mtb
New member
Danbrit's mast , when I get my angle grinder to it..
Phew what a poxy job , Angela and I started yesterday , 34ft high it was big bugger to .
I went up while Angela stood a safe distance with electric lead ready to unplug should it go pearshaped.
Poor thing was frozen but stuck at it , while I had the easy job of climbing up to do the first cut just above the A frame supports.
One handed with the angle grinder a bit iffy but got through ok . This section was 4"" tubing and had the cross tree's and an array of shackles so was a heavy 8ft lump.
I decided to cut 300 degree's around it then with cable attached PULL, it came over no problem as We pulled from a safe distance !!!.
It did not want to break free the last bit took ages to snap as we pulled it from side to side , eventually it came free dropped until the cable caught it so no problem now I thought this is the right method !!!!.
I was tempted to go get an oxygen bottle from BOC's ( I have an account ) but it would be very expensive , the robber's charge you eleven odd quid just to change a bottle then there's the rental and the gas , and not forgetting the huge risk re flames and molten lumps of steel flying every where.
So I went with the angle grinder .
After we got that beast down off to Asda's for hot chocolate , poor Angela she was frozen and looked a right state lol with my spare heavy duty fleece hat which is 3 sizes to big for her, the look's she got !!!!!.
Then back onto the job.
Next came the A frame side supports not as easy to drop as I thought and surprisingly heavy again they both came down , this was quite a different fish now as the mast was swaying both with the wind and the motion of me climbing up !!!.
I don't fret about these things cos I don't have the time, but balancing up there giving the angle grinder some stick gets the blood moving.
Me I would have carried on until done but she had already suffered enough , at times I'm sure her teeth made more noise than the grinder...
Today was big B******* day the main mast, on the way home I contemplated how much should I cut thinking no not that much it will go straight through the F****** deck and might not stop even then , so the thinking and cautious side of me decided four cut's to get it down.
Got to Wisbech at 0900 this morning , looked at the B****** and thought stuff that I cut through the ladder to allow room enough to grind and got stuck in . The actual thickness is 6mm so it did not take to long but 9ft of mast does come down very very easy , ha got ya I growled at it as I pulled the B****** over .
Like a good chap it just went CLANG but stayed put , so up at it to gently grind a few mm off the remaining bit then the same treatment as Sunday , bit harder this time as I didn't have the added weight of Angela .
Again it came down so easy and this section had a big side arm that housed cable shackles for trawling , that made it hard to move but it only had to come down ..
Now it was time to get the big grinder out huh as it roared through , tell you what though my overalls and Mobil phone got a nibble from it !!! while I pushed it through , talk about sweat it's rare for me but then I do have thermals plus extra layers on .
That section came off so easy now I have a stump which can be adapted into a tabernacle for a light weight mast to carry the light .
All the steel work above the wheel house came off quickly, to quickly in fact some Pratt had filled rotten steel with fibreglass . Just what you need that in an emergency having to climb up there to have steel safety rails fall apart.
One big cutting disk and 6 4.5 grinding disks not bad that is it. The generator used just over a gallon to do the job so pretty cost effective .
I put the main fuse back in while running the engine up before leaving this afternoon , the 24volt generator is not producing any power , mind you that was with out auxiliary battery's it must need the batteries to excite the field windings before kicking out power. So I will get onto that side of thing's next .
Danbrit is ready for sea now and by the end of this week I should be out there where I belong !! having a run out in The Wash then back into her new mooring's at Fosdyke.
Cheers
Mick
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/boats
I need a couple of oak tree's .. for me trawler
Phew what a poxy job , Angela and I started yesterday , 34ft high it was big bugger to .
I went up while Angela stood a safe distance with electric lead ready to unplug should it go pearshaped.
Poor thing was frozen but stuck at it , while I had the easy job of climbing up to do the first cut just above the A frame supports.
One handed with the angle grinder a bit iffy but got through ok . This section was 4"" tubing and had the cross tree's and an array of shackles so was a heavy 8ft lump.
I decided to cut 300 degree's around it then with cable attached PULL, it came over no problem as We pulled from a safe distance !!!.
It did not want to break free the last bit took ages to snap as we pulled it from side to side , eventually it came free dropped until the cable caught it so no problem now I thought this is the right method !!!!.
I was tempted to go get an oxygen bottle from BOC's ( I have an account ) but it would be very expensive , the robber's charge you eleven odd quid just to change a bottle then there's the rental and the gas , and not forgetting the huge risk re flames and molten lumps of steel flying every where.
So I went with the angle grinder .
After we got that beast down off to Asda's for hot chocolate , poor Angela she was frozen and looked a right state lol with my spare heavy duty fleece hat which is 3 sizes to big for her, the look's she got !!!!!.
Then back onto the job.
Next came the A frame side supports not as easy to drop as I thought and surprisingly heavy again they both came down , this was quite a different fish now as the mast was swaying both with the wind and the motion of me climbing up !!!.
I don't fret about these things cos I don't have the time, but balancing up there giving the angle grinder some stick gets the blood moving.
Me I would have carried on until done but she had already suffered enough , at times I'm sure her teeth made more noise than the grinder...
Today was big B******* day the main mast, on the way home I contemplated how much should I cut thinking no not that much it will go straight through the F****** deck and might not stop even then , so the thinking and cautious side of me decided four cut's to get it down.
Got to Wisbech at 0900 this morning , looked at the B****** and thought stuff that I cut through the ladder to allow room enough to grind and got stuck in . The actual thickness is 6mm so it did not take to long but 9ft of mast does come down very very easy , ha got ya I growled at it as I pulled the B****** over .
Like a good chap it just went CLANG but stayed put , so up at it to gently grind a few mm off the remaining bit then the same treatment as Sunday , bit harder this time as I didn't have the added weight of Angela .
Again it came down so easy and this section had a big side arm that housed cable shackles for trawling , that made it hard to move but it only had to come down ..
Now it was time to get the big grinder out huh as it roared through , tell you what though my overalls and Mobil phone got a nibble from it !!! while I pushed it through , talk about sweat it's rare for me but then I do have thermals plus extra layers on .
That section came off so easy now I have a stump which can be adapted into a tabernacle for a light weight mast to carry the light .
All the steel work above the wheel house came off quickly, to quickly in fact some Pratt had filled rotten steel with fibreglass . Just what you need that in an emergency having to climb up there to have steel safety rails fall apart.
One big cutting disk and 6 4.5 grinding disks not bad that is it. The generator used just over a gallon to do the job so pretty cost effective .
I put the main fuse back in while running the engine up before leaving this afternoon , the 24volt generator is not producing any power , mind you that was with out auxiliary battery's it must need the batteries to excite the field windings before kicking out power. So I will get onto that side of thing's next .
Danbrit is ready for sea now and by the end of this week I should be out there where I belong !! having a run out in The Wash then back into her new mooring's at Fosdyke.
Cheers
Mick
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/boats
I need a couple of oak tree's .. for me trawler
