Cutlass Pain In The A$$.?

kito · Jan 19, 2015

Re: Cutlass pain in the ass?

If you know what you are doing it is usually cheaper to do it yourself. The main problem is getting the old shaft out. Not sure about your boat but I had to cut a groove in my skeg to get the shaft out. I would rather patch my foam skeg than remove it. If your bronze shaft is worn then replace it. I just replaced mine with a stainless steel shaft. Then there is the matter of alignment. $1500 doesn't sound all that bad really. Probably $500 for a shaft and new coupling and $75 for the cutlass and at least a days work for 2 people. Btw, you may want to look at your motor mounts while your at it.

Joe23455 · Jan 19, 2015

you described my situation a few years back on Trinity, thought I would just swap out the old cutless bearing for it was the original,yikes, shaft was worn
down and needed to replace, yard had to lift boat in-order to drop rudder out and slide shaft out, only option...... so about 1,500.00 later... and it did take a mechanic two days, so good luck, just wanted to let you know your not alone.
New shaft is stainless steel

joe
s/v trinity

mitiempo · Jan 19, 2015

If the shaft is worn in the area of the cutlass bearing, which is common, it will chew up the new bearing quickly.

Maine Sail · Jan 19, 2015

Casagf66 said:
whats up you'll

So I just purchased a 1981 C&C 34 and I'm getting it ready for next season. Cant wait !!! The cutlass bearing needs to be replaced, since the shaft has some excessive play. So I asked the boat yard to take a look at it and give me a price. $1500, they are saying the original bronze shaft need to be replaced because it is worn. That's a lot of money!! I m thinking about just doing it myself and keeping the original shaft. Thoughts?

That's actually a pretty good deal, if they do it right.... My guess is that for the quoted price they own a tool that can press out the cutlass, they will ten cut the shaft and the shaft can then sneak by the rudder without dropping it. A new fitted and faced Aquamet 22 / Aqualoy 22 shaft & coupling alone will be $600.00-$700.00.. If your bronze shaft is worn, its not coming down for breakfast again....

JK_Boston_Catalina310 · Jan 19, 2015

Re: Cutlass pain in the ass?

I did this project last year. The shaft and new coupling was $525 with fitting and facing by the machine shop. That was for a SS shaft and a slip coupling. Then you had the cutlass bearing, that was $40. I had my engine off the mounts for another project so I didn't have to drop the rudder but many boats would need that.

Bottom line is that I think the cost estimate you were given is fine but I would bet it would come in higher. They may have done the estimate planning to be able to slip the new shaft by the rudder and then they may find out they can't so the cost will go up.

But there are a lot of details I would want to know before I would ever let a yard guy touch this project. How are they going to remove the prop and the shaft? Are they planning to reuse the coupling (probably shouldn't be reused)? What type of material are they going to use for the shaft? Are they going to fit and face the shaft to the coupling? Are they going to lap fit the prop?

Good luck and fair winds,

Jesse

BarryL · Jan 19, 2015

Hey,

Congrats on the new boat!

I believe I know what yard you are using. In all honesty, you are best off spending the $ and having the yard do the work. Those guys can be real cranky to deal with, but they do good work for a fair price. If you want to save some money you can do things like disconnecting the coupler (good luck) and that sort of stuff.

I went though the same thing a few years ago with my O'day 35. My shaft log was shot. The shaft needed to come out to change it, and my rudder needed to come out to pull the shaft). To save money I dropped the rudder (had to dig a DEEP hole). I let the yard do the rest. It was more economical to cut the shaft and replace the cutless, etc than to try and save the shaft.

Good luck,

Barry

Casagf66 said:
whats up you'll

So I just purchased a 1981 C&C 34 and I'm getting it ready for next season. Cant wait !!! The cutlass bearing needs to be replaced, since the shaft has some excessive play. So I asked the boat yard to take a look at it and give me a price. $1500, they are saying the original bronze shaft need to be replaced because it is worn. That's a lot of money!! I m thinking about just doing it myself and keeping the original shaft. Thoughts?

