How to Install a Pillow Block

A pillow block is similar to any of the fairleads on your boat, with one exception: it's designed to change a rope's pulling direction between horizontal and vertical by feeding the rope around a permanently mounted block with a pulley that is mounted vertically. Pillow blocks may be found at the base of a mast, where they change the direction of a halyard, the line used to raise or lower the sail, from vertical to horizontal, so that you can stand away from the mast and not imperil yourself by standing beneath a sail that may fall.

Things You'll Need

• Washable marker
• Masking tape
• Drill
• Bit
• Putty knife
• Marine adhesive sealant
• Assistant
• Adjustable wrench

Instructions

1. Position the pillow block on deck where you think it will do the most good for you and draw around its base with an washable marker. Before you lift the block from the deck, push the marker through the four mounting holes on the corners of the base. Lift the block away from the spot and lay masking tape down on the deck to replace the marking pen outline with a masking tape outline.

2. Drill holes in the deck where the mounting holes of the pillow block will be located, using a drill and a bit sized for the mounting bolts. Cover the edge of a putty knife with marine adhesive sealant and spread the sealant into the space now surrounded by masking tape; spread a thin layer, just enough so you can't see the deck through it. Put a coating of about the same thickness on the bottom of the pillow block frame.

3. Send a helper below with the block's mounting bolts and their washers, with instructions to push all four of the bolts up through the deck while you place the pillow block. Once the pillow block is in place, your helper will feel you putting the nuts on the bolts; when one of the bolts turns, have him place the adjustable wrench on that bolt and hang on. Install all four bolts in the same manner.

4. Set the pillow block over the bolts. Set the washers over the ends of the bolts and thread all four nuts onto the bolts until they are only as tight as you can make them with your fingers.

5. Pick a bolt and think of that bolt as "Bolt Number One." To its right is "Bolt Number Two" and immediately below that is "Bolt Number Three." To the left of Three is "Bolt Number Four." Tighten the nuts, from One to Three to Four to Two, in an "X," until the nuts are barely snug.

6. Tighten the nuts completely after 24 hours to allow the adhesive sealant to cure thoroughly.

References

• BoatUS Boat Tech; Bedding Deck Hardware; Don Casey