Hello. I recently purchased a Prindle 18-2. I noticed right away that the main halyard was extremely difficult to use once the main had been raised about halfway. The lower sheave had some chips out of the outer edges but still spun freely, however the upper sheave was seized, in fact the halyard has actually begun to saw its way through the sheave, making it oval shaped.
I plan to replace both sheaves with parts from Murrays but have a couple of questions:
1) I can't seem to get either sheave out of the mast. The base sheave is just stuck because the clevis pin is too big and has been jammed/press-fit into the hole. The upper sheave is a bit more problematic. The clevis pin comes out easily, but the sheave is captive between the upper casting and mast. Do I really have to remove the casting to get the sheave out? Seems it should just slip out once the clevis pin is removed. I thought about cutting away some of the mast curf in a V-shape -- just enough to allow the sheave to come out. The manual mentions having to file away some of the curf if the sheave does not spin freely (I suspect this may be why it seized in the first place).
2) Are these sheaves standard size parts I can get anywhere? I'd rather not pay $8.20 apiece for them and wait for shipping if I can just pick them up at any hardware store.