34-2 Struggle With Rudder Bearing Nuts and Bolts

[bigd14]

After the last rain I found water in the quarterberth. An investigation found the bronze upper rudder bearing assembly was leaking from the cockpit onto the quadrant, into the removable panel covering the sheaves and then down into the quarterberth. The quadrant had some mysterious holes and gaps which I figured out may have been designed to allow some kind of skinny tool to reach the forward nuts beneath the bronze rudder bearing assembly (the aft ones can be reached from the cockpit locker). I was able to barely fit a 7/16 thin ratchet wrench in and wedge it onto the nut with a chisel handle and glove and unscrew the bolts from above.

The bearing took two straight hours of prying and liberal use of Debond but finally yielded after hope and my back had nearly expired. I cleaned up the area but didn’t have time to properly seal the core with epoxy before the rains moved in again, so I replaced the bearing assembly with lots of Bed-It butyl with the intention of coming back to it in a future dry season and properly sealing the core.

And now for the conundrum- how to replace the washer and nut on the forward bolts without removing the quadrant? I spent an hour using tape over the wrench, tape and butyl holding a nut to a skinny prybar, and other tools and methods I could think of but I could either not get the tool to fit or could not get the nut to line up. There is now quite a collection of lost nuts and washers sitting on the quadrant where I can’t reach them.

Someone must have done this before or have a good idea or a special tool that would help. I really don’t want to drop the rudder and remove the quadrant.

Thanks.

The nearly inaccessible bolt. Not enough clearance between quadrant and sole to fit tools. Have to go through the gap.


Quadrant and sheaves


Wrench gap?


Lots of butyl

 

[peaman]

I wonder, from some of its features, if the quadrant has two halves joined? In that case, you might be able to split the quadrant and lower it clear of the upper bearing.

 

[bigd14]

Yes it looks like two halves but the bolt going through it and the rudder shaft appears to be the only thing keeping the rudder in the boat. Originally the rudder probably would float but I can’t be sure if it’s waterlogged now and would drop to the bottom!

 

[Dave G.]

Yikes ! That looks tight ! I think you're going to have to remove the quadrant to fix that. Maybe put a sling under the rudder to hold in the boat while you remove the quadrant ?

 

[Kenneth K]

It might be that there are two things that prevent the rudder from falling out of the boat; one is the through-bolt and the other is the clamping of the disc (quadrant) around the tube. I'm guessing that if you remove the through-bolt, the disc is still clamped tightly around the rudder tube.

If so, maybe you could:
1) Remove the through-bolt, re-insert it so the bolt-head faces the stern, but don't put the nut back on.
2) Slacken the steering cables. Loosen the 4 screws that clamp the disc around the rudder tube, then just remove the front half of the disc. The back half of the disc and the through-bolt should keep the rudder from falling out. Maybe use a wood block over the front half of the through-bolt to keep the back half of the disc pulled tight against the rudder tube?

I think the main purpose of the through-bolt is to receive the teeth of the emergency tiller, and that the clamping of the disc around the rudder tube is the primary structural support.

Re: Butyl tape. I've started getting stingy with the remaining Bed-It butyl I got from Mainesail. I don't think it's available any more. I've been using Life-Calk for temporary repairs and saving the butyl for the final installation. Life-Calk is pretty easy to remove after-the-fact with a plastic putty knife and some acetone.

 

[bigd14]

Bed it butyl tape is still available. I just got some from Amazon. But I will double check it to make sure it’s the same formulation as always. I used my leftover roll for this application.

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I am going to try to find a longer wrench. I revisited the boat last night and I think an extra long ratchet wrench may work. I’ll bring my remote grabber tool so I don’t run out of nuts.

If that doesn’t work I’ll go after the quadrant removal with a sling under the rudder and the bolt partially in. Hoping it doesn’t come to that.

What a silly challenge! Boats…

 

[Kenneth K]

Bed it butyl tape is still available...

I didn't know that. Thanks.

I am going to try to find a longer wrench.

Or, a flat piece of bar stock (any length you want) with a nut-sized groove ground out of one end.

 

[Prairie Schooner]

. . .
If that doesn’t work I’ll go after the quadrant removal with a sling under the rudder and the bolt partially in. Hoping it doesn’t come to that.

What a silly challenge! Boats…

If quadrant removal is necessary, would it be possible to put a temporary collar around the shaft, lower down? You could make something out of a couple blocks of wood that have the appropriate hole inside. Use bolts to clamp it onto the shaft.

Yes, Boats!! . . .

 

[JSM]

Had a similar problem with the rear bolt on the stuffing box a few years ago and ended up installing a screw in inspection port in the bulkhead.
The location is probably below the area you need to get to but maybe you could remove the top trim strip on the bulk head, saw out a small section of the bulkhead and cover it back up with the trim strip after the bolt is installed.

 

[bigd14]

Had a similar problem with the rear bolt on the stuffing box a few years ago and ended up installing a screw in inspection port in the bulkhead.
The location is probably below the area you need to get to but maybe you could remove the top trim strip on the bulk head, saw out a small section of the bulkhead and cover it back up with the trim strip after the bolt is installed.

Thanks JSM, I don't think this will help the current situation, but is part of the plan to access other items back there.

 

[Kenneth K]

Bed it butyl tape is still available. I just got some from Amazon. But I will double check it to make sure it’s the same formulation as always. I used my leftover roll for this application.

Yeah, I just got my new roll from Amazon today--delivered in less than 16 hours. Amazing. I still have to re-bed all my port stanchions.
Thanks for the tip!