Anchor Swivel - Yay or Nay

juggernaut1

Well-Known Member
Apr 19, 2015
1,152
Perth, Western Australia
Boat Info
Boatless - sold Searay 38 Sundancer
Engines
8.1’s
Over the weekend we had spend half a day fishing on the anchor in the ocean. When leaving I drove the boat forward and used the windless to pull the anchor as per ususal - soon after I was greeted with the chain coming on deck minus the anchor. It became apparent the anchor swivel bolt had sheared and the anchor never to be seen again.

So i'm now shopping for a new anchor and my experience now begs the question whether I should instal it without the swivel.

What's everyone's thoughts and if one is recommended what are your recommendations?

A quick search of the net revealed the Kong brand ones made in italy seemed to get high praise.

Should we also be treating these anchor swivels as a maintenance item and replace every 3 to 5 years?
 
I just went through this.

Here is my opinion. If you can use a shackle then why not? In other words why have a swivel if it’s not needed? In my case the anchor was coming up sideways and was a pain to spin it correctly to seat in the bowsprit. I purchased a swivel because it eights my anchor every time and to me that’s worth something.

If you do decide on a swivel, the mantus seems to have a good design and it’s serviceable. The king does get good reviews but I don’t think you can service it.

Josh
 
I vote swivel.

Mine always comes up sideways for some reason so it flips it around before coming home.

I have one of these.
LEW-SWIVEL500F__12917.1493987949.500.750.jpg
 
The swivel on out boat was bent when we purchased our boat, so they definitely need inspection. Not sure that they need replacement as a matter of course, that would depend on how much anchoring you do and how much "wear" that might be occurring. That's your call.
I am not a fan of anchor swivels for two reasons, first often they are the weak link in the rode, and secondly, many are installed incorrectly or poorly, further weakening their abilities to hold the boat at the most critical times.
The swivels WLL is rated for straight line loading, if they become side loaded, that figure drops considerably, and many swivels have a fixed jaw attached directly to the anchor shank that makes side loading inevitable as the boat swings or doubles back on tide swings, or gets driven over when trying to break it loose from the bottom during retrieval.
The best solution is to try your anchor without a swivel first, if it does not self-right when coming up into the chute, you may have to add a swivel. Use 2 shackles at the anchor shank, one 1/2" on the anchor, and a 3/8" at the end of the chain. (The pin of the 3/8" will past through the last link of the 5/16" G-4 chain that is usually provided on your size boat.)
The shackles will allow the chain to twist 1/2 revolution which works fine for us. Both the original Kodiak plow anchor and the current Rocna will self right using just shackles on our application. Pay close attention to WLL on your components that you use. The 5/16" G-4 chain is rated at 3900 pounds, our 1/2" (stainless) shackle is rated at 4000 pounds, the 3/8 alloy galvanized shackle is rated at 4000 pounds. Not all components are rated equal, so check. (Stainless is almost always less for like size shackles).
If you do need a swivel, add a shackle at the anchor shank or better yet, a short piece of chain if you have the room between the tip of the shank and your chain stop. They will prevent the swivel from side loading.
I have no experience with them, but I was leaning toward the Mantus swivel if the Rocna wouldn't "turn" into the chute. They are serviceable for cleaning and inspection.
Good luck
 
The swivel on my boat was the double jaw type - presumably the original that came with the boat. My anchor didnt always come up the right way, but I could drop it a couple of feet and pull it up again and it would generally self right unless it had a ton of weed or sea grass hanging off it. I'm not sure if the correction was due to the swivel or the anchor though (35 pound Delta).

Good point on the shackle and/or chain for the bullet style swivels to overcome the side loads and I guess this was the design advantage of the double jaw type swivel that came with the boat.

Another thought is that I could also rig up a snubber setup off the front cleats to reduce any snatch and therefore strain on any future setup. My current original setup doesn't have a chain stop.

I'll have a look at the Mantis swivels. From memory the Kong swivels were rated to 5,000 kgs and half that for side loads in the 8mm to 10mm chain size swivel - I have 8mm chain on my boat.

In the mean time, please keep the comments coming.
 
So I've ordered the following:

Rocna 15 kg anchor (already arrived)
Mantus S1 swivel
Wichard 10mm self locking hex head bow shackle (if I don't use the Mantus swivel)
Ultra chain grab for snubber setup

The Mantus swivel is a relative bargain compared to the Ultra and Kong counterparts. That said, I'm still not sure on a swivel setup and whether I'll definately fit it. Rocna doesn't recommend them and definately doesn't recommend them on their Vulcan "spade" type anchors.

I was looking at buying another 16 kg Delta but for not alot more the Rocna seemed a better anchor with a very similar shank pattern suggesting an easy swap into the original bow roller setup.
 

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