Shaft maintenance

[remo7e]

I have a Yamaha 30 with a Yanmar mounted under the v berth. Two questions:

1) How often should I grease the drive shaft?

2) Does cold weather affect the bushing?

 

[Mike Holibar]

There are a few different arrangements for prop shafts and glands and the lube requirements differ accordingly. If your stern gland is of the ceramic face dripless type it may not require lubing at all. Glands that require packing, and some with lip seals have provision for lubrication on the side of the casting. Often this is a fitting with a brass cap filled with grease. The idea is that you fill the cap with grease and then fit it, and give it a turn at the start of the day and at the end. A turn when you have "finished with engines" can often stop the drip on packed glands (also known as stuffing boxes if I remember correctly.
Cold weather shouldn't have any effect.
Cheers, mike8058.

 

[Ross]

This thread raises many questions for me. Just for starters , how long is the propellor shaft? How do you access the engine for maintenance? Where is your fuel tank and battery? I have a lot more questions but those will do for now.

 

[Mac Daddy]

Seems like the engine should be under the cockpit?

 

[Tim R.]

My father in law used to have an Albin Scampi and it was the only boat I had ever seen with the engine under the V-berth. The prop was just behind the keel. Unfortunately running the engine made the whole cabin smell. I do not remember where the fuel tank was.

 

[remo7e]

Nope, the engine is forward, under the v berth. They do make a Yamaha 30 with the engine under the cockpit. Access to the engine is fairly easy: You only need to move the v berth cushions and lift the lid on the engine compartment. The front of the compartment also slides out.

The shaft is easily 20' long. I can only find on fitting to grease. The tank is forward of the engine and the batteries are located on both sides of the motor. It is very similar to the scampi but with much more headroom. I think the scampi has 5'6" and the Yamaha 30 has just over 6'.

Sorry if this is disjointed. Went out for a quick sail on Tokyo Bay tonight. Weather forecast was for light winds and ended up going from 5kts to 45 in about 10 minutes. Worn out.

 

[Mike Holibar]

Here was me thinking this was a simple question! If the shaft is 20 feet in length it will have several bearings or bushes along it. They could be bronze bushes which I would keep well greased, while sealed bearings may need a little less. Are you able to view the full shaft from stern gland to motor? How many bearing boxes are there? Are they connected. I have seen arrangements where several bearings are piped to one grease fitting - could this be a possibility?

 

[Fairwind]

Thank God for todays 4-stroke outboards and clever transom designs. Inboard engines, gas or diesel, in small sailboats are a NIGHTMARE..I'll bet that shaft runs 20' in a wet shaft log, supported by a cutlass bearing behind the prop and the stuffing box up front. MAYBE, MAYBE, there is some sort of wet center bearing to keep the shaft from flopping around too much...