Rod kicker died?

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oilyrag

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The gas spring on my Selden rod kicker has given up the ghost. As the spring is an optional extra, does anyone know if it is ok to chuck it away and simply let the boom 'rest' on an unsprung kicker without any support from the topping lift, for instance while reefing? I know common sense suggests that this is the whole point of the thing, but the Selden instructions are a bit vague..
 
Surely, when reefing, you need to lift the boom using the topping lift, or your sprung kicker if it was working, and slackening the kicking strap. The you can get the sail tight down to the boom at the clew.
 
This is the text from my article published in PBO 434 Feb 2003, I hope that it helps you.

Kicker Renovation

This year I was let down, or rather my boom was, when the gas spring in my rod kicker failed. On making enquiries for a replacement part I was shocked to find that it would be in the region of £100.

I therefore decided to investigate and dismantled the kicker strut. Inside I found a very sorry looking gas spring that had suffered nine years of salt water abuse.

Although I had completely disassembled my kicker I found that this should not have been necessary, as the two halves should have just pulled apart. In my case the gas spring was causing the two parts to remain together. I drilled out the rivets that held the top of the gas spring into the tube and then I had to use a long drift to drive the old gas spring out.

It was remarkable that it had lasted this long, as it was quite obviously an auto part that had been modified to suit this application. In fact it looked very similar to the units that supported the tailgate on my car. This made me remember that I had a pair of gas springs from a Ford Sierra hidden away somewhere in my store. Just shows that it doesn’t pay to throw these things away, they will always come in handy sometime.

When I found these Ford gas springs they were almost identical in size to the one from my kicker, only being about 6 mm shorter in the body. The ends required modification because they were fitted with plastic cups to locate on studs on the car and these were easily removed by unscrewing them. I found that the top would screw directly into the original aluminium boss that had been riveted into the tube of the kicker strut. For the bottom fitting, the rod that came out of the gas strut required an M8 thread to be cut onto it, easily done with the correct sized die. Care is required here to protect the rod from scoring in case it damages the seal. I used a piece of plastic normally used to stop crockery etc. slipping on a sloping table, this worked well and gave an excellent grip in the vice. The original base plug was then screwed onto the gas spring and this spring assembly fitted into the kicker tube and riveted into position. The heads of these rivets had to be filed smooth with the outside surface of the tube as it had to slide inside the other tube that made up the kicker assembly. The rest of the kicker strut was then reassembled.

When the kicker was refitted to the boom it worked perfectly again.

A new gas spring from a motor dealer should cost around £25, although my local Ford dealer has a salvage department where they sell old stock and used parts and here they had various gas springs for £11.75. Car breakers may also be another cheap source. A worthwhile cost saving can therefore be made.

Chris Bailey 2000
 
I paid £32 for a reaplacement gas spring. Got them on the internet from Industrial Gas Springs Ltd. i got the 2500 newton one which is a higher spec. than the Seldon one that is 1500 (i think). The Seldon original was always to light for a 12ft boom and sail.
Spec. Shoulder length 280,Stroke 100, Size 14 , 28mm dia.
 
My poor rod kicker has never had a gas strut or spring in it at all. Queried this and was told you only really need one if you've got in mast reefing - and possibly not even then.

I've got slab reefing and have never had any problems and suspect that the rod is fitted as standard as they need it for in mast and found it cheaper to buy a job lot rather than think up something different for the slab reefers.
 
Hi Daedelus
That was really the gist of my original post, but specifically can the kicker without the gas spring support the weight of the boom, or must the topping lift, or sail when hoisted, always take the load?
I guess you are saying yes, this is what yours does, but please correct me if I am wrong.
I certainly do not want to go the the expense of replacing the gas strut if it serves no purpose other than to allow fine tuning of the mainsail in light airs.
Thanks
Oily
 
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