Brower cranes

Can the arm assembly (approx weight?) be lifted by hand or is it a job for a crane or cherry picker? TIA

How big is your crane (capacity).
Mine was installed by Brower many years ago. All by hand.

Not heavy, just bulky. As I recall, two of us lifted it out no problem and laid it near its base to complete the repair.

Ok, thanks. It is an 800 lb capacity Brower davit installed in ‘04. It makes that awful grinding sound when swinging by hand (can only be swung by hand) with the 800 lb dinghy attached. Sounds like the starboard is a good fix.

You'd probably be better with UHMW.
it's harder.

Starboard will fail quickly (or sooner).
As MBevins pointed out, your looking for a high pressure synthetic like Delrin.

Please keep us updated on progress and final results. Really interested what material you end up using. At the time of my repair, Starboard was all I had ready access to. If my bushing fails again, I would want to repair with a superior product.

Will do. I appreciate the input. Because of the davit positioning (and my back) I decided to get a crane to assist in lifting. Relatively inexpensive. Appointment on Oct 15. I cannot locate the retaining bolt just yet. Was that on the side or bottom? Based on your description I'm expecting to find a flat plastic disk of sorts that the davit rides on as it turns. Would that be accurate and if so how thick (approx) was it? I will post the material I use, all costs and pictures of the davit disassembled. TIA

On a Marqrap davit we just rebuilt, there were two bushings 1/3 the diameter of the vertical pipe.
Just enough material for the boom loads to lean on, high & low (push/pull).
I thought we had great issues when I could shake the whole davit in place (unloaded) and ordered the bushings for the rebuild.
During the project I discovered the bushing just rubbed on the loaded vertical pipe.
Still, one was cracked and just at metal on metal.
It is just the metal vertical pipe top/edge surface making contact with the base plate that the davit sat on.
No bushing in there for vertical loads. Grease is our friend here.
The greater loads are horizontal (push/pull) on the davit stand pipe.
New bushings in, you can still shake the whole davit but much easier to turn manually around.
Oh, gravity is our friend. This is the only thing that holds the Marqrap davit in place.

Next month (October), I take a crash course on a Nautical Structures davit that is for sale.

The rebuild process CR described is the same as I dealt with except parts are no longer available so we just made our own. Regarding the retaining bolt: On my unit, it is a stainless steel bolt threaded into the base and contacts the vertical pipe. I don’t recall any plastic disk that the assembly sat on.

CC & CR, Thanks for your time on this. Much appreciated. Will advise when complete.

I’m facing a similar repair for my 800 lb Brower Davit. I’d be very interested in pictures, materials and what it took to repair yours. Oct 15th is coming up quickly so hopefully my timing is good.

im also currently having an issue with the hydraulic winch motor. The unit booms up and down hydraulically no problem and the winch cable goes in and out without load. When I try to pick the dinghy up, it lifts about 3 feet out of the water but won’t go any higher. I had a hydraulic leak which has been repaired and the pump refilled, but I’m stumped on the current problem.

Blue Skies,
Dave
Email Removed

I am unable to upload the pictures because the files are too large. In Long Beach I had Marina Shipyard remove and reinstall my Brower davit. There is a heavy base with the stand pipe on the aft bridge so using the crane, IMO, was essential. The davit lifted straight up and off the stand pipe, gravity mounted. On the top of the stand pipe, where the wiring comes through, is a beefy roller bearing that was pressed on snug fit. It was readily available and replaced. Attached inside the front lower part of the davit is a (1" thick?) nylon block (4x4?) with a semicircle cut out. It glides around the base of the stand pipe as the davit rotates. The nylon block was fine & not replaced. The davit now rotates around the stand pipe easily and quietly. Labor, crane and bearing was around $750. It took a few guys and they did a great job. If someone wants a picture(s) I'll be glad to send photos if my description is lacking.

I would love to see photos although your descriptions are good. I want to get mine rotating easier and I fear that I may have issues with the winch as well. Does yours have hydraulic winch or electric? My winch is hydraulic and I’m trying to figure out how to access that mechanism.

Thanks for sharing!

Blue Skies,
Dave

My winch is electric, 12v. I don't know how to PM so if you give me an email I'll send pictures.

Mixed Nuts - you have members attempting to help you and you are trying to take the discussion offline therefore nobody else benefits from the knowledge, except you? Not cool.

Sending PMs and uploading pics is easy. Follow this link for directions...

https://www.yachtforums.com/threads/yachtforums-rules-directions-guidelines.8024/

I believe that MixedNutz stated that the size of his pics prevented him from uploading the pics. I requested the pics since I’m facing a similar repair. I understand sharing the knowledge, but it can be difficult for some people that are not so tech savvy.

I don't want to be "not cool" and I guess sometimes I just need a little push. Attached is the stand pipe with the bearing on top. I have a couple more.

Stand pipe without bearing. The ring at the bottom indicates where the nylon block rotated around the pipe.