And So it Begins . . . Knottybuoyz' New Project

[knottybuoyz]

Originally Posted by delmarrey

Yeah! A lot better then the car drive lines from the old days. I just wish the CV joints had a zert fitting to keep'm greased.

I'll run it back to the machine shop and see if it's possible to have a couple installed. Might have to unpack all the grease that's in there now I would imagine and find a spot where drilling the CV won't affect the bearing races etc.

[delmarrey]

From what I can tell from the pictures, is that the center is the race area, which I'm sure is hardened material, and the ends are sheet metal. Not much much chance of getting any threads in there.

They are much like the old VW bug joints, which never get lubed in their lifetime unless they get dismantled. And from the color and texture of grease that has come out of mine, it's special. Yours should already be broke in.

[Zach]

Rick,

The down and dirty way would be to get some heavy angle iron, mount that to the inside of the bedding, move the material removed from the inside to the outside and taper it in... If you get two 6 foot shots, you can cut the web off the angle everywhere except where the engine sits, and through bolt the whole length till it runs out to the hull and cabin sole if you are worried about hacking down the stringers... I like to see a cross bar welded between the angle as you can use a wedges to hold the engine up for changing motor mounts.

You can also weld in angle between the stringers to hang battery boxes ahead of the engine at the same time if you want some 8D's down low. Carry the whole mess in and bolt her into place.

I would move your shaft support bearing far enough forward that you can slide the prop shaft aft, out of the boat and have enough room for a gear puller between the shaft flange and the support bulkhead. If and when the flange freezes to the shaft, you get a shot at removing it.

Also make sure you have enough room to slide the shaft seal over the shaft between the support bearing without losing the prop shaft out of the boat. Leave room for vice grips to keep the shaft in the boat, if you have to pull the prop to slide aft 5-6 inches.

I'd also like to see an inch or two of exposed shaft between the cutlass bearing and the prop. You get at least one shot to have a problem with the flange coupling, to lop off an inch, before your zinc won't fit. That extra inch can save you from having to have a new prop shaft cut if anything happens...

Zach

[knottybuoyz]

Thanks again Zach. All good suggestions and no doubt comes from good experience with this sort of stuff.

I considered the angle iron mounts for the engine and it looks like the geometry will be near perfect if I set the engine right on top of the stringers. I'll bolster up the sections where the engine will sit with white oak & glass the crap out of them as you suggested. Do you think those mounts will be too stiff?

I do like the idea of tying the two sides together. Once the engine is back and I can sit it in the boat I'll look into that. Maybe have two cross braces made up.

Pretty sure I'm going to use the void space below the engine for a 200 litre fresh water bladder. Already have planned space for 2 x 4D AGM's. We'll have 300 watts of solar plus our Honda 2000 generator. No need for more batteries.

There are no flanges in the python system. The shaft goes into the thrust bearing and is fixed in there with a locking collar. Would have to ask Delmarrey if he's had to take his apart yet. As the shaft sits now I can pull it out and I think it'll go under the engine so that would make it easy to remove. The rudder will also have bolted flanges so it can be dismantled if the shaft has to come out the stern.

Already planned for enough exposed shaft for an anode & spurs. I'll plan in an extra inch or so as you suggest.

Thanks again.

[delmarrey]

Originally Posted by knottybuoyz

There are no flanges in the python system. The shaft goes into the thrust bearing and is fixed in there with a locking collar. Would have to ask Delmarrey if he's had to take his apart yet. As the shaft sits now I can pull it out and I think it'll go under the engine so that would make it easy to remove. The rudder will also have bolted flanges so it can be dismantled if the shaft has to come out the stern.

I have pulled my coupler once to upgrade to a larger shaft. I had to bore the thrust bearing arbor to accommodate the larger coupler. One thing I did do that's not in the instructions, I drilled and taped the end of the shaft and fit a washer behind the coupler, so if it ever did come loose it wouldn't lose its position, which is unlikely with the PSS pushing it forward. Just a bit of extra security. And I recommend tightening the bolts while rotating the shaft and like an engine head (opposite positions).

It's held in with a taper lock, so being square to the shaft is important so it doesn't bind causing wear.

The coupler does have torque specs on its bolts. I lubed the threads so they don't seize over time. Mine has spur washers too.
Anyway, I have <400 hours w/o a glitch but probably should check the torque the next time I'm in the hold.

As for rudder shafts, over the years I've noticed that if the rudder shaft is submerged in the water, that it starts crevice corrosion in a ring at the water line. I assume that could be catastrophic over time. A weak point for the shaft to fail.

[knottybuoyz]

Someone suggested a TENS device awhile ago for the carpal tunnel. I picked one up off of FleaBay and have been using it on my back, knee & wrists. What an amazing little device! Used it this morning for 3 x 15 min sessions and the pain in my back was gone! It seems to last for days too!

