wobbly spreaders

Posted By: richard
Date: 9/2/07 8:35p.m.

Report: outside forum guidelines

In Response To: Spreaders - How to tighten (Carlos)

If your N16 is set up like mine - and that's a pretty big if - there's a nut on both ends of the spreader tube. The nut at the mast is part of a fitting threaded into the mast itself, with a projecting rod that the spreader tube fits over. The nut at the outer end is threaded onto another piece of rod inside the spreader tube; when this nut is tightened it increases spreader tension. You might want to turn the outer nut until the spreader wire can be popped off, and look for yourself. If the inner nut can be snugged up against the mast, that may reduce the wobble. But I suspect the mast may be bent in around the nut (mine is), and the nut won't tighten very firmly. I recently added a stainless steel 3/8" washer between the mast and the inner nut, which gave the nut a little more surface to bear on, and retightened the nut while straightening the whole works a little bit - carefully, so as not to mess up the threads in the mast completely. It seems better. If it doesn't stay tight I may try drilling and threading new holes a couple of inches up or down the mast.