1982 Trojan 36' Tri-Cabin Woes...

[Medic 4 U]

Just brought home my recently purchased '82 Trojan 36' Tri-Cabin. She is in respectable shape. Twin 5.7 Crusaders, with a whopping 643 hours! Onan 6.5 gen set with only 94 hours! I know non-use can be worse than over use. Engines are great, but (isn't there always a but?), upon trying to operate her out of the marina, two issues arose. First, rudders are stuck mid ship. They are hydraulic, just haven't read or learned enough about them yet. I think it will be an easy fix. Once I knew I had no rudder control, maneuvering was easier, just know not to count on rudder input...

My bigger concern is this: Port engine, (which runs fine) will only turn to 1600 RPM in gear, with significant vibration. I'm assuming drive problem. But where do I start? Looking for some help there. Thank you.

[Tom.B]

I'd start by getting a diver to look at the underwater running gear for something obvious like a bent prop. Did your survey not check the prop and shaft for runout?


Anyway, you probably need to put her in the yard, pull the prop and shaft and send them to get straightened (or checked anyway). While out, replace the cutlass bearings. Then once the boat is back in the water (after sitting for a week to let the hull settle back into shape) have someone do an engine alignment.



We did that the first year we owned ours. I think it was about $3000 of work for both, but worth it in the end.