replacing cutless bearing

[gary8041]

I have a little play in the shaft at the cutless bearing. to replace it do you have to remove rudder? If not and you use a pipe to hammer the old one out do you have enough room to swing the hammer ? gary

 

[siggib]

I removed the rudder

hun 31 1984. Last winter did the same, Boat was on the dry, weekends no crane operator. I was diging a 4' deep hole to drop the rudder. No way you could pass the shaft by the rudder, its perfectly centered. Cut the bearing with a saw, carefully. Replacement was by west marine, about $60. Pressed it in with a jig that I bought at auto discount. That was about $19. Bottomline,... $80 and about 6 hours worth of work. ( include digging)have fun.siggi

 

[Jim]

NO DON'T drop the rudder

I did mine last spring, actually I had the yard do it. Only cost about $30.00 plus the cost of a new bearing. The yard had a hydraulic press that removes the bearing with the shaft inplace. Very easy for them to do and cheap. Talk to your yard I would bet they have one or know a contractor that could come in and do it.

 

[Richard Bryer]

3 Ways to get at the cutless bearing

On my 34 there are basically 3 ways to get the shaft out- drop the rudder ( that is the one that requires the digging)- remove the strut or lift the motorCourse I started at the wrong end- after a few hours digging in a very hard yard then finding that I was comming upon big hunks of concrete I abandoned that.I was worried about getting the strut back in perfect alignment and the screws were really tight as was the bedding compoundTurned out the third choice- lifting the motor was way easier that I thought. I used my preventer - 4:1- and a double 2X4 across the companion way and tied to the cabintop winches and up she came. Trick was to get the chain and the lifting point on the chain just right so the motor comes straight up and then will go back straight down. Makes the alignment job a lot easier.I didnt have to disconnect anything( except the drive coupling. I disconnected it and pressed the coupling off before lifting the engine. Then pulled the shaft out through the front. You dont need to lift it very farto get clearance.