pylon ring removal

Has anyone had any luck removing the ring without damaging it or the pylon? My friend gave me a Fly High extended pylon. There are a bunch of us going skiing tomorrow and would love to try it out. I really want to get the setup that clamps to the pylon so I don't have to remove the ring but that's not going to happen before tomorrow. Who knows maybe I will be a lucky raffel ticket holder and win one in a few weeks at Lake George!

Jeff,

I have not changed mine yet, but I am going to soon. My Ring has a broken finger so I am swapping it out with a complete Ring and Finger that I purchase from a person on this site. He was parting out a boat.

I purchased a 6 PIECE PIN PUNCH Kit from Lowes made by DASCO PRO for about $10.00. I have been told to soak the pilon and ring in PB BLASTER for several days. Spray it in the crack where the Ring and Pilon meet. The 5/16 " Pin Punch seems to be the right size, but the instruction state to go one size smaller so I am using the 1/4" Pin Punch. These have a blunt end on them. Use the Punch to push out the two Roll Pins. Replace with new Stainless Steel Roll Pins when you are ready to reinstall the Ring and Finger.

After you have removed the two Roll Pins and have soaked the cracks and holes with PB Blaster, put a wooded, or Fiberglass Hammer Handle thru the ring behing the Finger. Then take another Hammer and beat each end of the Wooded Hammer Handle to try to make the Ring and Finger spin on the pilon. By hitting the wooden or Fiberglass handle you will be less likely to damage your ring and finger. I have heard of people hooking up a Block and Tackle Set that is connected to trees and pur under pressure for days to try make it break loose.   I guy that I purchased by Ring and Finger from said that it came off with little trouble.    

Once you get the ring to spin on the Pilon then you should be able to pull it straight out of the Pilon. I am concerned that I may get it to spin, but then it will not pull out. If this does not work, then pull the entire Pilon out and put it in a vice and use heat to try to work it out.

Like I stated before, I have not yet done this procedure, but as soon as I winterize I am going to attempt to do mine and this is what I have learned from other who have. I curious to see other ideas.

I Hope this helps,

Donald

I have been told you need to heat the aluminum up. Donald, please post what your results are. I am going to try to remove mine this winter also.

dwcar wrote: I have been told you need to heat the aluminum up. Donald, please post what your results are. I am going to try to remove mine this winter also.

Dwcar,

I will let you know what happens. I may given it a try this holiday weekend. I used heat to try to pull out the broken finger with the set screw out and the finger would not come out of the Ring. I was afraid I was going to set the boat on fire.

Donald

Donald 80,
My buddy put heat to the aluminum tow bar. I saw another post where they did the same thing. They put it between two trees and a cumalong on one end. I would not do the twisting with just PB blaster.

go with heat and some sort of pull!!

Guy,

Thanks for the advice. I will be up crap creek if I break this ring trying to get it out. I am going to try some heat and some pull. If that does not work I will then pull the pilon out and really put the heat to it.

All advice is greatly appreciated.

Donald

Donald80SN wrote: I will be up crap creek if I break this ring trying to get it out. I am going to try some heat and some pull. If that does not work I will then pull the pilon out and really put the heat to it. Donald

Donald,
No you won't be up "crap creek" Worst case you'll end up taking it to a machine shop. They will clamp it up in a vertical or horizontal boring mill and machine it out!!!

Heating may give you a slight advantage but not for long. Heat expands metal but it won't take long for the ring/finger shank to heat up and expand as well. The only advantage is aluminum expands more!! The pull with a come-a-long while twisting back and forth is a better option.

Guys,

Thanks for the help. I am going to try this coming weekend to take the boat to my father's shop ( 1 hour away) and attach a come-a-long to the rafters and apply some tension. I will then heat it and twist it till it comes out. I will let you guys know what happens.

I really want to stay with the orginal style ring and finger and I payed a high price to get a used one a few months ago. I really want to use it to keep it all orginal.

Thanks,

Donald

Dwcar,

No not yet. I winterized the boat several weeks ago and I took it to my father's shed / barn. My father's home is 55 minutes from my house. I spent all summer on the water so I am now catching up on home repair stuff. I just have not taken the time to go to my father and try to pull it out.

I am going to use a cumberlong from his rafters in his shop and use the steel pipe to try to work it out under some heat. I have a great Ring and finger to install so I am going to try to go this route.

I will try to get up to his place in the next few weeks to pull it out. I will let everyone know how it turns out.

Donald

I have my boat stored at my father's home ( 1 hour away) for the winter. I hope to remove my ring in the next few weeks. Honey do list has been keeping me away from it.

Donald

Update.

I finally made it up to my father's home and took some time to work on the Pilon. My boat is in a three sided six bay Tractor Shed with wooded rafters. I put a landscape timber over four rafters and connected a Come-A-Long to the Timber and Pilon. I put some tenson on the pilon and spun the Ringer and broken finger with a black cast iron water pipe from Lowes. My 74 years old father was on one side of the boat and I was on the other side twisting the ring back and forth. We twisted and jacked the ring out of the Pilon. It was not easy, but it came out. There is no way in heck that it would of come out with out pulling up on it with the come-a-long. However, be careful not to pull too hard to crack the fiberglass where the pilon mounts. You just need a little upward pressure.

I will clean up the hole and the new used ring and finger before I reinstall. I need to get some Stainless Steel Roll Pins. Anti-Seize wil be used when I reinstall in a few weeks.

Thanks for everyones help. House remodeling has slowed me up.

Donald

davee40 wrote: my neighbhor tried to get his to break loose out of a 78 SN for week tryed it all finally he took a hacksaw to it!!!

Dave,
Your neighbor must not know about CCfan!!

BTW, if you need any help, don't ask him!! You know where to go for help!!

he drinks to much beer to be rational, he tappped the ring and and bolted it to the back of his truck and said now who on ccf has that

I recently removed my ring so that I could instal a skylon. Before having a chance to purchase PB Blaster, a friend gave me a small bottle of a penetrating oil called "Kroil." According to the gun nuts, this penetrating oil will free just about anything metal. I applied it, returned 24 hours later, and was able to remove one of the pins. Applied a few more drops of Kroil, and returned 8 hours later to remove the second pin. I dropped a few drops of Kroil down the top of the pylon, and returned 24 hours later. I used a wooden axe handle, and was able to turn the hoop 1/8 of a turn clockwise. I reversed direction, and had a free spinning hoop. With a little upward pressure, the hoop came up with no damage. After reading so many horror stories, I was happy mine came up so easy. I don't know if I would have had similar luck with PB blaster, however, if the pb blaster doesn't work, a little Kroil might do the trick.

On a side note, I purchased a used skylon that came with the red pylon protective sleeve. I have a 87 ski nautique. Can anyone tell me which color of protective sleeve I need because the red sleeve seems too thick.

if you've got it moving then you need more upward force as your twisting it.