Flagpole, Finial and Halyard Repairs
Replace the halyard (rope) while the pole is still standing
This is possible but some care must be taken or you may end up needing a monkey and a ladder but more than likely will be forced to use a Cherry Picker to make the repairs.
1\ Grab whatever is left of the exisiting halyard and cut it, making sure you keep both ends held tightly.
2\ To one end of the exisiting halyard, get your new rope and put the two pieces end to end. Some electrical tape I find is the best. Bind the ropes neatly with the electrical tape for about 20 cm either side of where the 2 ropes meet. Said differently, the aim is to join the ropes together with the electrical tape, but making sure their is no lumpy sections otherwise the rope will not feed through the appropriate places.
3\ When ready, slowly pull the other end of the original halyard and watch the new rope go up the flagpole ......pulling very gebtly on the halyard.....and making sure the new rope is tracking with no knots or loops....these will \ may cause the join to separate. ULTIMATE failure if this happens.
4\ As the rope join approaches the top of the flagpole when it must travekl either into the flagpole if an internal halyard or through the deadye \ truck \ pulley, you need to slow right down with your threading. Start to walk away from the flagpole so that you are creating an angle of entry between you and the flagpole rope at the top of the flagpole.
5\ Now pull very gently until you "FEEL" the rope get a little tough to pull on......this is a touchy feely situation and you need to place just enough tension to pull the new rope through the top, but not too much that it will separate the electrical tape join.
6\ You will "FEEL' a sort of bump as the rope threads correctly and then becomes easier to pull. Slowly thread the new rope and pull till you have the join down at ground level.
7\ Now separate the join & you've successfully threaded a flagpole halyard. You may now add your necklace, flag clips and flags.
PS. Don't forget to tie a knot in the halyard if a single necklace style flagpole. The halyard should come down the flagpole either internally or externally, but in both cases be threaded through the cleat. Once threaded please tie a knot or two to prevent accdental loss of halyard when changing flags. The knot will allow the halyard to track only as far as the knot.....and then no need for a very long pole with a hook to retrieve your halyard......which may...if you don;t tie the knot...be at the top of the flagpole ?
If you do unfortunately have a situation where the rope is lost to the top of the flagpole, or becomes entangles or stuck at the top or where the halyard has disintegrated and is missing. You will need to either (A) Lower the flagpole to ground level by undoing the holding down bolts....you may need some WD40 to lubricate the old bolts and nuts to achieve this.
In very tough cases where the nuts are rusted on, a small hand held gas burner will be needed to heat up the nuts, cooking the rust off as it were, until they glow a bit red. As the cool down, use a combination of brute strength and WD40 to loosen them. An additional hint would be to get some aluminium pipe and slot it over the large shifting or ring spanner and use it for additional leverage. Be smart, brute force often tends to strip the nuts so make sure you use common sense when attempting your nut removal.
Now in option (B) you simply hire a Cherry picker and go up and re thread a new halyard. Yep the last resort, but in all 1,000 + repairs in my carreer, this is the most expensive resolution and now the most utilised due to OH & S requirements world wide.
This is possible but some care must be taken or you may end up needing a monkey and a ladder but more than likely will be forced to use a Cherry Picker to make the repairs.
1\ Grab whatever is left of the exisiting halyard and cut it, making sure you keep both ends held tightly.
2\ To one end of the exisiting halyard, get your new rope and put the two pieces end to end. Some electrical tape I find is the best. Bind the ropes neatly with the electrical tape for about 20 cm either side of where the 2 ropes meet. Said differently, the aim is to join the ropes together with the electrical tape, but making sure their is no lumpy sections otherwise the rope will not feed through the appropriate places.
3\ When ready, slowly pull the other end of the original halyard and watch the new rope go up the flagpole ......pulling very gebtly on the halyard.....and making sure the new rope is tracking with no knots or loops....these will \ may cause the join to separate. ULTIMATE failure if this happens.
4\ As the rope join approaches the top of the flagpole when it must travekl either into the flagpole if an internal halyard or through the deadye \ truck \ pulley, you need to slow right down with your threading. Start to walk away from the flagpole so that you are creating an angle of entry between you and the flagpole rope at the top of the flagpole.
5\ Now pull very gently until you "FEEL" the rope get a little tough to pull on......this is a touchy feely situation and you need to place just enough tension to pull the new rope through the top, but not too much that it will separate the electrical tape join.
6\ You will "FEEL' a sort of bump as the rope threads correctly and then becomes easier to pull. Slowly thread the new rope and pull till you have the join down at ground level.
7\ Now separate the join & you've successfully threaded a flagpole halyard. You may now add your necklace, flag clips and flags.
PS. Don't forget to tie a knot in the halyard if a single necklace style flagpole. The halyard should come down the flagpole either internally or externally, but in both cases be threaded through the cleat. Once threaded please tie a knot or two to prevent accdental loss of halyard when changing flags. The knot will allow the halyard to track only as far as the knot.....and then no need for a very long pole with a hook to retrieve your halyard......which may...if you don;t tie the knot...be at the top of the flagpole ?
If you do unfortunately have a situation where the rope is lost to the top of the flagpole, or becomes entangles or stuck at the top or where the halyard has disintegrated and is missing. You will need to either (A) Lower the flagpole to ground level by undoing the holding down bolts....you may need some WD40 to lubricate the old bolts and nuts to achieve this.
In very tough cases where the nuts are rusted on, a small hand held gas burner will be needed to heat up the nuts, cooking the rust off as it were, until they glow a bit red. As the cool down, use a combination of brute strength and WD40 to loosen them. An additional hint would be to get some aluminium pipe and slot it over the large shifting or ring spanner and use it for additional leverage. Be smart, brute force often tends to strip the nuts so make sure you use common sense when attempting your nut removal.
