Broken strut

[SFS]

Guess this will teach me to worry about dock lines. Had the boat (1983 Hunter 31) out Saturday, motoring the local area, when the engine vibration and noise below the cockpit suddenly increased dramatically. No obvious impact with anything, no impact noise, 20 feet of water under the keel. After checking a few things aboard (no mask or fins on boat, major learning lesson), I decided to limp home under drastically reduced throttle with what I thought was a bent or out of balance prop blade.

Put a diver on the boat today for cleaning and he reports a broken strut. Fun first two weeks!
My questions for the panel:

1) Any recommendations on yards in the St. Petersburg area?
2) Anything special to watch out for during a repair like this?
3) Does anyone know if the shaft will come out without removing the rudder? (Not that removing the rudder will add significantly to the cost, but it is one more thing to screw up in the yard.)

I have decided to look on the bright side - the boat needs a bottom job, and now the haulout is free.

 

[Claude L.-Auger]

Welcome to the group

1) Any recommendations on yards in the St. Petersburg area?
Can't help you with this one but surely someone from the area will chime in
2) Anything special to watch out for during a repair like this?
Whoever does the job will need to re-do engine/shaft alignment.
3) Does anyone know if the shaft will come out without removing the rudder? Yes if you remove the strut, the shaft will come out without dropping the rudder. You'll need to remove the coupling from the shaft at the tranny.

good luck

 

[Dfisher]

I have a 1986 Hunter 31 that I removed the shaft on last week and I had to drop the rudder to get it out. If yours needs to be dropped as well I would recommend having the rudder removed before the boat does on stands. I had to dig a 3' hole for the rudder to drop into. I tried sliding the shaft past the rudder post but it was putting a lot of stress on the strut and shaft so I went ahead and dropped it.

 

[Allan12210]

I have a 1986 Hunter 31 that I removed the shaft on last week and I had to drop the rudder to get it out. If yours needs to be dropped as well I would recommend having the rudder removed before the boat does on stands. I had to dig a 3' hole for the rudder to drop into. I tried sliding the shaft past the rudder post but it was putting a lot of stress on the strut and shaft so I went ahead and dropped it.

If the strut is busted the shaft will clear the rudder. After verifying the shaft is not bent, the new strut can be threaded on and the assembly reattached to the hull again without removing the rudder. Then you have to align it. There are some posts about how to do this including one from me. Its not that difficult for a DIYer.

 

[SFS]

Anyone in the Tampa area with any suggestions on yards? I'd like to get things started, but I don't want to send it to the wrong place.

I have one estimate in hand.

 

[woodster]

contact general propeller in bradenton they can help you

 

[Dave Groshong]

We offer the strut, shaft and coupler here:

http://shop.hunterowners.com/hp/hpcat.php?m=31 (83-87)&c=12

 

[woodster]

We offer the strut, shaft and coupler here: http://shop.hunterowners.com/hp/hpcat.php?m=31%20(83-87)&c=12

sorry about that Dave didn't realize you supplied that good to know

 

[SFS]

We offer the strut, shaft and coupler here:

http://shop.hunterowners.com/hp/hpcat.php?m=31 (83-87)&c=12

Dave, does the strut come with a cutlass bearing, or do I buy that separately?

 

[Dave Groshong]

Sorry for the late reply, yes, the struts we offer come with the cutless bearing installed.

 

[Sailgunner]

Might try Snead Island Boatworks. Heard they do good work.

 

[SFS]

Update: Strut likely failed from electrolysis. It failed at the joint to the cutlass bearing. PO had put this strut in 5 years ago, and may have been sold a bad part, as several people that looked at the failure said it looked like that joint had been welded. I'll try to post a picture at some point.

Boat has been on the hard for a week, and we are making progress. Ordered the strut today from this site (Dave), and General Propeller in Bradenton will be fabricating a new shaft and coupler. The rudder did have to come off to take out the shaft.