Furler systems

My recent experience with Furling gear,
Furlex, 12 years, no problems, then Furlex TD (through deck allowing full hoist) 8 years no problems but compact drum and extra blocks requires a bit more energy when furling. Profurl, 3 years, tending to open at joints in foil, hard to rectify without taking mast down but put up with care it is fine. Facnor (not mine) tried to dismantle, foil sections are held by SS Philips type grub screws into alloy , impossible to shift after 4 or 5 years, written off because of this and drum failure.
The latter may be a one off but I tried about half the grub screws before giving up, the Profurl has similar screws but they are bigger with hex heads and allow much more torque to be applied. Profurl manual is good and with a five year warranty I would not reject it, both the above deck Furlex and the Profurl have twin grooves and removable drums for racing.
On the basis of my limited experience, (four brands , one no longer available) I would go Furlex, then Profurl but would look carefully at the assembly of Facnor before buying. I would also look at Harken if the price was not too silly.
 
I had a Rotostay on my boat for many years without a problem. I replaced some of the Delrin balls and made sure it was greased up along the foil and joins with Teflon grease.
 
Replaced a 30 years old Harken because I couldn't get the swage fitting anymore for a new stay; replacement Selden was just not as good. Harder to furl, temperamental about halyard tension, needed maintenance instead of just fresh water. Just an opinion of course.
 
For those with Sailspar furlers; do you ever suffer slippage between the furling line and drum, or is the friction between the two such that this never happens?
 
Rappey said:
I would stay well clear. If a new one is anything like their previous versions then it's made from lots of plastic and a mixing of stainless and aluminium housing the bearings to guarantee failure around 5 years.
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Interesting.
After much research on UK, German, French and Dutch sites, I decided to go with the Plastimo 800 series. The number of posts saying that they've had a Plasimo give them decades, in many cases, of trouble free service far outweighed all the others. Incidentally, most of the negative commenters actually had no personal experience with these units and were just repeating similar comments and prejudices to the ones above. Most of the problems are the result of owners stuffing up the installation. Having done our own, I do have to wonder at folk who struggle to follow even the simplest of technical instructions.

Furlers are hardly sophisticated technology. The only parts on the Plastimo that are made of plastic (as is the rest of the boat they are mounted on) are the internal bearing sleeves in the foil sections, the drum and the use of Delrin balls in the aluminum cast top swivel. With the exception of the drum, so are many other manufacturer's.
The kit looks well made and runs very smoothly compared to the previous one it replaced. The choice of Delrin bearings over SKS makes these units virtually service free. 30 years on, unlike many other brands, you can still buy all the replacement parts. The competitive pricing reflects production volume, IMHO, rather than a substandard quality of materials.

We have had the unexpected opportunity to test our furler in winds up to a F9, gusting 10 -- no issues.
For smaller, boats around 30' I think the Plastimo units are perfectly adequate, not flash or glossy, but adequate.

Ball bearing blocks, their bearings, sheaves and shells are all made out of plastic.
 
After reading a thread about another of plastimo furlers (408 maybe?) And seeing it apart I will modify my original statement to "avoid the 1012t" although I don't think it's made any more. It's a completely different system to what I've seen on here.
My top swivel seized just after 5 yrs old. The mixture of stainless and ally causes the bearings to get crushed/clamped by the expanding aluminium.
I had a friend remake the offending parts all in stainless.
The body is a sort of grp plastic ? The moulded eye for the halyard snapped off a few years ago. Its now a stainless loop and jubilee clips.
Bottom drum also modified . It has the stock tolron and delrin bearings so nothing to rust.
I fitted it new about 26 yrs ago so I guess it's done OK but only because of the changes.
The foil sections are in great condition with no oxidisation !
 
Another vote for Plastimo. Jissel had one when I bought her; it was a long way from new when I bought her and lasted more than 10 years before the bearing seized and ripped the innards apart. The Plastimo replacement has been going strong for a few years and still feels like new.
 
Medway Matt said:
For those with Sailspar furlers; do you ever suffer slippage between the furling line and drum, or is the friction between the two such that this never happens?
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No this never happens, Mine is about 12 years old now & i'm still very pleased with it, Good company to deal with
 
Has anyone any practical experience of an Alado furler? The concept is simpler than most other furlers and I wonder whether it's a good product.
 
A vote for Facnor for me. Replaced an older Furlex with the Facnor LS, very straight forward, no issues at all, simple design which l liked and not fundamentally part of the forestay which some are.
 
Aeolus said:
Has anyone any practical experience of an Alado furler? The concept is simpler than most other furlers and I wonder whether it's a good product.
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Yes, we have Alado furlers on our yankee and staysail. They are simple and robust and they work very well. They use the old Rotostay style return halyard system so there is no top swivel to go wrong. You can fit and remove the furler and foil from the deck which takes about an hour.
 
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