Now in option (B) you simply hire a Cherry picker and go up and re thread a new halyard. Yep the last resort, but in all 1,000 + repairs in my carreer, this is the most expensive resolution and now the most utilised due to OH & S requirements world wide.
Replace the halyard (rope) if lost, broken, missing by lowering the pole
1\ Lower the pole - Hinge system if available (1 man), or undo nuts and lower (2 men) required. Take a towel or something to assist your grip on the flagpole, especially if a little wet. Lift the flagpole straight up and then off onto the ground, being very quick to stand onto the square baseplate, to ensure the pole stops wobbling. Once you have control again, you will need one man to stand on or secure withtheir weight by pushing the base towards the ground, while the other man slowly walks backwards, hand over hand lowering the flagpole to the ground.
2\ When the flagpole is on the ground you may then attempt all repairs. The flagpole should have a steel baseplate welded to the steel spigot going up inside the flagpole. The spigot gives strength to the flagpole when flying. If you need to deal with difficult nuts and bolts, please refer option (A) above.
3\ Unscrew the self tapping screw, bolt, Allen screw, etc. with the appropriate tool. If you search
from the base of the flagpole up towards the top, you will discover the screw.
4\ Once removed you should be able to pull \ push the flagpole "OFF" the steel spigot.
5\ Unscrew and remove the finial \ the lid \ the cap \ top.
6\ Use some kind of weight like your shifter or screwdriver and tie the new rope to the item and insert it into the top of the flagpole . Put a spanner or something heavy with the rope attached into the throat of the pole. You then have to raise the pole again slowly and wait till the weighted item falls \ slides down the pole. Retrieve the rope off your weighted item and secure it.
7\ Lower the pole again and carry out your halyard repairs. This may include threading the rope through the holes in your finial \ the lid \ the cap \ top, if needed. Once completed please re screw the finial \ the lid \ the cap \ top, back into position.
8\ At the bottom end of the flagpole, either tie off your halyard on the cleat, or tape it in position for a moment. Measure enough rope out so both ends touch the ground and then a little bit and cut the rope. Position the pole so as it is about to slide back onto the spigot, BUT you must now throw the ropes into the spigot first, BEFORE sliding the pole over and into position. This is
so that when you raise the pole, the ropes will be inside the spigot and inside the pole so they will be in position at the hatch level for you to grab. This applies ONLY to internal flagpoles. If external halyard system you should have taped the rope to the outside of the flagpole with electrical tape for example.
9\ Slide pole back over the spigot.
10\ Re screw the self tapper into the pole and through into the spigot.
11\ Re Stand the pole.......ropes should fall into view at hatch level.
12\ Thread ropes through deck cleats inside pole and add the flag clips onto the rope.
13\ Now stand the flagpole and re bolt the nuts, making sure to use a spirit level, North South, then East west, ensuring the bubble is level to have the flagpole standing straight.
14\ Attach the flags and hoist to fly.
1\ Lower the pole - Hinge system if available (1 man), or undo nuts and lower (2 men) required. Take a towel or something to assist your grip on the flagpole, especially if a little wet. Lift the flagpole straight up and then off onto the ground, being very quick to stand onto the square baseplate, to ensure the pole stops wobbling. Once you have control again, you will need one man to stand on or secure withtheir weight by pushing the base towards the ground, while the other man slowly walks backwards, hand over hand lowering the flagpole to the ground.
2\ When the flagpole is on the ground you may then attempt all repairs. The flagpole should have a steel baseplate welded to the steel spigot going up inside the flagpole. The spigot gives strength to the flagpole when flying. If you need to deal with difficult nuts and bolts, please refer option (A) above.
3\ Unscrew the self tapping screw, bolt, Allen screw, etc. with the appropriate tool. If you search
from the base of the flagpole up towards the top, you will discover the screw.
4\ Once removed you should be able to pull \ push the flagpole "OFF" the steel spigot.
5\ Unscrew and remove the finial \ the lid \ the cap \ top.
6\ Use some kind of weight like your shifter or screwdriver and tie the new rope to the item and insert it into the top of the flagpole . Put a spanner or something heavy with the rope attached into the throat of the pole. You then have to raise the pole again slowly and wait till the weighted item falls \ slides down the pole. Retrieve the rope off your weighted item and secure it.
7\ Lower the pole again and carry out your halyard repairs. This may include threading the rope through the holes in your finial \ the lid \ the cap \ top, if needed. Once completed please re screw the finial \ the lid \ the cap \ top, back into position.
8\ At the bottom end of the flagpole, either tie off your halyard on the cleat, or tape it in position for a moment. Measure enough rope out so both ends touch the ground and then a little bit and cut the rope. Position the pole so as it is about to slide back onto the spigot, BUT you must now throw the ropes into the spigot first, BEFORE sliding the pole over and into position. This is
so that when you raise the pole, the ropes will be inside the spigot and inside the pole so they will be in position at the hatch level for you to grab. This applies ONLY to internal flagpoles. If external halyard system you should have taped the rope to the outside of the flagpole with electrical tape for example.
9\ Slide pole back over the spigot.
10\ Re screw the self tapper into the pole and through into the spigot.
11\ Re Stand the pole.......ropes should fall into view at hatch level.
12\ Thread ropes through deck cleats inside pole and add the flag clips onto the rope.
13\ Now stand the flagpole and re bolt the nuts, making sure to use a spirit level, North South, then East west, ensuring the bubble is level to have the flagpole standing straight.
14\ Attach the flags and hoist to fly.
