tiller slop, bearing replacement...

[sailingchefs]

Hi All,
What do I need to know before I attempt to remove and repair the rudder bearings on a Hunter 26.5? Where can I get replacement bearings or other parts for this boat? Is there a Hunter guru like Rudy Nickerson at D&R Marine is for O'Days?

Thanks, -Glenn

 

[Snotter]

I had that same problem on my old H27. In mine and in most cases, there are no bearings. Just a rudder tube that wears with time. What I did was follow the technique outlined in the Gougeon Brother's pamplet for rudder tube repair. Basically, I took my rudder out and waxed the heck out of the rudder shaft. When it was out, I drilled small holes into the rudder tube and screwed in grease zirt fittings. I then re-installed the rudder after covering the rudder blade with poly sheeting. Once installed, I mixed epoxy with graphite, kicked it off, and filled a clean grease-gun cartridge with the black goo. I then injected the goo into the grease fittings until it oozed out at the top and bottom of the ruder tube. When it hardened, and after breaking the light bond between the tube and the waxed shaft, I had absolutely no slop.

BTW. using a grease gun was my variation on the technique outlined in the Gouegon paper.

 

[Rich Stidger]

Here's a problem I had with the Gougeon Brother's technique. Hopefully my experience was the exception.

I performed this same technique on my Morgan 30. The only difference was that I drilled holes in the rudder tube and injected the epoxy/graphite mix with syringes. The holes were supposed to provide an anchor for the epoxy to grab onto the inside of the rudder tube.

All was good for a year. Then the thin molded epoxy broke free of the rudder tube and being shaped with a slight taper, moved and caused the rudder shaft to bind up.

It got to the point that steering was impossible and I had an emergency haul-out in Nantucket to pull the rudder and clean out the epoxy pieces.

I just lived with the slop after that.

Currently I have about 1/8" of slop or play in the lower bearing of my h40.5. It does not appear to be increasing and it cannot be felt in the wheel. At the advice of Hunter, I am leaving it alone.

 

[Snotter]

Rich. Shortly after I had performed my repair a man showed up at my front door with a summons to divorce court. I wound up selling the boat before I even got to sail it with the repair I spoke of. I would have loved to seen how my repair held up. Unfortunately, shortly after I sold the boat, it was destroyed by a house fire. (The man who bought it moved it to his back yard to finish the work which I had started.) That boat was cursed.

Back to the subject of goo-jon--I made my epoxy graphite mixture pretty thick. However, it would have been quite possible for the wax that I applied to the the rudder shaft to have leached into the fiberglass rudder tube which would have resulted in a situation that you experienced. Glenn, to be fore-warned is to be fore-armed.