cutless bearing

Don S/V ILLusion · Jun 5, 2014

Just to confirm, you did remove the 2 set screws which hold the bearing in place?

Allan12210 · Jun 5, 2014

As Don says, make sure the two set screws are out, then squirt in some PB Blaster or other penetrant to assist your extraction tool.

We removed our prop shaft by taking off the strut. The challenge is getting the coupling off first. If that comes off, the strut is pretty easy if someone didn't glue it to the boat. Then the shaft can swing enough to clear the rudder. A lot easier than trying to move the engine (messes up the alignment) or dropping the rudder (requires a deep hole or lifting the boat).

seadaddler · Jun 5, 2014

Have you asked for a price to remove the cutless and add a new from a pro.
I am just saying sounds really involved taking all the things apart.
I just did it but my H-36 2007 cutless bearing came out and back in easy
but I did remove the shaft because I was replacing my PSS rubber booth
and so just was easy replacing the cutless bearing for me
The yard had some one who does it but mine was easy after checking Mainsail's
link and I did what Mainsail's showed what to do and I did not need to touch the motor or strut.
Nick

Don12364 · Jun 5, 2014

Don - you don't say what your tool looks like but mine is as in the attached picture! It also shows an old bearing it has just removed.
What you need to do first is to scrounge an old bearing from a chum or from the boatyard's workshop and then to hacksaw a 1" wide strip from along the side.

To use, first take the prop off and any rope cutters etc. and remember to remove all the old bearing retaining screws. Mine has four.
Next put the tool on the shaft ahead of the strut and align the aft end with the existing bearing. Then by sliding a hammer along the shaft give the tool a few sharp raps. If the old bearing doesn't move - as seems likely in your case, put the head of a 4lb club hammer against the after edge of the strut and you can then hit the tool much harder without risk of damaging the strut or its attachment to the hull.
I have never known this technique to fail, not even in a foreign port at 4:30am whilst we were on holiday.
Good luck,
Don.

Don Crowther said:
I've got the prop off which wasn't easy. Now the tool I'm using will not move the bearing. So my question is it easier to drop the rudder or lift the engine to remove the shaft? I'm working by myself so dropping the rudder might not be an option. If I lift the engine what connections will I have to remove? Will just undoing the mounts be good enough? Can I strap a 4x4 across the companion way and use a come along? Thanks

mbowser · Jun 5, 2014

I don't know if this is the proper way to do it, but I've removed a bunch of cutlass bearings with a hacksaw blade. I slide it into the inside of the bearing and carefully cut through one side of the bearing making a notch. Then move the saw and cut out another notch. At that point you can take a screwdriver and collapse the bearing onto itself and remove it easily.

Go slow because the bearings usually cut pretty quick and you don't want to cut into your strut or shaft log.

Don Lucas · Jun 5, 2014

drop the rudder

mbowser · Jun 5, 2014

Don Crowther said:
Mbowser
If I can get the shaft out without much trouble that's what I was planning.

Sorry, I misread your original question, I thought you said you had removed the shaft already. With that said I'm not familiar with your strut, but if it is bronze or stainless steel, you could try heating the strut with a torch to hopefully loosen up the bearing connection.

Steve Dion · Jun 5, 2014

Not easy to drop the rudder unless you can dig a hole in the ground.

Hunter voyager · Jun 5, 2014

Remove the strut. There's only 4 bolts that hold it in place. Mine was bonded on with 5200 so took a lot to cut through as its recessed into the hull but did come off eventually.

When putting back just make sure to bed it in 5200 again and set it vertical. Should go back exactly same as before but good idea to realign shaft anyway as that may have caused the bearing to wear in the first place. Realign again after the boats been in the water for a couple of weeks as the alignment will change a bit when the keel is hanging from the hull.

