Play in the rudder shaft 79 h27

[Bateau Margo]

Well our first year with our first sail boat is in the books. Wrapped it today. One of my winter projects is to get the play out of the rutter shaft. There is lots of play in the shaft where it goes from under the boat to the cockpit. I dropped the rutter today expecting to find some bushings or bearings or something. There is nothing. The shaft goes through what looks like a piece pvc pipe. Its clearly not, it looks to be fiberglass but it resembles PVC.Do I have to cut this fiber glass tube out and re-glass it in or is there an easier way?

 

[Chief RA]

Re: Play in the rutter shaft 79 h27

Think enlarging rudder shaft rather than redoing the pipe, as long as it is still solid. Chief

 

[Terry Cox]

Rudder Post Play

Not sure whether your model has bearings or not. Ours has sleeves, upper and lower, made of Ultra High Molecular Weight (UHMW) material. If the side-to-side play of the post where it enters the hull is more than 1/8th inch, Hunter would consider that outside of tolerance.

One alternative that I have never tried, but was recommended by a marine surveyor, is to use a cut piece of teflon sheet that you can insert around the rudder post where it enters the hull. This sheet, carried by most marine shops, will help to reduce the rudder post play. Some 3M4200 sealant applied to the outside of the teflon sheet piece should help to secure it to the rudder post tube.

 

[Bateau Margo]

The shat of the rudder appears to be stainless. No signs of wear there. The wear will certainly be in the fiber glass looking tube that gous from the helm deck to the hull. It has that look like it was probably epoxied in after manufacturing. the previous owners had her for 18 years and never did anything with it. So nobody here knows of a standard process for taking the play out? The ideas I got here sound good and I have a few ideas of my own. I was hoping to have someone say "oh ya, just cut out the old tube, go to such and such a web site for a new one and glass it back in."

 

[sandpiper10471]

Gougeon Brothers - West System - have a protocol to solve the problem. The shaft is dropped for cleaning and waxing then reinstalled. Epoxy thickened with graphite is injected into the void and allowed to cure, thus making the bushing tight and of low friction.