Harken Headsail Furlers

Is Harken the best? That is a matter of opinion, but its serviceable headsail furlers have long been a shop favorite. Compare the current Harken MKIV and MKIV Ocean systems; unit size, headstay length, wire or rod connection, pin size and sail requirements all matter.

For MKIV Ocean maintenance, Harken specifies soap and fresh-water flushing when washing the boat, including the halyard swivel periodically. At least twice a year, remove the furling line and clean the drum bearings more thoroughly. Follow the exact model manual rather than applying a generic grease routine.

If the furler remains stiff, have its installation, halyard lead, headstay, bearing condition and maintenance history checked. Replacement bearing sizes and materials vary by model and unit; identify the furler before ordering parts. Check current parts availability and pricing for your exact unit before ordering.

How does the competition tend to stack up against Harken’s Headsail Furlers? As I mentioned before, there are other good furler manufacturers out there that utilize this dry lubricated composite ball bearing design. However, let’s take a minute to talk about the ones that don’t and what their design is. Other manufacturers may use sealed and unsealed stainless ball bearings, that ride in stainless or aluminum races and are packed in grease. These furlers may require a different service procedure (depending on the design), without sending them off to the manufacturer. Usually they require complete bearing and race replacement, which can be pricey, and if nothing else time consuming. With some manufacturers, you may be able to re-grease them yourself or rather add more grease on top of the old grease (not ideal). Also, these “packed-grease-bearing” furlers seem rather sluggish right out-of-the box. Not a surprise really, considering that stainless balls packed with grease just sounds slow and dampened, much like I would expect for a wheel hub on a car or trailer. I can appreciate this engineering concept, but “I am trying to unfurl my sail quickly and effortlessly, not drive my furler down I-95 at 65 MPH :-0)

You make the call, but I would stick with the dry lubricated composite ball bearing technology of Harken Furlers. Don’t take my word for it, instead head down to your local chandlery and ask if you can give one a ‘spin’!

Thanks for the read!

~T.R.C.