Shaft Alignment

[The chief]

Last season I had a terrible vibration at almost all RPM's and speeds. I tried to get a mechanic to come down to my Marina and perform an alignment, but could not find anybody. I had a great mechanic that would come right to the boat, but decided he was getting too old to work on sailboats. He said he was sick of hanging upside down in some locker. I tried to explain that the Cat 30 had great access, but fell on deaf ears. As a result I did not use the boat much. This Spring I put in a work order at my winter storage yard to have the Shaft Alignment performed as soon as I splashed. I also had my Prop changed to a 3 Blade Cambell. The boat went in on Thursday and I reminded them about the outstanding work order. The owner told me that he had removed the old prop and did the replacement himself. He indicated that the Cutless was good and the shaft was turning fine. He doubted based on that information that the shaft was out of alignment. He told me to take the boat out for a ride and see how it was with the new 3 Blade prop. If, the vibration is still present is the next step new Motor Mounts? The engine has a little over 1,000 hours and is the Standard Universal M25XP.

 

[Photo Bug]

Try craigslist.org in the services section there is a marine section. A lot of marine mechanics advertise there.

 

[rbmcintire]

Chief, I just went through doing this on my '84. If the motor mounts are original age or visually worn, rusted, w/cracked rubber, deteriorated by oil, anti-freeze etc. then get them replaced and have the mechanic do a true alignment afterwards. All four points of the transmission flange need to be equally within .004" of the shaft flange. Replacement of the mounts will enable a review, and perhaps a correction, of the lag bolt tightness that holds each mount in position. I ended up repairing one of my lag bolt holes with new epoxy during this process.

Rob

Last season I had a terrible vibration at almost all RPM's and speeds. I tried to get a mechanic to come down to my Marina and perform an alignment, but could not find anybody. I had a great mechanic that would come right to the boat, but decided he was getting too old to work on sailboats. He said he was sick of hanging upside down in some locker. I tried to explain that the Cat 30 had great access, but fell on deaf ears. As a result I did not use the boat much. This Spring I put in a work order at my winter storage yard to have the Shaft Alignment performed as soon as I splashed. I also had my Prop changed to a 3 Blade Cambell. The boat went in on Thursday and I reminded them about the outstanding work order. The owner told me that he had removed the old prop and did the replacement himself. He indicated that the Cutless was good and the shaft was turning fine. He doubted based on that information that the shaft was out of alignment. He told me to take the boat out for a ride and see how it was with the new 3 Blade prop. If, the vibration is still present is the next step new Motor Mounts? The engine has a little over 1,000 hours and is the Standard Universal M25XP.