Allan12210 · Jun 5, 2014

Don,

I finally woke up again. I got so fixated on removing the prop shaft that I forgot you wanted to change the bearing. Of course you can just slide the strut off. Duh, what was I thinking? The strut in my case was not bedded into the hull, just the holes were sealed with Sikaflex. In fact, you do not want to bed the strut to the hull, ever. It needs to be bolted to a hard surface so it can't move at all and therefore always stays in alignment. So, before removing the strut, undo the coupling at the transmission (you don't have to remove the coupling from the shaft, just separate the halves) and unscrew the packing nut so the shaft is free floating. Check and see that it passes directly through the center of the cutless and that it also passes directly through the center of the shaft log. You will have to support it with a little block of wood inside the boat just so it isn't drooping with gravity and you can tell if it wants to cant to one side or the other of the shaft log. If it is distorting the cutless up or down when held in the center, then you have an alignment problem anyway which can easily be fixed. Here is a link to my post when I had to realign the strut.

http://forums.hunter.sailboatowners.com/showthread.php?p=1026021&highlight=allan12210 strut

and here

http://forums.hunter.sailboatowners.com/showthread.php?p=632453&highlight=allan12210 strut

If the current strut looks aligned, it should go right back in the same place. Just to be sure, use a magic marker and make some lines from the strut base across the hull for alignment reference. If it is crooked to begin with, then you can judiciously use epoxy putty, some shims or putty knives and plastic wrap to bring it into perfect alignment. After it sets up, re chase the bolt holes with the proper drill bit using the strut as a template and just fill the holes with Sikaflex 292. If the current strut was glued to the hull (I hope not) you have to clean all that stuff out to just bear on the hard surface. Check the alignment and if off, follow the procedure above.

Hope this helps. Its really not that hard to do. Good luck.

Allan

Slipin Away · Jun 6, 2014

When putting in new cutlass put it in the freezer for a few hours. It will shrink it slightly making it easier to install and coat outside with never seize

Maine Sail · Jun 6, 2014

Don Crowther said:
I've got the prop off which wasn't easy. Now the tool I'm using will not move the bearing. So my question is it easier to drop the rudder or lift the engine to remove the shaft? I'm working by myself so dropping the rudder might not be an option. If I lift the engine what connections will I have to remove? Will just undoing the mounts be good enough? Can I strap a 4x4 across the companion way and use a come along? Thanks

Don't be frustrated by this at all. Only about 5% of the bearings press out easy. Most home made tools I have seen are nowhere near the duty of the Strut-Pro which uses hardened steel and is MASSIVE... Even with the Strut-Pro not all bearings will press out, about 5% will not even with a hydraulic or Strut-Pro tool..

Two years ago I watched the guy next to me on a big Hunter try his hardest to remove his cutlass. He built a very sweet looking tool that I thought looked very well througth out and made.. I offered to help but he was intent on making his tool work. Finally by the third day of tool "tweaking" he gave up. My Strut-Pro got it out in about 3 minutes but this bearing was a very, very tight fit.. The new one needed soap to press in...

These are supposed to be bearing press fit and that is a broad spectrum in terms of interference fit. Some wind up on the sloppy end and some wind up on the very tight end. Some galvanically bond/corrode themselves to the strut.. Some fit EXTREMELY tight and other just snug. Most fall into the very tight fit range.

I don't even expect my Strut-Pro to remove all cutlass bearings. A home made tool will likely remove even fewer....

I have removed over 150 cutlass bearings so do have a decent n=X data pool to draw from.

Maine Sail · Jun 6, 2014

Slipin Away said:
When putting in new cutlass put it in the freezer for a few hours. It will shrink it slightly making it easier to install and coat outside with never seize

The freezer does little to nothing on thin shell bearings. They heat up so fast that the freezing has no impact. On thick shell bearings, as used on 1 1/4" shafts and above, this can help for about one third of the press in difference.

Also please do not use a graphite, copper, aluminum or any other metals or graphite impregated lube, such as Never-Sieze, on a cutlass. This adds more dissimilar metals to the mix which creates a galvanic mess.

Soap or glycerin work fine, they disappear once the boat is launched, and do not create additional galvanic issues..

cutless bearing

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