This is a pretty basic question: I have raised the mast on my Hobie 18 and now am having difficulty extracting the mast pin. When I stepped the mast, I was careful to get the pin totally through the housing so it protruded out the other side. Still, after raising the mast, I could only get the pin out half way. At one point, after pulling the pin, it sounded like the mast settled. Then from that point, I could no longer pull the pin out.
Any help would be greatly appreciated. 🙄
The stock pins are kinda close fit and I have seen them bent quite often making the removal difficult.
Get some help and eye ball the pin. Most likely you will have to gently pry up on the mast to align the
pin. Grab the pin with vice grips and pull it out. I use a screwdriver a bit smaller than the original pin
and have no problem getting it out. Do you have a lot of tension on the shrouds?
If you can see the end of the pin inside the mast base, wiggle the mast and see it there is any movement. Your pin is probably bent and then twisted into a jammed position. Get a steel punch with the same or less diameter as the pin and carefully punch the pin out from the end. Careful not to hit the aluminum casting as it is easy to break.
Thanks for the help. When I looked into the hole, I could see previous work with a punch had done a bit of damage, and it was easy for the punch to hit the mast seating mechanism vs. the pin. Once I centered the punch on the pin, I got it right out.
sounds like you got it working but just incase/in the future:
Make sure you pull the pin out before you tention on the side stays
gfree78067 wrote: Thanks for the help. When I looked into the hole, I could see previous work with a punch had done a bit of damage, and it was easy for the punch to hit the mast seating mechanism vs. the pin. Once I centered the punch on the pin, I got it right out.
Now check your pin, if it's bent at all get a new one, or start using a stainless phillips head screwdriver of the right size like a lot of us do.
i am always very nervous trusting my mast to a cheap "made in china" screwdriver. and even a nice stanley...
I made a custom pin by bending some steel bar i found in a local sail shop (Ellie's) into an L shape, and grinded it to an angled point (to help wiggle into the hole, esp after sailing all weekend when it has shifted down a bit, and compressed my "spacer").
Edited by MN3 on Jun 26, 2012 - 11:57 AM.
We gave up the pin a long time ago, we use a screw driver of slightly smaller diameter and it has a handle, easy in, easy out and way strong enough for the job. Just throw in the box and use when needed. JMHO, YMMV, Richard.