got all my pieces and parts and this is what I came up with…
(1) 12lb Mighty Mite
(2) galvanized 7/16 shackles (thanks again LH)
(1) 12’ stretch of 5/16 galvanized chain
(1) 1/2"x150’ rope (5200lbs)
(1) 3/8"x100’ rope (3800lbs) for backup
(50) 75lbs zip ties
(25) 150lbs zip ties
did I mention I have a fear of losing this thing? so I put the first chain link around one of the tines then wrapped around a few of the tines and shackled it to another tine…
then I used 3 75lbs zip ties to secure the chain to the shaft of the anchor and 1 150lbs zip tie to secure the chain to the top loop of the anchor…
finished product…now I just gotta get a good day to try it out…who’s with me?
any comments or critique are welcome…I’m still learning so I can always use some opinions…
EDIT: my thoughts on securing the at the tine end and zip tying up the shaft to the top was that if by some chance if did get stuck I could motor around, snap the zip ties and pull the anchor free by the tine end…sounds good in theory right?
And the sea shall grant each man new hope as sleep brings dreams of home ~ Don Cristobol
looks fine but i don’t think your ties are strong enough
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that was one of my concerns. coming up the shaft the chain is pretty tight so there is not a whole lot of indirect stress put on that 150lbs zip tie at the top of the anchor. my concern was that if the anchor gets settled at a slight angle then ALL the pressure is put on that zip tie at the top, increasing the chances that it snaps…and if it snaps then the other 3 will snap in quick succession too.
EDIT: should I put another shackle at the top loop on the anchor and zip tie to that? that might reduce some of the direct pressure on that connection…
And the sea shall grant each man new hope as sleep brings dreams of home ~ Don Cristobol
Hmmm…
Were you at Scott Hammonds Seminar this afternoon? He taught about this same set up.Only one zip tie though.
Looks great by the way. I need to make mine.
no, I was not there but I think stickman was supposed to hit that one today and maybe he will shed me some light…I would love Scott’s input on my setup, and how he does his…
was the one zip tie just at the top of the anchor? did he give a weight rating on the zip tie?
And the sea shall grant each man new hope as sleep brings dreams of home ~ Don Cristobol
To put words in Scott’s mouth: get a ring welded onto aluminum stock at tine end and shackle there, then run ties along shaft. He mentioned Oswald’s as a possible source for the welded ring.
If you get that set-up stuck in some structure, do you think it’ll give before those 2 tines bend out on your set-up, and the shackle slips off?
Not being smart here, but aren’t those anchors supposed to get hung and then the tines are supposed to bend for unhanging purposes? Then, don’t you just bend the tines back?
That’s what I do with my MM16.
Why is the extra rigging needed?
Again, not being smart, just curious…
“Miss Amanda”
-KeyWest
-Bluewater 2020CC
-Yammy F-150God is GOOD!! ALL the time!!
The shortest distance between a problem and a solution is the distance between your knees and the floor.
The one who kneels to the Lord can stand up to anything.
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do you think it’ll give before those 2 tines bend out on your set-up, and the shackle slips off
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that’s why I incorporated all of the tines in the wrapping around of the chain at the tine end. I can see one or two tines getting bent out when pulling off of structure, but the odds of all 5 tines pulling straight enough for the chain to come completely off is very very slim.
Lynn, good question…am I just out-thinking myself and the nature of the Mighty Mite in the first place? with this set up I really don’t have a solid tie-off to the anchor itself, I am only relying on the 5 tines to not bend out enough for the shackle to slip off the whole anchor. is this really necessary or should I just trust a solid tie-off to the top of the anchor and let the aluminum tines do their job?
And the sea shall grant each man new hope as sleep brings dreams of home ~ Don Cristobol
I’m no pro, and I know a lot of people use the zip tie way. I have never had a problem getting mine up and bending the tines back. I carry a short 2x4 to press the tines against instead of the floor. Fishermen have all kinds of different ways of doing a lot of things. I, personally, do not see the need in the zip tie rigging, but that doesn’t mean a whole lot. Good luck! I’ll go with you to try it out. Then, you can show me a thing or two on catching fish!!
“Miss Amanda”
-KeyWest
-Bluewater 2020CC
-Yammy F-150God is GOOD!! ALL the time!!
The shortest distance between a problem and a solution is the distance between your knees and the floor.
The one who kneels to the Lord can stand up to anything.
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we’ve had ours come off quite a few tines looking like a squid with all times bent straight back…keep a piece of pipe in the boat for bending it back in place…hey…if anyone wants to do some little mini clinics at the oyster roast that might be fun too!!!really…bonzos going to so anyone else want to join in…net casting/line tossing/rig rigging/jig jigging…ok…I’ll stop now:smiley:
Zipties work, but honestly its a little overkill IMO. Honestly, it works, but I rarely do it, because the function of the achor is fine when you don’t. If it gets stuck (which that’s what you want it to do), it’ll bend out 99% of the time. Just bend it back when you get it back in the boat. The zipties to me end up being more work that is worth it after you drop anchor five or six times a day…
Scott should know about this system, I made one for them out of rebar a couple of years ago. It seems that only Scott has trouble getting the anchor back. The times I’ve used it with Chad the zip-ties didn’t even break, put boat in gear for a bit and retreve anchor. I agree that Mighty Mites were made so that the tines would bend to releas; however once the metal is bent back it loses strenght and good break off if bent again and again. Just my thoughts.
Good luck Bonzo. I’m going this Thursday check out some reefs.
By using the zip tie method, you extend the life of your reef anchor 5 times over by not having to “flex” the tines on it. Hey Bonzo, too late now, but we have been carrying a real nice aluminum reef anchor that was a good bit less expensive than the mity mite. See what happens when you don’t visit enough!! lol, jk
man, what are you thinking, you have 2 different color zip ties
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ChrisV, I’d love your input on this matter…why won’t it work?
I used 2 different color zip ties because the black ones are a lot lighter strength than the white one at the top…black ones are basically to just hold the chain to the shaft while the white one takes all the pressure…
And the sea shall grant each man new hope as sleep brings dreams of home ~ Don Cristobol
