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Boat Forum / Building / June 2005cotter pins vs rings
This is more of an encyclopedic rigging question, but perhaps someone here could enlighten me: is there a reason to choose a cotter pin over a cotter ring in any application, or vice versa? The kinds of applications I'm thinking are for locking turnbuckles and clevis pins. I know my boat has primarily cotter pins, but occasionally there's a ring, and there seems to be no rhyme or reason to which goes where. It seems that rings would be much less likely to snag on sails, and they can also be removed faster and without needing a plier of some sort. So are cotter pins typically stronger, or is it just habit that makes most people use them? Thanks! Teri S/V Shadow Line > This is more of an encyclopedic rigging question, but perhaps someone > here could enlighten me: [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > The kinds of applications I'm thinking are for locking turnbuckles and > clevis pins. <snip> I'm convinced the most misunderstood device on the planet it the lowly cotter pin. Cotter pins should only be about 1/4" longer than the dia of the rod, bolt, etc, the go thru and should then only be spread at the tips about 10 degrees. Sailing in the Great lakes region meant a 6 month season which meant a common garden variety duct tape could survive that long. Year around sailing areas probably need sailing tape. Would make a little pad from duct tape, place it against the cotter pin points, then wrap more duct tape around say a turnbuckle body to hold it secure. At layup time, simply cut the tape away. I found rings to be a total waste of time. YMMV Lew >Would make a little pad from duct tape, place it against the cotter pin >points, then wrap more duct tape around say a turnbuckle body to hold it >secure. > >At layup time, simply cut the tape away. Good advice, but I do the same with cotter rings. I use the pins on the spreaders, the boom and places I am unlikely to walk past with loose clothing. >I found rings to be a total waste of time. > >YMMV I use SS cotter rings on the turnbuckles because they are reusable and easily inspected. I can also get them on and off with no tools save a reasonably healthy thumbnail, and can delegate the job. I think each securing method has its own place, and am not particularly dogmatic about it. Your advice about keeping them shorter and just bending them outwards slightly (I've seen super-long ones with their ends twirled into "mustaches") is correct. R. >>I found rings to be a total waste of time. >> >>YMMV OK, my mileage does vary. ;) > I use SS cotter rings on the turnbuckles because they are reusable and > easily inspected. I can also get them on and off with no tools save a > reasonably healthy thumbnail, and can delegate the job. True, the 'reusable' and the 'no tools' parts are the key. As for delegating, some people (such as my wife) simply cannot learn to cope with cotter rings. The former owner of our current boat took a file and sharpened the ends of the cotter rings on our turnbuckles... I wonder what he thought this accomplished? > ... I think each > securing method has its own place, and am not particularly dogmatic > about it. Your advice about keeping them shorter and just bending them > outwards slightly (I've seen super-long ones with their ends twirled > into "mustaches") is correct. Agreed. I like to use cotter pins on some types of machinery that rarely gets taken apart. DSK Lew, Your plan is good if you don't tune the rig much. I can spin out a ring and change the tension in a stay with my rigging knife. If you have a boat rigged with rings, you don't need the tape because there is no thing to snag. You are largely accurate that a standard cotter pin will stay in with very little spread of the legs, but that way they can also be knocked out without much notice. If you do that, tape in not an option. As to why Slampoud has an in determinite mix, I have no guess. I have a mix, rings where it take the rig apart and pins (wraped aircraft style) where I don't. Matt Colie >> This is more of an encyclopedic rigging question, but perhaps someone >> here could enlighten me: [quoted text clipped - 29 lines] > > Lew I used to race a Shark and we used rings on the turnbuckle to chain plate connection for the shrouds. Unless we taped them, the jib sheets would regulary unwind them and pull them out. Dale Gloer > Lew, snip ... > If you have a boat rigged with rings, you don't need the tape because > there is no thing to snag. snip... > I used to race a Shark and we used rings on the turnbuckle to chain > plate connection for the shrouds. Unless we taped them, the jib sheets [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] >> > snip... During a delivery from Hawaii a few years ago I found 2 of the three cotter rings at the backstay splitter plate had very nearly fully undone themselves. After this happened 4 days in a row, and one disappeared from a shroud turnbuckle, I replaced all rings with pins... After that I've banned rings on any boat I've had anything to do with. Brian C <snip> > During a delivery from Hawaii a few years ago I found 2 of the three > cotter rings at the backstay splitter plate had very nearly fully undone [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > > After that I've banned rings on any boat I've had anything to do with. Heard this same story, more than once. Have yet to hear of a taped pin coming out. Lew I tape cotter rings cuz of this. The latest Cruising World had an article about this. The point out that taping stainless steel can lead to corrosion failures. Cotter pins are the way to go, it seems. >> I used to race a Shark and we used rings on the turnbuckle to chain >> plate connection for the shrouds. Unless we taped them, the jib sheets [quoted text clipped - 20 lines] > >Brian C damn straight. I turned the corner on a blustery point once and had the windward upper stay pop off creating quite a bit of excitement. found the pin and ring lying separately on the deck. I don't know how they walk out of there but they do. After spilling the wind and letting the boat jibe I made the jib halyard off to a stanchion support which served as a temporary stay and thus cheated death once again. |
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