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From the 1989 Rigging Company (Portsmouth, RI) catalog:
McWhyte 3/8" 1x19 stainless steel wire (good, US-made wire) is $2.99 per
foot (5/16" sound a mite light for a 40' boat, but it could be what you
have). So, the wire should have been about $141. One marine eye $41
(including swaging). One Navtec turnbuckle (including swaging) $124.
About $306 total.
Your guess at how much time (including travel) was spent installing the
headstay is probably better than mine. @$40 per hour, the job took 7.5
hours (which seems like a bit much).
I may be wrong, but I think Magnafluxing only works on magnetic
materials (most stainless steel isn't particularly magnetic) and it only
reveals surface cracks. That is, it won't show a broken wire inside a
swage. X-raying the fitting would show a break, however. I've no idea of
the cost. You can buy a kit of three spray-on chemicals that are
supposed to show surface cracks. Less than $50 (as I recall). I've no
idea how small a crack is detectable. Metal fatigue isn't detectable (so
far as I know), and headstays are quite prone to fatigue failure since
they are subject to constantly varying loads, both transverse and
longitudinal. To reduce the chance of failure in rod rigging, Navtec
makes some special fittings in which a sleeve is supposed to fail before
the rod. I had one of these put on my ten year old rod headstay last
winter. Replacement of headstays more often than the rest of the
standing rigging isn't a bad idea. Inspecting every fitting and wire
every year is an excellent idea.
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| re.0:
Gee,you made my day!!!
Now I have to worry how much Bill Munger(Conanicut marina owner)
will charge me if I have him fix my transmission.
I, somehow lost the oil shield,the one on the output shaft where
it connects to the coupling which also shields the shaft hole on
the clutch casing and keeps the oil running out.
By the way,if you could climb the mast and install the forstay
yourself I bet you could have made one for less than $300 at the
Marine exchange in Peabody.As a matter of fact you should call
and ask for a quote describing the materials Conanicut used before
you confort Munger for overpricing..which he did in my opinion.
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| I'm not sure you were over charged for the materials. That is,
you were going to a shop that makes it's living, in part, on a profit
margin on materials. You can not use Jamestown Distributors prices
to figure a yards prices on materials. Edson charges 6.50 a foot for
7 X 19 wire (5/16) whereas Jamestown charges about 1.45.
I think that is the nature of the business.
That is also why I buy from Jamestown D. after a few suprises at
the yard where I kept my boat. And from Boat US or E&B rather than
J.T.'s for most things....
What I'm saying is that for yard work, the 144 buck premium you
paid for materials may not be out of line.
When I see 306 bucks labor, that is where I question it. That would
be 7.5 hours labor at 40 bucks/hour. There may be a machinery charge
for hoisting a rigger, that would tie up 2 guys for a while. They may
have had to move your boat to & from point where their hoist could
reach it, that would tie up two guys for a while and perhaps use of
their launch to move it. They might have had to make two trips up the
mast, one to remove old stay and determine what type of fittings,
second to install the new ones. Maybe even a trip to determine proper
cable length of new one since a different turnbuckle might mean
different length of stay, etc.
As a young man I worked in yards, and as a wooden boat owner, I spent
enough time in yards, to watch the operations. Every job you do is
hand tailored. Yard workers are more artisans than mechanics........
Don
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