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Cranes are expensive!

3K views 19 replies 16 participants last post by  tommays 
#1 ·
Hello Everyone!

Has anyone ever used a sign company to help remove a mast?? A fellow boater threw that idea out to me the other day.

I checked out crane pricing and was quoted about $800...seems a little much. I took a mast down with a travel lift and the help of two buddies once and it only took about 45 mins. However, my marina won't attempt it with their travel lift and they won't let me rent it from them for an hour (understandable).

Does anyone have any creative/inexpensive solutions to removing a mast?? My boat is on the hard in Maryland.

Thanks!
 
#2 ·
I know of a little rigging shop in Florida that only charges one hundred dollars for the crane and eighty bucks per hour for labor. They let you do all the prep work if you want to and usually can pull a stick in less than an hour.

I guess that one reason that it's better to use a rigger instead of a sign hanger. ;):p
 
#6 ·
Do you know how many crane accidents there are each year? Take a look! Crane Accident Statistics

As an inspector of cranes I can tell you that it only take one loose bolt to ruin ones whole day/life.

The insurance for cranes is high so that gets passed onto the customers.

YouTube - mobile crane accidents
 
#7 ·
You can often rent a bucket truck or bucket lift, most of which will have the capacity to lift the mast on a smaller sailboat, say up to about 35' LOA for less than that. If you know anyone else that needs to unstep their mast, you might want to see if you can share the cost of the rental. Also, if your mast is deck-stepped, you may be able to fashion an a-frame setup to lower it.

Another option is to use halyards of two sailboats rafted up to yours, one on each side.... If they are about the same size or larger, you can usually use their halyards to lift your mast out... and lower it.
 
#9 ·
You can often rent a bucket truck or bucket lift, most of which will have the capacity to lift the mast on a smaller sailboat, say up to about 35' LOA for less than that.
You better not tell them what you are using it for. It's against OSHA regs to use a manlift for other then personnel and their equipment. Manlifts are rated for a certain weight. If you exceed that then your looking for trouble. :eek:
 
#13 ·
Boat Yard mast lifting prices about the same here in Uk-$100
But my boatyard has just invested in a second hand Manitou.
Double jointed articulated all wheel drive fork lift with extending arm-often also seen over here working on construction sites and lifting hay bales on farms!
 
#16 ·
not sure what size boat you have, but I recently helped unstep, and step the deck stepped mast on a catalina 25 by hand. It really wasn't that bad, and required a total of 3 people.

took the jib halyard and attached it to another long line about 2/3rds of the height of the mast that was tied off to the bow cleats, and then ran the halyard around the winch like we were going to raise the sail (but with a few more turns around the winch) and pulled it tight. Released the forestay and any shrouds that were forward of the mast, leaving the backstay and any shrouds that were attached aft of the mast. Then with two people to steady the mast the 3rd person let the halyard slip slowly on the winch. This worked great until the mast was around a 35-40 degree angle, at which the two guys had to catch the end of the mast because the halyard was really only effective until about half way (not too difficult as it was only about 7 feet above the cockpit at this point) they lowered the mast and then the 3rd person takes out the pin the mast was hinged on, and you are done.

to re-step the mast the procedures are exactly the same only in reverse. with the only difference is that the person on the winch is not letting line out, he is winching it in while the guys holding the mast help lift a little.

it gets pretty unstable the last 20 degrees or so, but once it pops forward and the backstay and the shrouds go taught, everything is held forward with the halyard acting as the forestay, it is instantly rock solid again, and you are free to re-attach the remaining shrouds and forestay.

I beleive it took us about an hour of prep work (getting all the shrouds, lazy jacks and halyards tangle free and laid out, and another 15 minutes to get the mast upright, once done it took about 15 - 20 minutes to get the forestay and remaining shrouds attached, all that is left then is to tune the rig.
 
#19 ·
Don't forget when looking at the rated lifting load of equipment, that especially for person lifting gear they are talking about lifting the weight at the position where a person should be (IE in the bucket) Should a mast tip sideways, and the wrong way, leverage can quickly increase the perceived weight at the bucket. I think it could be very easy to get in a world of hurt quickly if that is not taken into account and steps are not taken to insure the mast can not tip off in the wrong direction.

A sign company sound interesting, but for some reason gives me a weird feeling. Probably would be just fine though, as they should be experienced with lifting poles and such.... probably.. :)

$800 sounds crazy though, I think I would be looking for ANY alternative too.
 
#20 ·
Down this way a mast can cost up to 15 dollars a foot each WAY with 8 dollars being the low end price

Now if there moving a 40k carbon wonder mast i can understand the need for a higher risk higer cost

BUT when the yard wants $1050.00 dollars a year on your J24 mast it does not take long to justify the money on a safe setup to DIY it
 
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