cutlass bearing

[delmarrey]

Some of these estimates seems rediculous. Once my prop was off it only took an hour to push out the old and push in the new. And the new bearing was $55.


.

[Sailmonkey]

Ok, with a strut the price is a little steep. With the bearing in the shaft log, the price is a little closer to being realistic.

[donradcliffe]

Originally Posted by delmarrey

Some of these estimates seems rediculous. Once my prop was off it only took an hour to push out the old and push in the new. And the new bearing was $55.


.

And how many hours did it take to make that fancy tooling you were using??

[delmarrey]

Originally Posted by donradcliffe

And how many hours did it take to make that fancy tooling you were using??

Around 3 hours. And it's been used many times on others boats as well. Right now it's out on loan saving that yard fee.

[barnakiel]

You need the bearing and you may need the extraction tool (one can be built too).

A skilled man with proper tools will replace a bearing in an hour. A badly stuck one in two. But basically it is a do it yourself project.

b.

[skipmac]

Originally Posted by barnakiel

You need the bearing and you may need the extraction tool (one can be built too).

A skilled man with proper tools will replace a bearing in an hour. A badly stuck one in two. But basically it is a do it yourself project.

b.

Unless the bearing hasn't been changed in 25 years allowing the set screws and the bearing to become one with the strut.

Two people including a skilled mechanic, PB Blaster, Kroil, propane torch, acetylene torch, drills, steel bits, carbide bits, Sawzall, hacksaw blades, hammers, chisels, more than a few hours, a bit of blood and some language not allowed on the forum to remove the bearing.

[barnakiel]

Originally Posted by skipmac

Unless the bearing hasn't been changed in 25 years allowing the set screws and the bearing to become one with the strut. (...)

;-) doh ... in such a case I would stick to it for another 25!

Seriously - the strut ones are a pieceofcake. The ones in the shaft tube can be MUCH worse ... you will have acces from one side only ... ;-)

But a regular case is 1-2 hours of work. At least in the few cases where I did the job or assisted in doing it.

b.

[skipmac]

Originally Posted by barnakiel

;-) doh ... in such a case I would stick to it for another 25!

Believe me, the thought crossed my mind, more than once. It really wasn't totally worn out but since I'm doing a major overhaul with hopes to cruise a few years with reasonable reliability (Hah!!) figured I should do the cutlass bearing while I was at it.

Want to hear a real horror story. It took me and two friends an entire weekend and an additional afternoon to pull the old pickup hose out of the the water tank. When you have a slow day I'll tell you that sad tale of woe. That's #2 on my list of sad stories, right after the $6,000.00 alternator.

[osirissail]

Originally Posted by skipmac

. . . Two people including a skilled mechanic, PB Blaster, Kroil, propane torch, acetylene torch, drills, steel bits, carbide bits, Sawzall, hacksaw blades, hammers, chisels, more than a few hours, a bit of blood and some language not allowed on the forum to remove the bearing.

Over the years I have and have seen exactly the progression of techniques you list above in trying to get a stuck cutlass out. Each of these processes takes up time and equipment. It is natural to want to try the "easy/less aggressive" ways first and then progress to more aggressive processes.

So I have learned to simply go for the sure-fire way of last resort - first. With a sawsall you cut out a sector/segment of the cutless bearing and then use a cold-chisel to curl the remainder inwards upon itself. With the new reduced diameter the bearing comes right out. Whole thing takes about an hour or less. Once the bearing is out stuck set screws can be removed a lot easier.

After cleaning up the strut I use a modified prop puller to press in the new bearing that has (if it naval brass) been sitting in dry ice. Same for a shaft log only you can slide or tap the new "dry-ice frozen" bearing in place with a rubber mallet.

[skipmac]

Originally Posted by osirissail

So I have learned to simply go for the sure-fire way of last resort - first. With a sawsall you cut out a sector/segment of the cutless bearing and then use a cold-chisel to curl the remainder inwards upon itself. With the new reduced diameter the bearing comes right out. Whole thing takes about an hour or less. Once the bearing is out stuck set screws can be removed a lot easier.

Did the sawzall thing but the bearing was frozen to the strut all the way around. Even with a slice cut through the bronze of the bearing I had to beat and pry and bang for several hours before it finally broke free. I would chisel one corner up on one end but the other end remained firmly attached. Chiseled up all four, left and right fore and aft and still had to peel it away all the way around (while trying to avoid mangling the strut). #$!@#$!@#$!!!!!

The set screws took even more time but part of that was self inflicted. Neither would budge, even using all my persuasion techniques including periodic and repeated soaking, heating, and tapping every time I walked by the stern for a couple of weeks. No go. So tried to carefully, oh so slowly and gently to pull one with an EZ Out that of course snapped. I've sworn off those things before but this time I mean it. Knew it wouldn't work but still tried to drill out the embedded piece of the EZ Out, and then tried to grind it out but another no go. That's when I had to go get a carbide bit. $#!#@$!@#$!!! but the carbide cut it right out.

[osirissail]

Did you cut out a "segment" of the bearing? That is, 2 cuts with the sawsall and then use a chisel to peal out an approximate 1/2" to 3/4" piece of the bearing. Then using cold-chisels and other hardened tools lift and curl the remainder inwards. A single cut never worked very well for me as you could not curl the bearing casing inwards enough to break it free from the corrosion.

The first time you do this it takes much longer than the 4th or 5th+ time, as you are exploring the technique and are justifiably cautious to avoid collateral damage.

Setscrews are a definite pain as normally the hex wrench strips the socket in the head or the wrench bends. So again, I just go to the final option and drill out the set screw, then using a tap make a new threaded hole for the next size larger set screw - if - you cannot get the drilled out set screw cleanly out without buggering up the existing threads.

I, personally, avoid heating anything on a boat that is attached to the fiberglass hull. IMHO, heat makes things expand, the strut expands and makes the setscrew hole smaller and the setscrew expands and gets tighter. Never had any luck with heating. . . others may have . . .

[rockborn]

Good news. The boatyard that just lifted the boat just gave me a quote of $350-450 complete. thanks all