How safe are anchor swivels

[Kushtaka]

I have one, and my rode twists anyway, and my anchor has an annoying habit of coming to my roller upside down, and falling off the side and hitting the gelcoat if I'm not paying attention (or someone else is manning the button and I'm managing rode in the locker).

Swivel or not, if I'm anchoring in over 100' of water, my rode comes up twisted. I imagine the problem would be much more dramatic if I had no swivel.

I plan on keeping my swivel, though it's certainly the weak spot in my ground tackle. I'm not sure why I would wake up to the sound of my boat on the rocks if the swivel failed. I'd hope that I'd wake to the sound of my anchor drag alarm and get up and fix the problem while still safely afloat, and would avoid sleeping at an anchorage that didn't afford the opportunity to wake up and reset my anchor before drifting aground.

For what it's worth, one could always put their swivel between a couple chain links and snub across it with a shackle (clevis!) for sleeping, if that made you sleep better. But still use an anchor drag alarm.

[colbysmith]

Resurrecting this thread with a question. After a discussion at the Hontoon gathering, and seeing the Mantus chain swivel, I decided to change my Lewmar swivel out for this robust monster. I am a little concerned about the pin that holds the chain in the swivel however. Seems like it wouldn't take much wear, before the pin could come out. Here is a photo of the swivel on my boat. I did put some safety wire around it for now, but don't expect the wire to stay on as nothing to keep it from slipping off towards the chain. The pictures on the Mantus instruction sheet appear to show part of the pin uncovered as well, but mine seems to have a little more of the pin showing. John, how's this compare with yours, and if anyone else has one, how's it compare? Colby

[jkidd]

Did you use the oblong pin? The pin is stronger than the chain link. Mine has been working for years with no sign of wear. You can buy spare pins for 2 bucks. it's a great swivel no side lode.

[colbysmith]

[gulfcoast john]

Hi Colby,

I don’t see any significant difference between the Mantus photo and your photo.

https://www.mantusmarine.com/mantus-swivel/

But then, I’m an old fart with glaucoma. I’ll get a picture soon of my connection.

I agree Mantus engineers have the oblong SS pin as the strongest link in the rode, as long as the bell and anchor connections are properly seized down with the provided SS wire. I suspect allowing owners to visually inspect the condition of the $2 oblong SS pin ends is a deliberate (and I think wise) choice. There is no way that pin can ‘back out’ if even a tiny amount of the bell housing prevents it.

Over the decades, I’ve noticed that the ‘last link’ galvanized G3 chain attachment to the high grade SS shackle or swivel gets worn and/ or corroded (two dissimilar metals immersed in salt water for many overnights will have that happen). So I hacksaw off the ‘last link’ every few seasons even if it looks OK. Maybe OC on my part.

John

[colbysmith]

Thanks John. I did use the cotter pin to lock the bell housing in position, and just used the SS safety wire to secure the bolt holding the anchor clamp. Tom called me and said he just took his apart to do some work and it still looked good after the time he has had it. He felt my pin was fine from the photos. So I guess I can stop worrying. Colby

[srbaum]

My Mantis swivel has worked wonderfully for a bit over 6 years. Plenty of days anchored with winds 25, with gust above that with zero issues.
http://www.c-brats.com/modules.php?set_albumName=album3629&op=modload&name=gallery&file=index&include=view_album.php

[Donald Tyson]

Good morning,
It's new for me to discuss real boat issues vs family and seldom used 'summer boat' issues of my days gone by. The pragmatist in me asks: 'whom in this group or even whom do you know period' that has counted wow many complete rotaions their boats have made (swiveled)?
Not trying to be a smart guy. But rather I'm on the market. If this is really a thing then I want to follow through with the findings here and add this to my boat's anchoring system. I've never felt the need for these devices and the little voice inside my head says check and verify against controls those things that seem questionable.
Do we really know that we need these swivels? Or are they really for the performance of our windlasses?
I'm not in any way trying to be a smarty but these thoughts plague me as I work these days on my own system.
Hardee's point below suggests that perhaps we feel some sort of obligation to the community to look or perform certain tasks "just because".

I was a professional tree climber until my mid 30's. I climbed in the Redwoods surrounding Eureka CA for a year and most climbing after that was anti-climatic. One thing I know is that all rope has a given lay. Three strand has a tremendous tendency to display these attributes. It seems to have more to do with tension than twist. Is is your Rode the right thickness? I could go on........

[Donald Tyson]

Very clean setup. Good Job.

[colbysmith]

Good morning Donald. The swivel just helps to keep the chain from twisting as you bring the anchor up. Some use one, some don't. But a few have stated it does make a difference. But it is a weak point on your anchoring rode, so you want to make sure you have one you can trust. I had one for a long time, I believe a Lewmar, that was sent to me by the same company that provided my rode and chain. I had not used one before, and would not have used one, but the company shorted me about 25 feet of rode, and when I reported this to them they gave me a choice of them sending another 25' of rode or a swivel. Additional short section of rode would have done me no good, as I was not going to splice it in, so I took the swivel. I've had it probably for well over 6 years, and it has held up. But when I saw the Mantus that John mentioned at Hontoon, I could see that was pretty dang robust, so I decided to replace my smaller swivel. In summary, I don't think you need to worry about the additional expense, unless you do a lot of anchoring and notice problems with your rode and chain twisting. Colby

[Donald Tyson]

Hey Colby, I'm sort of just absorbing everything "Anchor" right now. And that collar over Mantis design is something for sure. I'm new to Plow anchors Maybe I simply won't have to worry though for my little boat figuring how shallow the water is around here anyway.
Thanks, Don