Cutlass bearing replacement on 2004 Hunter 36

Tally Ho · Dec 2, 2023

I don’t have that boat…but a few things determine the degree of difficulty…

I assume your boat has a P bracket or strut with the bearing in it (as opposed to a Bene or other design with the bearing embedded in a skeg of some kind.

If that is true, you will either need to remove the prop shaft and then remove the bearing…which can be done with a hacksaw blade and some pliers… or you need some sort of tool to press the bearing out of the stru, with the shaft in place.

There is a commercially available too called a Strut Pro, which utilizes a set of collets (a length of pipe, of the proper ID to fit over the prop shaft and OD that fits inside of the strut opening -then cut in 1/2 length wise), some plates that are connected with some threaded rods. With the prop off, you can press the bearing out of the strut aft towards the prop…and then press a new one back in by reversing the steps.

You could fabricate something (my bro-in-law made mine), or you may be able to rent something.

Removing the prop shaft is more work IMHO, unless you are replacing the shaft anyway (then you can just cut it in pieces to get it out). If the prop shaft will slide out past the rudder, then you dont have to drop the rudder…but if not, then the rudder also has to be dropped.

When I did all of this on my O’Day 322, I was able to slide my shaft out past the rudder by first pressing out the strut bearing, and removing the shaft log…that gave me just enough play to get out…but I took a few layer of paint off the rudder.

Here is the tool I had made…

Good luck,

Greg

chuckwayne · Dec 2, 2023

AndyL said:
I have seen quite few threads on cutlass bearing replacement but was wondering if anyone has done it on a 200X year Hunter 36?

If so, how did it go?

Thanks... Andy

Escape is a 2002 356, but all of the 2002 on boats have a similar strut and a 1" shaft. I removed the prop and key, and if your strut has them the 2 small set screws on the side of the strut that hold it in. The bearing is slotted rubber cast into a thin brass tube and I found a piece of 1" ID pipe that fit. if the tube you use is a little tight on the shaft you can cut a slot in it and spread it a little. as long as it fits into the strut it will work fine. I used a plastic headed mallet to tap the cutless aft until it was free. to install the new one i put a thin coat of lubriplate on the brass shell (I have seen, but never used, bearings with a plastic shell) and tapped it in. Put in the setscrews if you have them. Removing the shaft is a last resort - the rudder is in the way, and there is a nut under the flange tha most mechanics don't expect. Reinstall the prop - SEE note below.
Before you remove the prop, make a pencil mark on the shaft at the front face of the prop. With the prop off, look at the shaft under the prop and inside the shaft for any fine polishing marks. clean the shaft and the hole in the prop, remove the key, and slide the prop back on.it should fit tightly, with no wobble, and should stop at the line you made, If these don't happen, you should fit the prop to the shaft; get some valve grinding compound at an auto store, put a thin coating on the shaft, put the prop on and rotate it with one hand while holding it tight with the other - maybe a dozen turns. remove the prop, clean the shaft and prop hole, and refit. if it's tight, with no wobble, proceed; if not repeat. Once you've got it matched, make a new pencil mark on the shaft. That's where the prop should end up.
Look closely at the key; is it chipped, bent, corroded? does it fill the slot in the shaft? If not, replace. If it's brass, I would consider replacing it with monel or steel. My dealer installed my prop with an under length brass key which sheared and left me engineless. When he reinstalled my prop, he put the nuts on in the reverse order (the thin nut goes next to the prop) and locked them improperly. the prop fell off about a month later.

Tally Ho · Dec 3, 2023

AndyL said:
Thanks.

I am hoping someone has done it on my model of boat - perhaps there are some specific things to prepare for.

Like I said, If your boat has a P- bracket, it works just like my boat…

Greg

TJeffC · Dec 4, 2023

"Cutless" - Its Proper Name is a Cutless Bearing - Here's Why — FollowingSeas

chuckwayne · Dec 4, 2023

chuckwayne said:
Escape is a 2002 356, but all of the 2002 on boats have a similar strut and a 1" shaft. I removed the prop and key, and if your strut has them the 2 small set screws on the side of the strut that hold it in. The bearing is slotted rubber cast into a thin brass tube and I found a piece of 1" ID pipe that fit. if the tube you use is a little tight on the shaft you can cut a slot in it and spread it a little. as long as it fits into the strut it will work fine. I used a plastic headed mallet to tap the cutless aft until it was free. to install the new one i put a thin coat of lubriplate on the brass shell (I have seen, but never used, bearings with a plastic shell) and tapped it in. Put in the setscrews if you have them. Removing the shaft is a last resort - the rudder is in the way, and there is a nut under the flange tha most mechanics don't expect. Reinstall the prop - SEE note below.
Before you remove the prop, make a pencil mark on the shaft at the front face of the prop. With the prop off, look at the shaft under the prop and inside the shaft for any fine polishing marks. clean the shaft and the hole in the prop, remove the key, and slide the prop back on.it should fit tightly, with no wobble, and should stop at the line you made, If these don't happen, you should fit the prop to the shaft; get some valve grinding compound at an auto store, put a thin coating on the shaft, put the prop on and rotate it with one hand while holding it tight with the other - maybe a dozen turns. remove the prop, clean the shaft and prop hole, and refit. if it's tight, with no wobble, proceed; if not repeat. Once you've got it matched, make a new pencil mark on the shaft. That's where the prop should end up.
Look closely at the key; is it chipped, bent, corroded? does it fill the slot in the shaft? If not, replace. If it's brass, I would consider replacing it with monel or steel. My dealer installed my prop with an under length brass key which sheared and left me engineless. When he reinstalled my prop, he put the nuts on in the reverse order (the thin nut goes next to the prop) and locked them improperly. the prop fell off about a month later.

whoops, sorry - late night... yes, I split the tube and used the two halves to tap it out - it actually came out pretty easily. I know people who have tapped the cutless forward and then just sliced it with a dremel but I felt safer cutting my tool in a pipe vise vs. cutting the bearing on my shaft!

Rasselas36 · Dec 5, 2023

TJeffC said:
"Cutless" - Its Proper Name is a Cutless Bearing - Here's Why — FollowingSeas

Andy has a “Hunter cutlass” and TJeff has a “Catalina cutless”. It’s called marketing and intellectual property.

American_Mainsail · Dec 5, 2023

I did mine on my 03 44 a few years ago. It was difficult to remove (I used the cutting method) and took quite a bit of patience. If you have access to a puller/press, I would highly recommend that. That kind of tool always makes these kinds of interference/press fit jobs easier.

I froze the new bearing and gently heated the strut before installing the new one. The install went fairly smooth. I needed to coax the new bearing in with a dead-blow hammer (I struck a 2x4 over the bearing end - not the bearing itself). Again, a press would've made this easier.

I did pull the prop shaft out, which required pulling the rudder. The hardest part of getting the rudder out was getting the stainless pin out of the aluminum tiller body. The pin had completely frozen in the tiller body. I ended up destroying the pin in the process, so I had a machine shop make me up a new pin. I asked them to machine a little dimple in the pin to make pressing easier next time around (which will be this off-season - the rudder bearings are worn).

Getting the prop flange off the flange that mates with the transmission flange (so that the prop shaft will slide out of the log) can also be challenging. It is usually frozen onto the prop shaft. Use a flange puller to press the coupling off the prop shaft:
Buck Algonquin 5 inch 50MCP00500 Flange Puller