with a rolling hitch. Have the person on the ground unscrew the turnbuckle at the bottom of the furler. Once loose, unpin the top. Descend the mast. Once down, unpin the bottom. Then one person takes the bottom end and walks down the dock with it, while the second lowers the upper end with the spinnaker halyard. Having a third person is helpful to catch things here and there and help support the middle, but isn't necessary.
Thanks Warren
Yes! I rebuilt mine a couple years ago: a few lessons learned (Rig-Rite sells a rather pricey rebuild kit that comes with unfortunately scant instructions, which is problematic as the original bearings are no longer made and the kit is a re-engineering of sorts). Anyway, biggest thing: don't over-tighten the lock nuts. But the job really isn't that hard, it's a well designed system! I'd recommend also doing the bearings in the halyard swivel, too.

The job can be done (as indicated in post above) without unstepping mast. I did mine on the ground, but realized problems once the mast was up and rectified it aloft. Ooof.

Also, note: there are vast arrays of replacement bearings available on amazon/ebay, so if you aren't familiar with bearing specs find someone who is, learn, or buy the Rig-Rite kit! Just because a bearing is the right dimension, it doesn't mean they are strong enough to hold your mast up! I found write ups in other forums where people had bought $5 bearings from Amazon (with load ratings on par with fishing line).
Thanks, I did order the Rig-Rite complete kit (including the gold box it came in) and plan to start next week-weather permitting. I'll let you know how it turns out.
 
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