19 tramp install pain

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Jonathan Levine
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Posts: 43
Joined: August 30th, 2019, 12:17 pm
Boat Make/Model: SC19, SC20
Location: Southern Alberta

19 tramp install pain

Post by Jonathan Levine »

The 19 I acquired last fall is out of the snowbanks and I'm about to start putting it together - apparently it hasn't been sail-ready for half a dozen years or so. Figured I'd have an easy start with getting the tramp strung, but right away it's giving me grief - can't stretch it into the tracks, which is making me feel like some kind of lame newbie.

Before I start loosening beam bolts to get a few mm of slack, is there any other trick I should know?
Matt Haberman
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Re: 19 tramp install pain

Post by Matt Haberman »

Hi Jonathan,

The tramps have always been designed and manufactured to be installed on the boat after the beam bolts are secure. With that being said it is possible that the tramp has shrunk over the years of not being installed. If that is the case I am not certain I have much of a solution other then the patch you were already headed down....

A couple of questions that might help diagnosis the problem:
1) Does the tramp thread into a track on the rear beam or does it wrap around the beam?
2) Is the tramp material coated nylon or is it the un-coated net material?
3) Does the tramp have a seam across it? And if so, is it straight across or does it run across on a diagonal?

Also make sure the that the tramp tracks on the hulls are clean so when you do get the tramp in there it will move smoothly. This can be accomplished by wrapping a thin rag around a drill bit and spraying it with some cleaner, then slide the rag/drill bit up and down the track to remove and dirt that has accumulated inside the track...
Matt Haberman
Aquarius Sail Inc.
http://www.aquarius-sail.com
Jonathan Levine
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Posts: 43
Joined: August 30th, 2019, 12:17 pm
Boat Make/Model: SC19, SC20
Location: Southern Alberta

Re: 19 tramp install pain

Post by Jonathan Levine »

Yeah, I'm thinking it shrank over the years. Perhaps if I tried to install it on a really bright, hot day, it might relax enough to go in without all this futzing around, but, you know, half the season will be gone by the time that day rolls around.

1. It's the old-tyme wrap-around. I think this was an Ericson-era production boat (Tom has the serial number).
2. Does "yellow" tell you anthing? I think it's coated.
3. If they're the seams you mean, they run across (nothing diagonally).

I can always swab them, but I'm pretty sure the tracks are clean - it's been sitting shrink-wrapped for years.

So it sounds like there's no magic - I'll back off the beam bolts and see if that helps.

You guys getting any closer to having tiller crosstubes?

thx.
jl
Matt Haberman
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Re: 19 tramp install pain

Post by Matt Haberman »

Jonathan,

Yellow cross cut tramp is probably an original, they haven't been made that way (cross seam) since about 1984. So good chance it shrunk a bit.

Since it is a wrap style tramp you could try installing by starting at the front and feeding it toward the back. The hull is a bit wider by the front beam vs the rear so that might be helpful.

I checked with Tom and he said the cross bars are in process, but I'm not sure when he expects them to be ready.
Matt Haberman
Aquarius Sail Inc.
http://www.aquarius-sail.com
gahamby
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Boat Make/Model: SuperCat 15#315
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Re: 19 tramp install pain

Post by gahamby »

I like running a bit of Scotch Brite pad dipped in white vinegar through the tracks. Consider soaking the tramp in hot water. Lube the tracks with soap.
Jonathan Levine
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Boat Make/Model: SC19, SC20
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Re: 19 tramp install pain

Post by Jonathan Levine »

Thanks for the tips. The grief I'm having is just with feeding the bolt rope in at the end of the track - once it's in, it's sliding through fairly easily. So I don't know whether running the scotchbrite through there is going to help. And why the vinegar? But I am lubing it with a little dish soap. It's just that the damn thing is marginally too narrow. Now that it's about a third of the way in (from the bow this time per Matt's suggestion), it's sitting where there may some day be sun that'll help it - I hope - relax.

I also loosened off the beam bolts, but that didn't make any difference, as the beams are bedded in RTV and I don't want to break that bond if I can possibly avoid it.
gahamby
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Re: 19 tramp install pain

Post by gahamby »

I like the vinegar as a cleaning agent. Perhaps take a drift pin and tap it into the feed end of the track.
Jonathan Levine
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Joined: August 30th, 2019, 12:17 pm
Boat Make/Model: SC19, SC20
Location: Southern Alberta

Re: 19 tramp install pain

Post by Jonathan Levine »

To be clear, the problem in feeding it into the track isn't that the track is pinched or otherwise damaged. Everything is round, smooth, and clean.

This is simply a case of the tramp having shrunk over time (years off the boat), so it's difficult to feed it in without having the bolt rope jam. Think of trying to raise your main with the outhaul pulled tight, but in this case there's nothing to let off on, unless I pry the beams loose of the hulls.

It's sunny again for the first time in a few days, so we're going to give it another try shortly - with any luck it'll have softened just enough.
gahamby
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Boat Make/Model: SuperCat 15#315
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Re: 19 tramp install pain

Post by gahamby »

Have you tried immersing the tramp in hot water?
Jonathan Levine
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Posts: 43
Joined: August 30th, 2019, 12:17 pm
Boat Make/Model: SC19, SC20
Location: Southern Alberta

Re: 19 tramp install pain

Post by Jonathan Levine »

Problem solved: I'd already loosened off all the beam bolts, so I removed both from one side of the forward beam. With them out, the tramp slid in, no sweat at all. With the tramp in place, the beam/hull holes were offset 1/2", maybe a little more. I thought it'd be harder to get them realigned, but all it took was a couple of skinny teenage girls pushing out on the bows for me to get the bolts back in place.

Which brings me to my next question.

I didn't have any trouble with the bolts - afaIk it was a freshwater boat so there wasn't significant corrosion. But I'm trying to stick as close to spec as possible and would like to get some anti-seize in there for its own sake as well as to help me get the bolt torque right. The old manual calls for Never Seez, but I have no idea whether I can source that around here. Is there a readily-available, perhaps automotive-grade anti-seize that's appropriate, something that doesn't contain fairy wing dust and hummingbird tears and would thus take me forever to find?
Matt Haberman
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Re: 19 tramp install pain

Post by Matt Haberman »

Jonathan,

Lanocote is probably the best thing as it will not wash away, but we have also used marine grade wheel bearing grease on the bolts...
Matt Haberman
Aquarius Sail Inc.
http://www.aquarius-sail.com
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