Anywho, it let me jump around the boat this morning like a mad Roo on crack!



Mocked up the engine beds and will glue them in place tomorrow. Off to pick up my Jeep that's been in the shop for 3 days getting a new clutch! *sigh*

Web log updated: https://she-kon.blogspot.ca/2016/06/...imulating.html

Standby....

[knottybuoyz]

Not my best work but there it is, glued & screwed (temporary) in!



Bedded it in plenty of epoxy glue and used a notched trowel just like they do on tiles. Worked well but squeezed out a lot of the glue when I pushed the pieces into place. Oh well a quick go over with the sander will clean that up!

[knottybuoyz]

Got port side engine bed glued & screwed (temporary) into place this morning. Was going to do some more sanding but I keep getting the uncured glue all over myself. :-(



Going on the hunt for a 12' step ladder so I can hook up a pair of ceiling fans in the shed.

Standby...

[tropicalescape]

Looking good..how many hrs. do you estimate that you have in building to this point? I have a Skipper 20 that I have been thinking about converting into a small trawler looking type of boat by removing the rigging and laying up a composite pilot house but then I look at your thread and realise the dedication required for such things ..My hat is off to you..I am inspired by your efforts at the same time and keep inching my way to dedicating myself to the very small project of converting the Skipper 20 into a pocket trawler..Waiting for the day you put your completed build in the water..Hope all goes well and with good speed..Keep building

[knottybuoyz]

Originally Posted by tropicalescape

Looking good..how many hrs. do you estimate that you have in building to this point? I have a Skipper 20 that I have been thinking about converting into a small trawler looking type of boat by removing the rigging and laying up a composite pilot house but then I look at your thread and realise the dedication required for such things ..My hat is off to you..I am inspired by your efforts at the same time and keep inching my way to dedicating myself to the very small project of converting the Skipper 20 into a pocket trawler..Waiting for the day you put your completed build in the water..Hope all goes well and with good speed..Keep building

Thanks for the kind words Tropicalescape. This is season 5 of actually building the boat. We only get about 6 months a year when we can epoxy & fiberglass stuff. This summer it's down to 5 months with work commitments etc. I would guess I'm somewhere around 2200-2300 hours but there's a lot of navel gazing in those hours. I have no idea what I'm doing and have to spend a lot of time researching online and/or fixing my mistakes!

I wouldn't let that discourage anyone from giving it a go. I've seen a few of these boats come together in 1000 hrs with a small crew, a crew that knows what it's doing and I've seen some languishing for 10+ years. If I were to hazard a guess I'm shooting for 9 yrs in the water and finished because if I don't finish it by that time it'll never get done.

I was 4+ years getting the hull to almost finished state. You wouldn't have to worry much about that on a trawler conversion. I love the pocket trawlers but we needed something bigger to carry us where we want to go.

If it's your dream, go for it. My boat is my dream, since I was a kid. I consider myself fortunate to have the opportunity to pursue that dream.

Good luck with your project when you get it started!

Cheers!

[knottybuoyz]

Finally got all the pieces of the puzzle together to get my ceiling fans up in the boat shed.



They make quite a bit of difference!

Other nonsense on the web log update: https://she-kon.blogspot.ca/2016/07/thar-she-blows.html

[knottybuoyz]

puttering around on the boat today.



Fans are working really well. It's 30 C in the shade today and very tolerable in the shed.

[knottybuoyz]

Still moving in 'a direction' albeit in Slow-Mo-Shun!

Tinkered around with a few things the last few days in between thunder storms, heat & humidity. Engine beds have first layer of glass on them and I've brought a couple of the bulkheads aboard to begin to get them aligned for glue & tape.



Web log updated: https://she-kon.blogspot.ca/2016/07/slow-mo-shun.html

[knottybuoyz]

Spent a lot of time hmmmm'ing & hawing today. Bulkheads A & B that you've seen I tried to get lined up by the marks I put on the hull when the thing was upside down on the strongback. Didn't exactly seem to work out quite right and I know why. It was something that happened waaaaaaaaaay back when I assembled the panels. Anywho.....



Had to yank bulkhead E out of the pile and cut it in half so I can install it in the boat first. I'm positive of the position it'll go in the boat and once I get it plumb & squared away I can take my measurements of of it for the remainder of the bulkheads.

Web log update: https://she-kon.blogspot.ca/2016/07/hmmmmmmm.html

Standby...

[knottybuoyz]

Spent most of the morning wrestling with the main bulkhead, E, getting it into place, trimmed for fit etc.



Ran out of Jigsaw blades so it's a supply run this afternoon. Mercury is supposed to jump into the mid 30's C with humidex!

Web log updated: https://she-kon.blogspot.ca/2016/07/fighting-dirty.html

Standby...