Bent Rudder Post

[Dulcesuenos]

30 degrees is quite a bit i would agree with you there ours was more like 10 degrees.

[vabuilders]

Hello- looks like I bent my rudder shaft from a soft grounding- I have a columbia 28'- can I repair in water?

[Pete7]

Originally Posted by vabuilders

Hello- looks like I bent my rudder shaft from a soft grounding- I have a columbia 28'- can I repair in water?

If the rudder shaft is in a GRP pipe which has the top above water you might be able to get a diver to remove it, but straightening is an out of the water job if you want it done properly. Even when lifted out its a drama because you need the yacht sufficiently high to drop the rudder down out of the bottom rudder bearing. So either whilst its in the crane hoist or dig a big hole when its ashore.

But first are you sure its bent with just a soft grounding?

Pete

[vabuilders]

Well, I did use the come-along method to straighten rudder out and seems to be back to good running condition. Hopefully the shaft is strong enough to finish sailing season. Has anyone had experience on replacing a Columbia's rudder shaft?

[Fiveslide]

Originally Posted by vabuilders

Well, I did use the come-along method to straighten rudder out and seems to be back to good running condition. Hopefully the shaft is strong enough to finish sailing season. Has anyone had experience on replacing a Columbia's rudder shaft?

I would make a new one myself. I would make a mold of it. Cut it open to see what is going on inside with the shaft and what not. Get a shaft made if you can't make that yourself. Then do the glass work, paint and reinstall.

If you do lose the rudder entirely that would complicate things considerably. You wouldn't be able to make a mold and the easiest route would be pay someone big dollars to make one by plans.

You got all winter to build it.

[colemj]

I bent a rudder shaft on a Columbia 26 and repaired it in the water. You should be able to pull it out with no problem. The rudder shaft is a hollow pipe - as long as it did not kink, you should be able to bend it back in place without strength loss.

The bend is probably close to the rudder, so the top of the rudder will need to be cut off to repair the bend. This is easy - simply cut around the rudder a foot down from the top and pull that part off the shaft. If it won't pull off, split it in two longitudinally.

Now you should have the bend part of the shaft fully exposed. Take it to a machine shop where they will have a hydraulic press with tube bending tooling. They will be able to gently remove the bend.

Glassing the top of the rudder back on is easy. If you haven't done any glasswork and don't want to, take it to someone who does - it won't cost much and can be done in an hour or so.

Mark

[Capt RonB]

[QUOTE="vabuilders;1368366"]Well, I did use the come-along method to straighten rudder out and seems to be back to good running condition.






Should be fine provided the shaft isn't kinked. I've used this method before with no problems.