Hook and moor jammed

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bromleybysea

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I bought one of these gadgets last year. I have to say that it wasn’t as useful as I thought it would be, single handed, but it didn’t really have much of a trial. It has now completely jammed. The thing relies on a short extending shaft being pulled out to drive recirculating balls which close the hook and thread the line. it’s ingenious and seems well-made. But it’s jammed solid. The extending shaft will not move from the closed position. Has anyone else had this problem? Any
one taken the thing apart? Any help or advice appreciated!
 
Looks kind of complicated and certainly overpriced! I imagine it would need washing through with fresh water often, perhaps a soak in fresh water would free it up?

We have a simpler plastic thing that works perfectly every time and has very little to go wrong. I'd highly recommend it if you can't get yours working.
Force 4 Jolly Hooker Mooring Hook | Force 4 Chandlery
 
Is the red locking button free to move?

I have dismantled one that wasn't moving very freely and was caught out by the rush of balls to the floor. It's not difficult to take apart but a large container under to catch the balls is advised. Re-assembly needs a bit of care and patience (and all the balls) but is doable. I decided in the end that the problem was mainly in my operating technique.

The official maintenance guide advises fresh water or WD40 in extremis.
 
Also experienced repeated stuck behavior - always when most inconvenient. Two seasons washing and oiling - after which I just dumped the contraption.
 
madabouttheboat said:
I had one do this. The aluminium tubes corrode and stick inside each other. I did manage to free mine up but it took a lot pf work dismantling and bashing to get them apart again. its a design flaw unfortunately.
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Ours is 7 or 8 years old and and no corrosion issues. Brilliant tool for threading a rope on a mooring boy.
 
dunedin said:
Ours is 7 or 8 years old and and no corrosion issues. Brilliant tool for threading a rope on a mooring boy.
Click to expand...

It is very clever, but I guess you use your regularly. I left mine unused for a period and that may have been the problem, but a product designed for the marine environment should be able to withstand a bit of salt water. Its working again now, but considering the cost I was very disappointed in it.
 
Same happened to mine. Copious amounts of boiling water then some penetrating oil got it moving.
Used to keep it in one of the lazerettes, but now it resides in a spare cabin, less exposure to damp salty air.
If its not going to be used for some time, I wipe down the moving parts with light oil.
 
The sliding threading part and the main tubes got quite stiff on ours (it's 10 years old), so I took it apart to fettle it. Yes, all the little plastic ball bearings in the extending head flew everywhere, but I did manage to collect all of them. The tubes were a little corroded inside, but cleaning up with WD40 seemed to do the trick. Now all is silky smooth.:)

When I enquired about a replacement rubber end cap from the manufacturer, to my surprise the designer of the product replied himself. He recommended the WD40 overhaul, and also came up with the advice to store the beast hook-end down so that any water left inside doesn’t get trapped and cause corrosion.

I agree that the device is overpriced, and a little finicky to use (like getting the mooring line knot stuck in a mooring buoy ring ☹️ - now fixed by sewing a loop in the end of the warp). However, the stand out feature for us is its 3m length. With such a long pole, you never miss when threading or hooking, whereas how many many times have you seen people struggle with short poles and high topsides...
 
its not the aluminium tubes but the mechanism on the working end that is completely stuck. Feels locked solid in the closed position even with the red button released. Tried everything, dismantled ios as far as I could, soaking in a bucket, boiling water, WD40, to no avail. Just an expensive piece of scrap :(
 
lustyd said:
We have a simpler plastic thing that works perfectly every time and has very little to go wrong. I'd highly recommend it if you can't get yours working.
Force 4 Jolly Hooker Mooring Hook | Force 4 Chandlery
Click to expand...
We have owned one for over 25 years. Not used so much now but at one time was used several times per trip. A really clever little idea, cheap and simple, that works every time.
 
Like Vyv, I've had my plastic wishbone for many years and it works well on buoy rings, and after all that time I have now found that I need to modify it! I have discovered that the wishbone length is not quite long enough to work on the D bars at the end of the fingers on Cherbourg pontoons.
I used to be able to kneel down and loop a line, but those days are fading ☹️
 
MontyMariner said:
Like Vyv, I've had my plastic wishbone for many years and it works well on buoy rings, and after all that time I have now found that I need to modify it! I have discovered that the wishbone length is not quite long enough to work on the D bars at the end of the fingers on Cherbourg pontoons.
I used to be able to kneel down and loop a line, but those days are fading ☹️
Click to expand...
When we lived in The Netherlands we frequently need to wait for bridges to open. Rather than motor up and down the water, or blow down and motor back, we found that by using one of these we could often hook onto the bolts that hold the protective timbers in the bridge approaches. Saved hours of motoring!
 
A typical use for my Moorfast was whilst waiting for the swing bridge at Cran on the River Vilaine to open, or for the lock at Arzal.

Use the Moorfast to pass a slip line from the stern through the loop on the waiting buoy. All easily done from the cockpit.

Then a cup of coffee and relax until the bridge/lock green light comes on.

Slip and go.
 
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