Removing Prop Shaft Hunter 410

Jun 4, 2004
1,087
Mainship Piliot 34 Punta Gorda
I have not done it but first question is why do you need to? I need to replace my dripless seal and with my coupling frozen on the shaft I have two options. Cut the coupling off or cut the shaft. My next haul out I am going to try and cut the coupling.
I determined that to remove the shaft you have to remove the rudder to make room to pull the shaft out. And to remove the rudder you need to either lift the boat or dig a hole.
Don't knnow that this helps.
Are you on a morring ball in Boot Key? Love Marathon. Been there many times.
 
Oct 17, 2021
46
Hunter 410 Boot Key
I am thinking/wondering that removing the cutlass bearing would allow enough angle to get the shaft pass the rudder.
 
Jan 7, 2011
5,704
Oday 322 East Chicago, IN
I am thinking/wondering that removing the cutlass bearing would allow enough angle to get the shaft pass the rudder.
I don’t have a Hunter, but on my O’Day 322, the shaft was lined up with the rudder. In order to remove and replace the shaft, I removed the coupling from the shaft, and removed the stuffing box. Then I removed the prop and the cutlass bearing. That gave me a little wiggle room to get the shaft out and aa new one back in…I scraped paint off the rudder but got it out. Maybe the hardest part was getting the new shaft back into the shaft log.

If your shaft is bad anyway, far easier to cut it off and take it out in pieces. Especially if the coupling is frozen in place. I was trying to salvage my shaft, so I spent 2 days pressing the coupling off (just to inspect and decide to replace the shaft). The only problem with this is you won’t know for sure that you CAN get the new one back in…

But I think it was far easier than dropping the rudder.

Greg
 
Jan 4, 2006
7,303
Hunter 310 West Vancouver, B.C.
I am thinking/wondering that removing the cutlass bearing would allow enough angle to get the shaft pass the rudder.
You don't want to remove the cutlass bearing on ANY boat unless you're replacing it. Far easier to make preps to drop the rudder before you get into the slings and then drop it while you're in the air. Even if it costs a few extra $ $ $ while the operator sits around.

Do the reverse when you go back in.

Worked for me when I epoxied our bottom and I wanted to pull the rudder to ensure I could clean and epoxy the top of the rudder and entry point into the hull.
 
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Jan 7, 2011
5,704
Oday 322 East Chicago, IN
You don't want to remove the cutlass bearing on ANY boat unless you're replacing it. Far easier to make preps to drop the rudder before you get into the slings and then drop it while you're in the air. Even if it costs a few extra $ $ $ while the operator sits around.

Do the reverse when you go back in.

Worked for me when I epoxied our bottom and I wanted to pull the rudder to ensure I could clean and epoxy the top of the rudder and entry point into the hull.
With the right tools, pressing out the cutlass bearing is not a big deal.


Getting it out without the right tools AND without removing the shaft first, would be near impossible.

Greg
 
Jan 4, 2006
7,303
Hunter 310 West Vancouver, B.C.
Sooooooo much easier to remove and replace a cutlass bearing than to drop the rudder
Guess I got that really wrong in that I thought you meant to remove the strut. And of course I'm saying "bearing" in post #5 when I should be saying "strut".

Now, I think I've got that straightened out. I can see how you'd gain enough clearance with the strut hanging loose on the shaft. The additional side to side movement in the fixed strut with only the bearing removed would be quite small. Don't know if you'd be able to clear the rudder yet.

DISCLAIMER: when writing post #5, I had the parrot sitting on my shoulder demanding my undivided attention because he had just learned a new word or whatever else was going through his bird brain at the time :( . You don't ignore him.

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Jan 4, 2006
7,303
Hunter 310 West Vancouver, B.C.
So I take it that the shaft would be completely out of the shaft log before it would contact the rudder ? Does that mean chopping the shaft.
 
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