I had a sailor call me to change his stuffing box hose. It was so rotted out it was physically leaking. I went through the whole litany of proper procedure, how to correctly do the job, what it entails and what to expect.
I explained that if the shaft would not come out of the coupling it would need to be cut and both replaced. I explained that under no circumstances would I use a slide hammer to remove the shaft from coupling. I explained how easy it is to damage the
gear flange, brinell the bearings or damage the reversing
gear using improper techniques. I also explained he had no room to get a proper coupling puller in there.
I also went into great detail about proper fit of the coupling to shaft, discussed fitting and facing, machine shop expenses, coupling options etc.. I also explained that once the coupling was removed, and the layer of rust broken free, that it was quite probable the coupling could not be re-used because it had
lost its fit tolerance.
He was tweaking and twitching the entire time. He then insisted that I use some wire reinforced wet
exhaust hose, he already had on hand, for the new stuffing box hose. I politely told him I would not do that and the proper hose costs about $12.00.
I left and never heard from him until part way through the summer, after his boat sank to the settee
cushions...... He had rented a slide hammer, re-used the coupling and the shaft came out of it when he hit reverse picking up the mooring!
He wanted to know if I could tell the
insurance company the work was done by me and done professionally... "Sorry, I can't do that, I did not do the work and I can tell, based on what you just told me, it was not done properly, AS WE DISCUSSED IN GREAT DETAIL."....
Oh and his
reversing gear was making "funny noises" and he wanted to see if I could fix it once he got the
salt water out of it. "Sorry I am too busy to get to that until next spring call XXXX."
..
Long and short, I heard later that the boat was considered a total loss by the
insurance company anyway.....