Keith13315 · Jan 19, 2015

Re: Cutlass pain in the ass?

I did my Cutlass Bearing and did it with the shaft on. I bought a Strut-Pro http://strutpro.com/ went very smooth. took an hour. Otherwise I would have had to drop the rudder and that would have been a pain in the A..s Good Luck. I will say if the shaft is indeed worn replace it. It will save you a lot of grief.
Keith

kito · Jan 19, 2015

Re: Cutlass pain in the ass?

I bought my shaft/coupling and cutlass bearing through the store here. Shaft and coupling came out of a shop in Florida and was very pleased. It was around $400 for a 1" dia x49" long shaft with machine matched coupling.

kito · Jan 19, 2015

Re: Cutlass pain in the ass?

Just a heads up. It took me a couple hours just to break the corrosion bond between the 2 flanges after removing the bolts...you may be luckier than I was. Also, if you plan on not saving the worn bronze shaft, just cut the darn thing off at the coupling. I wasted 2 days trying to save my old bronze shaft and ended up cutting it anyway. I tried multiple ways of getting the shaft out of the coupling but there was no way that thing was coming out.

Donnybrook · Jan 19, 2015

Re: Cutlass pain in the ass?

Is your cutlass bearing in a strut or in the hull? Did the yard actually pull the shaft back and look at the area that is inside the bearing, or just shake it? I agree with JK, you need more info before making a decision.

fdr14127 · Jan 19, 2015

Re: Cutlass pain in the ass?

Well let me say this about that:
Bronze shaft on a C&C boat? I don't think so. (I will ask the production staff about that at breakfast next Friday morning). My C&C is five years older and about 5 years ago we replaced the cutlass, shaft, and installed a shaft seal in place of the stuffing box. Routine. And no you don't have to drop the rudder. (Backs up kinda funny as a result eh....just sayin).

Barnacle Bill · Jan 19, 2015

Re: Cutlass pain in the ass?

You should be able to remove the shaft. It sits in the coupler at the transmission end and there are set screws (usually wired so they won't move) that can be backed off. The stuffing box has to be loosened up too so the shaft can move through it effortlessly. if you cannot get the shaft out of the coupler, remove the bolt that attach it to the back of the transmission and use a wheel puller to remove it (if you have the room). Hopefully you don't have to remove the rudder to push the shaft out of the back of the boat. If you do, and you have wheel steering, then that adds to the project. The cutlass bearing has hex screws holding it in place that you have to screw back too. With the shaft out you can usually get the cutlass bearing out without much problem, but believe me, if this hasn't been done recently, the job can be a real pain in the butt as you might suggest. A worn shaft is not good. There is a a place in Hudson WI that makes shafts and they ship all over the country. They are called Marine Associates (www.croixgear.com). Cutlass bearings can be purchased from any marine store.

capta · Jan 19, 2015

Penny wise and pound foolish.
There are just some jobs even we professionals hire others to do. In many cases it's because we can't possibly carry ALL the tools one would need to do EVERY single job on our boats and in others, it's expertise and time.
Given the time, tools and a full shop I can do almost any job on a boat. Without any two of those it's just more practical to have someone do the job.
If you can get that job done for that price with a guaranty, then by all means take the deal. If they run into complications, then it's on their nickle, not yours and they need to move on to other jobs, so it's not going to take all winter.
I would make sure that your arrangement included an in water alignment after she had been back in the water at least a week. Other than that, as Maine Sail said, this is a pretty good price for what is not a job easily accomplished by an amateur without a pretty comprehensive bag of tools.

shemandr · Jan 19, 2015

Re: Cutlass pain in the ass?

Did the surveyor note the worn shaft?

tommays · Jan 21, 2015

Which yard in Northport as a few are pretty scary

higgs · Jan 22, 2015

Wow! I have done cutlass bearings twice and replaced a shaft myself. Never got close to $500 total for all the jobs.

Tally Ho · Jan 22, 2015

Wow! I called my yard to get a rough idea on the cost to replace my strut bearing...he said about $400. I thought that was high ?