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[davidpbest]

The lack of substantantial turnbuckles is what prompted me to acquire the means to make my own. All I could find were for doors and such. The really big ones for trucks were 5/8 screws, the rest were aluminium. I needed one for a small tractor, the one on it was 10mm. The other had been lost by some previous owner. So I ended up making one. The raw aluminium might look alright on a sailboat but wasn't going to hold up for small tractor draught gear.

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Substantial turnbuckles (316 stainless) can be found at a ships chandlery (boating supply store). No legitimate sailor would put an aluminum turnbuckle on a boat.

 

[addertooth]

I have seen substantial turnbuckles at Tractor Supply Store.

 

[Bi11Hudson]

Substantial turnbuckles (316 stainless) can be found at a ships chandlery (boating supply store). No legitimate sailor would put an aluminum turnbuckle on a boat.

At the time I needed a turnbuckle, the "internet" as we know it didn't exist. Nor did "Tractor Supply". The closest salt water was some 200 miles south. While I had a couple days a week to travel that far, I still would need to find such a business that was open on weekends. I would probably qualify as a "legitimate sailor" in my earlier years. the only use now I know of for aluminium is airplane parts. As a "blue water" sailor in the '70s, I am well aware of how long aluminium doesn't hold up to salt water. That's why I avoid it like the plague.

As I pointed out before, in this area there are screen door braces and trucking clamps. One too small, the other too large. The only ones of a near correct size were of aluminium. I guess because the buyers for local stores had never been around salt water. I ended up welding up what I needed. While it was grossly oversized, it still was smaller than truck clamps. The tractor they were for was not much larger than a riding lawnmower. I have a 25-30 HP tractor now, with 14mm turnbuckles. But at the time, I made what I needed.

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