Makana splashed last Friday after a week in the yard. Mostly routine stuff - bottom job, new dripless, etc.
(in a masterstroke of bad planning, that meant she was out of the water over Memorial Day weekend, which turned out to be absolutely gorgeous around here. Arrghhh)
The plan was to also replace the cutlass bearing, but when they got to that they called me to let me know they couldn't press the old one out with the shaft in place, like they normally would. Seems the strut is getting "pink", and they didn't want to put too much load on the bearing for fear of damaging the strut.
Let to an "interesting" discussion of options
-- leave the cutlass bearing alone for now - it's still good, just preventive maintenance at this point
-- pull the rudder, so they could pull the shaft and cut old the cutlass bearing out of the tube from the inside
-- do the full-meal-deal and replace the strut.
I opted - for right now - for the first one. Crossed the cutlass bearing off the list for this haulout. The yard manager says that the strut doesn't show any signs of imminent failure (no cracks, etc), so "in normal use" it is likely good for a few more years, it's just they were worried about the loads that would be put on it by trying to press the cutlass bearing out.
So, okay. Sounds like I have a little time to think about this. But at some point - likely the next haul-out in 2 years - I'm going to have to face the problem.
I've read @bigd14 's great 5-part blog showing how he replaced the strut on his 30+. Including pulling the motor to make sure he had room to work and get the alignment right. That's... well beyond my abilities, not to mention time.
So I'm thinking through what would need to happen for the yard to do this job.
-- I need to source a suitable replacement strut
-- they'd for-sure need to pull the rudder (which means disconnecting quadrant, etc)
-- they'd for-sure need the water heater out of the way (which I could probably do)
But from there? I have nothing but questions. Like.... would the engine need to be moved? I'm sure (or at least it's highly likely) the engine would have to be realigned with the shaft, unless somehow magically the new strut went in EXACTLY the same as the old one. I have no idea if the current mounts have enough adjustment range to be able to match a significant change in shaft angle. And thinking through that, it makes me wonder what other directions the job will grow.
Yard says it's a $3-4k job to replace the strut. Looking at bigd14's photos, I think it's probably more than that. Plus the cost of the strut. Plus (maybe) moving the motor. Plus (maybe) adding new engine-mounts to the project, if the engine is going to be moved off them anyway. Plus (maybe) adding rudder bearings and/or a dripless gland while the rudder is out. Plus (maybe) a new shaft and prop. Plus, plus, plus...?
Anything I'm not thinking of? Or shouldn't worry about?
Bruce
(in a masterstroke of bad planning, that meant she was out of the water over Memorial Day weekend, which turned out to be absolutely gorgeous around here. Arrghhh)
The plan was to also replace the cutlass bearing, but when they got to that they called me to let me know they couldn't press the old one out with the shaft in place, like they normally would. Seems the strut is getting "pink", and they didn't want to put too much load on the bearing for fear of damaging the strut.
Let to an "interesting" discussion of options
-- leave the cutlass bearing alone for now - it's still good, just preventive maintenance at this point
-- pull the rudder, so they could pull the shaft and cut old the cutlass bearing out of the tube from the inside
-- do the full-meal-deal and replace the strut.
I opted - for right now - for the first one. Crossed the cutlass bearing off the list for this haulout. The yard manager says that the strut doesn't show any signs of imminent failure (no cracks, etc), so "in normal use" it is likely good for a few more years, it's just they were worried about the loads that would be put on it by trying to press the cutlass bearing out.
So, okay. Sounds like I have a little time to think about this. But at some point - likely the next haul-out in 2 years - I'm going to have to face the problem.
I've read @bigd14 's great 5-part blog showing how he replaced the strut on his 30+. Including pulling the motor to make sure he had room to work and get the alignment right. That's... well beyond my abilities, not to mention time.
So I'm thinking through what would need to happen for the yard to do this job.
-- I need to source a suitable replacement strut
-- they'd for-sure need to pull the rudder (which means disconnecting quadrant, etc)
-- they'd for-sure need the water heater out of the way (which I could probably do)
But from there? I have nothing but questions. Like.... would the engine need to be moved? I'm sure (or at least it's highly likely) the engine would have to be realigned with the shaft, unless somehow magically the new strut went in EXACTLY the same as the old one. I have no idea if the current mounts have enough adjustment range to be able to match a significant change in shaft angle. And thinking through that, it makes me wonder what other directions the job will grow.
Yard says it's a $3-4k job to replace the strut. Looking at bigd14's photos, I think it's probably more than that. Plus the cost of the strut. Plus (maybe) moving the motor. Plus (maybe) adding new engine-mounts to the project, if the engine is going to be moved off them anyway. Plus (maybe) adding rudder bearings and/or a dripless gland while the rudder is out. Plus (maybe) a new shaft and prop. Plus, plus, plus...?
Anything I'm not thinking of? Or shouldn't worry about?
Bruce
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