Folks that are familiar with the Tartan 30 will know that the engine is placed in center of boat with a long propeller shaft which necessitates a pillow block for stabilizing shaft whip. The metal component of the pillow block is attached to a rectangular mounting surface of unknown material and that mounting surface is attached to the inner hull/bilge. The bolts you can see in the photo are all tight but the rectangular block that the pillow block is mounted to has come loose from the hull/bilge. My question is: how is that mounting block supposed to be attached to the hull/bilge? Was it epoxied in? Are there bolts that I can’t see yet? I haven’t started to unbolt the pillow block yet because Im seeking guidance first from anyone who has gone before me. In any case, I need to get that block fixed to the hull/bilge so the pillow block can stabilize the shaft as it is very loose now and vibrating too much. Also, I have seen other posts concerning the pillow block and some people have upgraded or replaced their pillow block with sturdier units. No details or part numbers/manufacturers listed though. Any help from Tartan 30 owners would be greatly appreciated. Thank you for taking a look!
Tartan 30 Pillow Block
- Thread starter charlesodowd
- Start date
You can call Tartan, they are still in business. However, with the changes of ownership over the years, and the apparent loss of older documentation, they may not be able to help you. But, it's worth a shot.
I would unbolt everything and see if I could get that mounting piece out and examine it closely to try to determine how it was affixed. I would bet it was "glued in" with some epoxy resin or the like. If so, you might want to tab it in with some fiberglass cloth and resin. Not really hard to do, except keeping things clean and dry as you go. Grind/sand the places where the tabs will go. Use multiple layers of cloth and resin.
I would unbolt everything and see if I could get that mounting piece out and examine it closely to try to determine how it was affixed. I would bet it was "glued in" with some epoxy resin or the like. If so, you might want to tab it in with some fiberglass cloth and resin. Not really hard to do, except keeping things clean and dry as you go. Grind/sand the places where the tabs will go. Use multiple layers of cloth and resin.
Thanks for the advice. I undid the bolts and although the top of the pillow block comes right off, I can’t get the bottom off because the bolts come from underneath the mounting block which wiggles, but wont slide out. I tried tapping the block out but it won’t go and Im afraid to use too much force in case there are components underneath that Im not aware of and don’t want to break or bend. That said, in the process I found a couple small broken bits of 50 year old epoxy, so I think it is as simple as that: the 50 year old epoxy finally gave way to all those years of vibration. It will be much easier to deal with this when I can remove the propeller shaft from the equation at the end of the season. Until then Im gonna shove a pencil or thin wooden dowel underneath the block to give it as much stability as possible.
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That’s a good idea. There’s a void underneath the block where that epoxy chip came out of. I think I will stick a brush under there, then wash it out a little, then dry it with a heat gun and then send some new epoxy in there with a pastry bag or something. Might work, and if not, there’s already old epoxy in there anyway, I don’t think adding new stuff is gonna make it any messier.
Thanks for the brainstorm.
Thanks for the brainstorm.