Shaft and Strut Material

[SandyFrank]

Hell all,

Anyone know what the original strut and shaft material for the legend series was? Just hauled out and definitely need some antfoul love.

Thanks

 

[sail sfbay]

Curious why, are you replacing them? Are you looking for information / recommendations on antifouling? To your question, you can verify the material composition with a Positive Material Identification (PMI) handheld gun. My guess is the shaft is 316 stainless steel, albeit could be copper bearing metals like Naval brass, various bronzes, and Monel alloys, and the strut is bronze. This site sells a strut and shaft for your 40.5 and you can also confirm the material with them in the links below or other supply houses like Deep Blue Yacht Supply: Boat Propellers, Prop Shaft Seals, Shafts, Zincs, and Marine Hardware (deepblueyachtsupply.com) .

40.5 shaft: Hunter 40.5 shaft, propeller shaft fitted and faced with 5 inch yanmar coupler (hunterowners.com)
40.5 strut: Hunter 40.5 strut (hunterowners.com)

If you replace the strut and/or shaft you might find these threads about a 40.5 strut and shaft replacement helpful:
Replacement strut for 40.5 | Sailboat Owners Forums
Surprise!! Shaft wear by packing nut | Sailboat Owners Forums

 

[sail sfbay]

With the boat out of the water for bottom antifouling paint be sure to paint the strut and consider coating the propeller with any number of products like PropSpeed (that is what I put on my sailboat below), PropGlide Propeller and Running Gear Coatings | Propspeed Antifouling | PropGlide™ (bottompaintstore.com) , PropOne PropOne | Greencorp Marine , etc.

You might find this article on propeller paint helpful: Propeller Paints that Last | Practical Sailor (practical-sailor.com)

 

[SandyFrank]

Definitely painting it. I got some velox plus for it. If the shaft and strut are aluminum I will need to epoxy primer.

 

[sail sfbay]

I would be very surprised if shaft was solid aluminum vs. solid stainless steel is stronger and aluminum does not hold up in salt water. Please let the forum know if you find out otherwise. Thanks.

 

[sail sfbay]

Definitely painting it. I got some velox plus for it. If the shaft and strut are aluminum I will need to epoxy primer.

As far as paining suggest finding out what you boat marina neighbors use and what you diver (bottom cleaner) recommends for your area. I would be very surprised if solid shaft was aluminum vs. stainless steel (shaft in post #3 is stainless steel) since the latter is stronger and holds up in salt water. The strut will be bronze and should already have a barrier coat and painted. Suggest taking a photo of the shaft and strut and posting.