E 25 mast base kinda mangled

Hi There,

It looks as if the base of the mast on my Ericson 25 has had a rough life. After my first experience raising it I can see how this would happen. Aside from the obvious of repairing all the busted bolts that should hold the cast end cap attached
anyone have any ideas about the wallowed out mast pin holes? I plan to try and pop the dent out with a porta power hydraulic press. I see there is a split in the aluminum that probably needs welded also. Maybe make some bushings to weld or epoxy in for the pin hole? Or just get a new Dwyer type hinged base?

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Curtis

Hi Curtis,

I suspect your mast has been through some raising and lowering "adventures" during its' lifetime. I would look into reinforcing the mast butt after you have pressed it back into shape. I'm sure most professional riggers could suggest some repairs but I would search the internet first to see if anything turns up that you could do yourself. The issues you have must be common to small trailerable boats that have the mast stepped and unstepped often.

I'm thinking an internal sleeve at the base of the mast would reinforce the bottom +/- 6 inches. I've seen masts that have been repaired in the middle by an internal sleeve that overlaps a joint and is either riveted or used machine screws tapped into each side of the joint. You could also epoxy in an aluminum or G10 plate on either side of the base to reinforce the pivot bolt hole.

I'll also throw out this: how about filling the bottom 6 inches with something (thickened epoxy, Spartite, concrete) that fills, hardens and reinforces the base of the mast? I'd consider this a last resort.

Mark

aluminum tube

The correct size aluminum tube could be welded in place to reinforce the pivot. Not a good idea to plug the bottom. Probably has wiring to deal with and you wouldn't want to trap water inside the mast.