It’s just a matter of when!

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but lets get this out of the way up front. Your Ranger 26 Stanchion Sheave is probably going to fail. It’s just a matter of time.

How Long Will Your Ranger Float?

If you are the proud owner of a beautiful Ranger 26, then you will want to get one of these brand new Stanchion Sheaves to have on hand for that terrible, but probably inevitable day when your old original aluminum sheave gives out.

Time is ticking. That aluminum sheave is over 30 years old. Some have been in fresh water, other in saltwater or a mix, but every Ranger 26 has this one part that probably will fail and can’t be replace – Until now!

What Is it?

A Stanchion Sheave is basically a block of metal, that bears the weight of the rigging and mast down onto the keel. On the Ranger 26, the Sheave is also hollowed out, and contains a slot for a pulley and has openings at the top and lower end of the casting to allow a pipe to be connected and a cable to be routed through the block for easily raising and lowering the centerboard of the boat. A plate covers the slot on the forward end of the casting where the pulling slot is. On the Ranger 26, all factory castings are aluminum. aluminum will, over time and in the right environment, corrode.

Features:

• Brand new!
• Perfect replacement!
• Save thousands of dollars and Hours and Hours of time!
• Far exceeds original specifications
• Marine bronze Alloy
• Much stronger
• Excellent corrosion resistance
• Same alloy used in propellers
• Machined mating surfaces
• Pre-drilled & tapped, ready to install
• Extremely long life

Just the sound of rushing water!

Imagine our surprise when, without any warning, while sailing under blue skies and fair winds on the way to Friday Harbor, we began taking on water. Not just a trickle, but gallons and gallons gushing onto the floor boards and rapidly filling the bilge. Imagine our dismay when we realized that there was no shut off valve to stop the flow, that hastily applied rages could only slow it down. Would it be enough to get us to a safe harbor or even to a gentle beach shore? The water was rushing through what had become an open 3/4″ hole under the water line. Quick thinking and lots of wrapping with a strip of rubber inner tube saved the Innisfree from a terrible fate, but sadly there was nothing to be done to repair the damaged part. After getting back to a marina, and attempting every available marine epoxy, caulk, sealant and wrapping we could find, We could not stop the casting from leaking.

We tried repairing the casting with marine-tex epoxy but that proved to be too weak and did not bond well to the aged aluminum, it leaked… cracked, pulled off and then just came off.

We built a dam around it and poured in epoxy. water still slowly trickled in.

Finally, we realized that the only answer was to pull out and replace the part.

We were able to slow it down but there was always a small trickle. It wasn’t until we hauled out and got the boat onto dry land where we could fully inspect the part that we could see the full extent of the problem. The casting had, thanks to common electrolysis, been eaten completely away at the connection point where the brass pipe (which supplies water to the engine cooling pump and allows the centerboard cable to attaches to and pull up the center board), screws into the castings tail. The aluminum was simply gone. It had dissolved from the inside out.

IMPORTANT: There were no visible signs on the outside of the casting to warn us of it’s crippled state. It corroded from the inside and finally it failed catastrophically.

Part? What Part?

After contacting the Ranger factory to see if we could purchase a replacement part (which now made drinking barges and thought that they might have a box of old castings in a shipping container), we learned that they no longer had any replacements. Further, the foundry that made the part and that may have had the original wooden master “plug” was no longer in business. Ken Wheeler, a former Ranger employee and Foreman on the Ranger 26 product line, went to great lengths to try to help us find a replacement or some way to get one made affordably. He went and searched the storage areas of the Ranger factory and even found an old storage container to search through. All spares had been thrown out!

Next I scoured the web looking for either a duplicate or similar part that could be modified to work. Nothing.

So, with no easy way to get a new sheave, and not way to repair our failed one, we started looking for the cheapest way to get one custom made. After sending photos, drawings and emails and then calling about 15 local, regional, and national foundries, machine shops, and even the big on-line CAM services, we discovered that we could indeed get a new replacement part made for $2500-$4500!

So, in the spirit of nothing is impossible, I created my own master plug and found a small foundry and machine shop to caste and then machine a small batch of these extinct parts.

Mine are made from rebuilding missing areas of my failed one, and then making a direct mold from it, then casting and milling to match exact original holes, diameter and threads.

We chose to cast the part in marine bronze to increase its strength, and life, and because the cost difference in raw materials was small while the benefits were substantial.

I now have 0 brand new Ranger 26 Stanchion Sheaves for sale to any Ranger owner who would like one. They are not “cheap” but they are quite a bargain compared to having one made. You could easily spend 4 to 8 times as much to get one of these made when you have no other options. Plus, you’ll be high and dry while waiting to get it made, and it may not fit right when you finally get it back!

Get Yours Now!

These remaining few Mast Stanchions Sheaves are available on a first come first serve basis. Get yours now to replace your old one before it fails, or to have for replacement when it does. You save more than $2000 to $4000 over getting one custom made! You’ll also save scores of hours trying to find someplace that will even do it.

$1195 on sale for $650 plus $25 shipping (They are heavy!) I’ll include photocopies of the plans and the disassembly change out procedure with your order.

Act quickly… I’ve only got Zero!

I’m looking into setting up another casting run. I’ll update this when I have more information.

Ranger26.com

Brand New Perfect Replacement Part – Keeps You Afloat!