1985 Moody 47 Rudder Rust

[tlgibson97]

I am a buyer looking at a 1985 Moody 47 that overall looks good. Some typical rust streaks here and there that look like they can be polished out but I am concerned about some rust on the rudder. It looks like the internal structure could be corroding. I am not familiar with how Moody constructed the rudders so I am wondering if anyone has any experience with these. Is it a big deal? Should it be repaired before purchase or negotiated? What would be a good guess on the cost of repair in FL?

Correction: Looking again, the rust is actually on the skeg.

Hopefully the link works.



https://photos.app.goo.gl/879y6UrnNG2Cbk3F6

[tkeithlu]

Surveyor? Could be bad, could be just one bolt. The rest of the picture is pretty messy. If you do not have a surveyor, it's time to get one, and tell him/her about your concerns.

[Bill O]

Agree the rust is coming from the skeg.

My question would be what is the screw (and hole) doing in the skeg? First assumption would be the skeg is hollow and its a drain hole. Probably will find a shoe/plate bolted into the bottom of the skeg. Still seems mike a lot of rust coming out of the hole indicating someone used steel items inside.

Had a previous boat with this set up and with an extra long socket wrench extension, fairly easy to get to the nuts holding the shoe. A repair should be fairly easy to do and would replace any rusted steel items w/appropriate fasteners and re-bed the shoe to stop any water from get into the skeg. That should repair it.

Have you been up in the boat yet? Would look w/a flashlight into the bottom of the skeg to see what is going on.

[Manateeman]

Good advice from the Green Frog. Moody has an owners association with a lot of technical articles.
The manatees.

[tlgibson97]

If I plan to move forward with it I'll definitely get a surveyor. I was on the boat yesterday but now 6 hours away. Looking through pictures this morning I saw a bunch of places I failed to check out. I looked at a handful of boats this weekend and didn't get too deep into any of them. I figure if any really grabbed me I would take another look and do a deeper dive and do a more thorough pre-survey before dropping the money on a real one. This is my first time looking at boats of this size so I'm sure I'll miss a lot. This rust was just the only thing that looked like it could be a hidden danger.

I make a post over on the moody page and see if they have more info to add.

Thanks for the help.

[rla]

I have worked on and heard of troubles with Moody rudders from the 1980s.
An advert was run in PBO by someone apparently trying to get others to assist him with a claim of some sort to do with a Moody rudder problem.


I assisted with repairing a Moody 37 rudder where the filler had obviously been poured in with the rudder horizontal and the port side of the rudder had only a little filler and had filled with water .
We carried out a repair about 10 years ago which is still working to this day.


I heard of an incident where rust appeared through the rudder and it was found that the welded on steel supports spreading the load from the rudder shaft to the blade area, were scrap mild steel off cuts and due to water ingress had rusted and the shaft could turn without the blade moving.


My suggestion which is what we did for the 37. would be to remove the screw and drill with an inch hole saw, slowly revealing the layers you drill through.
A plan can then be made to deal with the result.

[MJH]

Originally Posted by tlgibson97

I am a buyer looking at a 1985 Moody 47 that overall looks good. Some typical rust streaks here and there that look like they can be polished out but I am concerned about some rust on the rudder. It looks like the internal structure could be corroding. I am not familiar with how Moody constructed the rudders so I am wondering if anyone has any experience with these. Is it a big deal? Should it be repaired before purchase or negotiated? What would be a good guess on the cost of repair in FL?

Correction: Looking again, the rust is actually on the skeg.

Hopefully the link works.



https://photos.app.goo.gl/879y6UrnNG2Cbk3F6

I would be interested in seeing the other side of the skeg for the bolt coming through and a nut on the end or not and its just a screw head.

Good question is what's it for? My boat's skeg has three large flush pins in that area that hold on the rudder shoe. That one small bolt looks too small for that purpose. Hopefully the owner, your surveyor, or Moody can tell you what it is for.

As far as rust is concerned it definitely looks to me that the bolt/screw is where the rust is coming from and should not be that hard to deal with.

Let us know what you find out.

Good Luck.

~ ~ _/) ~ ~ MJH

[Searles]

Only a guess ,but that slotted head bolt may have held a rudder anode ,which has totally depleted,have seen a number of s/s heel fittings depending wether it’s cast or fabricated and what of an anode would be a good idea,as a marine surveyor of over 40 yrs ,it needs further investigating ⛵️⚓️

[Stewie12]

Change the bolt and screw. This is a minor problem.

[Boatyarddog]

Originally Posted by Searles

Only a guess ,but that slotted head bolt may have held a rudder anode ,which has totally depleted,have seen a number of s/s heel fittings depending wether it’s cast or fabricated and what of an anode would be a good idea,as a marine surveyor of over 40 yrs ,it needs further investigating ⛵️⚓️

If you've got a bonding wire attached to the rudder post, it was probably an Anode. There is probably a grid internally.
Replace the Anode if so.
Boatyarddog