O'day 35 shaft removal

[DannyS]

Have any O'day 35 owners removed the shaft from your boat? I went to replace the cutlass bearing and shaft log hose last weekend and found that the shaft will not sneak by the rudder. I was hoping that with the prop and coupling off and stuffing box removed, I'd gain enough clearance. Didn't happen. What did you do? Drop the rudder? That was more work than I was ready for. Remove the strut? The nuts are directly under the full gas tank. Pull the engine? Yeah, Right.

 

[BarryL]

Hi Danny,

I'm in the same position. I need to change my shaft log. This is too much work for me, and the yard I spoke to told me the rudder needs to come down. So next winter I will have a nice project to do. I will drop the rudder, the yard will remove the shaft. I'll do the cutless bearing, they will install a new shaft, log, stuffing box, and coupler.

Good luck,
Barry

 

[DannyS]

Yeah, what a pain in the butt! This is year two that I've been stymied by the cutlass bearing. My diesel mechanic came down and took a look at it and wasn't too concerned about it yet. But I thought since I was already in there replacing things, now would be the time. One of the yards near me had a hydraulic press that they will rent for pushing the bearing out with the shaft in place. I know I could do some serious damage with that alone, but I thought maybe in the fall I'd rent that and hire my mechanic to help me with that job.
As far as replacing the stuffing box hose, that's an easy job if you get the coupler off. Read Maine Sail's tutorial about it, that's the method I used but I don't think it had ever come off so it was a bear! It went though.

 

[rajhnsn]

I removed my rudder recently and it was not as bad as I thought. The hardest part was digging the 2 foot hole.

 

[DannyS]

Details please. I've never even looked into it...what's actually involved?

 

[rajhnsn]

Rudder Removal for Shaft Removal

Once we gained access to the steering disk, we loosened and detached the cables. Next we unbolted both sides of the disk except for the center pin. We had previously measured the length of the post inside the boat and subtracted the clearance from the bottom of the rudder. This gave us the depth of the hole. We next ran a line from a stern cleat under the rudder through the other side's stern cleat and to the winch. We took up on it slightly to relieve the pressure on the pin bolt. After digging a two foot deep hole under the rudder we pulled the pin and let it down by easing off the winch. Once it was clear of the boat, we pulled it out of the hole.

Two people made it easier.

 

[DannyS]

Have you put it back in place? What kind of bearing does the shaft ride in?

 

[rajhnsn]

The new one has not arrived yet. It is being built by Foss Foam in Florida. The plan for install is to do the same set up to hold it in place. Then reassemble the two half plates, mark the pin hole, take the rudder back out, have the pin hole drilled at a machine shop and then reinstall.

There are two shafts that accept the rudder post. One shaft comies down from the cockpit and the other comes from the bottom of the boat. The disk hugs the rudder post inbetween these two shafts. There are neoprean washers between the disk and the shafts. There is also a greese fitting back there to keep the whole system lubricated.