Outdoor Living & Lifestyles - Patio Umbrella All Geared Up

I have a basically nice 9' patio umbrella from Plantation Patterns - hand crank and auto-tilt. During a recent ice storm/deep freeze (yep, I left the umbrella on my deck....up), the hand crank became frozen. Unfortunately, I tried to lower the umbrella, using force on the handle that ultimately damaged some of the teeth on the smaller gear inside the crank unit. If I just could replace that part, I'd be in good shape for the summer - don't see much need to throw away a good umbrella. However, I don't even know how to find a replacement gear. Any help?

You might want to read the faq's here or contact them for help.
http://www.plantationpatterns.com/

Newt

Thanks, Newt. I actually did look them up on the web and apparently their customer service department can only provide some of the real basic replacements, such as the pole or umbrella canvas. I was hoping the parts inside the crank handle unit are standardized and, therefore, might be available through some other resource. I'll keep trying.

Sorry that didn't help. Hopefully someone else will come along with a better idea.

Newt