Disconnecting the propeller shaft coupling

[Mackaroni]

I hauled my 302 about a month ago and realized afterwards that the manual states:

"When hauling any boat with a propellor shaft, be sure to disconnect the coupling before lifting the boat. This will prevent bending of the shaft, as the boat changes shape when lifted."

So, I looked in the Yanmar shop manual and couldn't find any info on how to disconnect the coupling. I took the bolts off, but the coupling is keyed and I couldn't get it off and was afraid to do anything stupid.

1. Do I need to disconnect this coupling?

2. If so, how do i manage it?

PS>...I have no idea why this hose clamp is on the shaft. There is nothing under it.

 

[jibes138]

A few thoughts. You aren't trying to move the coupling on the shaft, you are trying to separate the shaft/coupling assembly from the transmission flange. I don't know anyone who actually does this when their boat is hauled. The hose clamp is probably there as a safety device, if the shaft pulls out of the coupling it could go out the stuffing box leaving you with a big hole in your boat with water coming it. The hose clamp is to prevent the shaft from falling out. This is a very low probability item as most people will tell you disconnecting the shaft from the coupling requires much effort.

 

[Panta Rei]

Completely agree with Jibes. My manual says the shaft must be decoupled when hauled . But it has never been.
Oday most likely wanted to protect themselves just in case the boat was not hauled properly.

Maybe we should discuss proper sling locations for the various O'day models.

 

[woodster]

not sure if you really need to disconnect the coupling from the tranny or not ...but i will say i don't like to see that clamp on the shaft ...if a stray line were to snag it it could cause some damage while under power ...if you need to have something on the shaft to prevent it from sliding out of the stuffing box then get a ss shaft collar and put it on the shaft no sharp edges to catch anything

one other thing.... if it a yanmar with those expensive motor mounts..... there should be enough flex as to not worry about the bending of your shaft on haul out

 

[Mackaroni]

OK....thanks for the responses. I would rather not pull that if I don't need to. The previous owner said he did, but I think i will just let it be, particularly since it has already been a month on the hard. Not sure if it has the expensive motor mounts, but it is a Yanmar.

I will find a shaft collar for the propeller shaft. I'd rather not have the hose clamp on there either. While I couldn't figure out why it was on there until this post, my thought was that it could possibly put the shaft out of balance. Is this a Defender or WM kind of item?

 

[Mackaroni]

While I am asking questions.......do you recommend repacking the stuffing box while it is out? I didn't have any issues from it this year, but didn't know if that is something I should consider.

 

[woodster]

with the room you have you could use a shaft zinc

 

[woodster]

on the stuffing box you could do that but you would have to wait till you were back in the water to adjust the drip..if it aint broke don't fix it

 

[Claude L.-Auger]

Woodster makes 2 very good points about using a zinc and not bothering with the packing if it wasn't giving you problem. I have a question regarding the SS collar. Did you ever check what was happening with engine running and tranny in gear ? It looks like the collar was keeping some sort of wire on the shaft. The shiny spot on the shaft under the collar indicates that the shaft is spinning inside the collar. My suspicion would be that someone wanted to ground the shaft and skinned the end of the wire. That collar has to be loose otherwise the wire would have wrapped itself around the shaft, creating damage as soon as tranny is engaged. Remove that as the shaft is grounded by being linked to the tranny/engine block by the coupling. And remove that loose wire while you're at it.

 

[Mackaroni]

A zinc is a great idea. I love this forum.

I didn't notice any wire connected to the SS collar, but will check. The hose clamp was quite tight to the shaft when I took it off to see what was under it. I will definitely clean up the crap in the bilge as I go. I am not sure what the wire on the bottom is doing or why it is there.

The other line in the photo is the cable from the zinc I hang overboard. It is clamped to the engine block somewhere.

 

[RichH]

one other thing.... if it a yanmar with those expensive motor mounts..... there should be enough flex as to not worry about the bending of your shaft on haul out

Those typical Yanmar engine mounts will begin to greatly 'sag' (compressional 'creep' of the rubber) after about 5 years of service and its prudent to replace such mounts at that ~5+ year interval ... and whether the engine is run or not. Id be more concerned about the engine mounts than disassembly of that coupling.
If you had a 'drive saver' between the shaft coupler and the transmission, it would be sufficient to compensate for any minor hull distortion when the boat is on the hard.
In any case, Its good practice to check the engine alignment yearly in any case .... prevents adverse transmission wear.

 

[jibes138]

A zinc is a great idea. I love this forum. I didn't notice any wire connected to the SS collar, but will check. The hose clamp was quite tight to the shaft when I took it off to see what was under it. I will definitely clean up the crap in the bilge as I go. I am not sure what the wire on the bottom is doing or why it is there. The other line in the photo is the cable from the zinc I hang overboard. It is clamped to the engine block somewhere.

wow I didn't notice that wire under the hose clamp. That is dangerous as hell. Looks like someone tried to create a brush connection. If it catches the engine torque will rip that wire out and it is probably grounding your back stay and your cutlass bearing strut. Take off the clamp and run that wire to a static ground point on the engine block. Plus the clamp must be scoring the shaft.

 

[Capt jgw]

That hose clamp on the shaft is actually pretty common practice. As previously stated it keeps the shaft in the boat if it comes loose from the coupling. There shouldn't be anything near it to catch on it, but of you're concerned about it, a shaft zinc or collar (harder to find) will do the same job. Those couplings can be a real b***h to get apart, but they have been known to just let go on their own. That clamp can save your boat and your life. On the picture the clamp looks pretty far forward on the shaft. It should be just forward of the stuffing box so the shaft can't slide back and jam the rudder.

 

[Mackaroni]

I am pretty sure that wire is just debris laying on the floor under the clamp and it just looks like it was meant to be attached or something. I will check the next time I go to the boat.

 

[Claude L.-Auger]

I am pretty sure that wire is just debris laying on the floor under the clamp and it just looks like it was meant to be attached or something. I will check the next time I go to the boat.

Looking a that picture very closely, you'll notice that the collar is not even on the shaft, being right against it where the clamp screw is and being some distance away where the wire appears to be. You do need to check carefully and take care of that issue.

 

[Mackaroni]

I'm getting confused.

The hose clamp is tight on the shaft. I tightened it myself after removing it to see if there was anything under it.

The dirty greenish wire is not connected to anything. It is scrap laying on the floor at least 6 inches away from the shaft and was never connected to the propeller shaft.

The silverish wire running parallel to the shaft is a zinc line that is normally velcro'd out of the way. It was down because I was working on something else and dropped it. It just happened to show up in the photo.

I removed the bolts on the collar to remove the shaft but thought better of it and posted here instead.

Am I missing something?

 

[woodster]

just replace the hose clamp with a shaft zinc so as not to snag any thing and secure all the loose wiring around the shaft and again no need to remove the coupling just bolt it back and re install the coupling set screws and safety wire them where they cant come loose

 

[Blitz]

Or you can use a shaft collar:

http://www.pyiinc.com/index.php?section=src

 

[Claude L.-Auger]

just replace the hose clamp with a shaft zinc so as not to snag any thing and secure all the loose wiring around the shaft and again no need to remove the coupling just bolt it back and re install the coupling set screws and safety wire them where they cant come loose

Totally agree. If you separated the coupling from the tranny part, you need to rebolt making sure of the alignment of the shaft. Generally .003 or .004" is good enough. Good luck

 

[Mackaroni]

I didn't separate. I only took the bolts out with the intent to. Will put the bolts back in and hopefully I didn't mess anything up.