swapping out a bow roller?

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nocall
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swapping out a bow roller?

Post by nocall »

I have a 2005 power cat with a Windline bow anchor roller and a Bruce anchor. I have come across a great deal on a heavier Spade anchor and am considering replacing my Bruce anchor. The only problem is the current bow roller will not work at securing the Spade anchor and I cannot for the life of me figure out how to remove the old roller so that I can replace it with something else. I would assume that the roller assembly is through bolted to the deck but how you get to the nuts underneath the deck is a mystery. I really do not want to cut holes into the hull to do this. Does anyone know how these things are put together or have any other suggestions? The roller assembly I want to use looks like this: http://www.wholesalemarine.com/p/ACL-90 ... oller.html Thanks.
James Power
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Re: swapping out a bow roller?

Post by James Power »

Hey Nocall,

If you have the re designed salon seating you can open up the access port for the anchor locker behind the forward seat back cushion and see the bow roller mount. It was usually a piece of aluminum that was tapped for the roller fasteners. If the new roller will fit on the backing plate it may be possible to remove all but one of the existing bolts, swing the roller to one side, and re tap and bolt the aluminum plate to the deck with flat head bolts. Then you will be able to remove the last bolt and old roller with out dropping the aluminum backing plate. Then re drill and tap for the new roller. An alternative is to install an inspection port in the water tank locker bulkhead close to the mount area. If doing this route a word of warning, is a tough one.

Hope this helps
James
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duetto
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Re: swapping out a bow roller?

Post by duetto »

hi nocall,

what is the problem with the spade? we used one on our 2003 for 6 years before switching and never had a problem. now i'm not sure the roller bracket wasn't changed between 2003 and 2005. james power maybe able to comment on whether we have the same assembly.
john & diane cummings
duetto mv34 #23
nocall
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Re: swapping out a bow roller?

Post by nocall »

The problem is that when the anchor is snugged up tight into the roller the flukes of the anchor are only pressed against the bottom of the cheeks of the roller side pieces and the shank/fluke junction is not drawn up tight against the actual roller part. This roller assembly was designed for the Bruce anchor and it works well for that anchor. I noticed that on some boats, specifically on Dick Tuschick's boat, the roller assembly looks to be of a different design where the side pieces are not as wide as on our boat. Anyway, with only two small bearing spots on the anchor against the stainless steel sides of the roller assembly, the anchor can wobble around way too freely to make us happy and the galvanizing on the anchor would be worn through in days where the contact points are located. In an email from a distributor of the Spade anchor, this is the roller assembly that they say works well with that anchor: http://www.wholesalemarine.com/p/ACL-90 ... oller.html. I will dive into a more detailed inspection of the boat's construction, with the hopes that a replacement roller will fit and not require drilling too many new holes through the deck. Yeah, right.
nocall
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Re: swapping out a bow roller?

Post by nocall »

I took a close look at the bow roller mounting setup and have come to the conclusion that, unless the new and different bow roller has the exact same hole pattern as the old one, changing the bow roller will probably not happen. I might toy with the idea of modifying the present roller by fabricating some additional parts or perhaps creating a hybrid roller by combining parts from another assembly. Before that will happen I will need dimensional drawings of the rollers and more time to fool with it. Oh well...
Bargain Bill
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Re: swapping out a bow roller?

Post by Bargain Bill »

I had a similar problem when I switched to a 20kg Manson anchor (looks identical to a Rocna but less expensive). I use a couple of shims, one on each side of the anchor shank inside the bow roller and it works like a champ. Used a couple of 2"x3" boards about 12" long and the anchor is rock steady. Of course you should remove them before deploying the anchor otherwise they'll go over with the anchor.
Bill & Fran Carlson
Easy Riders MV34 #029
Ocean City, MD
nocall
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Re: swapping out a bow roller?

Post by nocall »

Bargain Bill, which bow roller do you have on your boat. Best I can tell mine is made by Windline. I will certainly try using the shim idea as it sounds simple, cheap, and easy.
nocall
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Re: swapping out a bow roller?

Post by nocall »

Bargain Bill wrote:I had a similar problem when I switched to a 20kg Manson anchor (looks identical to a Rocna but less expensive). I use a couple of shims, one on each side of the anchor shank inside the bow roller and it works like a champ. Used a couple of 2"x3" boards about 12" long and the anchor is rock steady. Of course you should remove them before deploying the anchor otherwise they'll go over with the anchor.
How do you orient these shims?
Bargain Bill
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Re: swapping out a bow roller?

Post by Bargain Bill »

Not sure of the mfgr of my bow roller. It has 3 bolts securing it to the deck. The front top has 3 holes on each side and the front bottom edges are flared out about 20 degrees. The 2"x3" shims are laid one on each side of the anchor shank, between the shank and the bow roller. I cut mine about 12" long, but I think any length between 6" and 18" would have worked just as well.
Bill & Fran Carlson
Easy Riders MV34 #029
Ocean City, MD
nocall
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Re: swapping out a bow roller?

Post by nocall »

Sounds like you have a different bow roller than mine. Mine is secured by 5 bolts, two on each side and one in the middle. I will try using the shim trick anyway; might get lucky!
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