Rudder Shaft Repair - Long Island Shop

[sgharford]

Hola. I have the rudders off my 43 DC and noticed the port shaft has a groove worn in it where it contacts with upper bronze bushing. Assume the rudder shaft is also bronze. Was thinking a marine shaft supplier may be able to fix this area by adding bronze to groove and re-machining down. Anyone ever have a shaft repaired in such a manner?

And - does anyone know a good shop on Long Island I could bring to for such a repair? Thanks All! - Scott

[Sonny]

the '62 41c i ran years ago had a lot of play in the prop shaft/coupling joint. turns out the keyway was really worn, nearly 1/4 bigger than spec. the machine shop filled the entire keyway then cut a new one into the shaft.

[REBrueckner]

Any propeller/shaft repair shop can fix that..or provide you information on someone who can....

[Glory]

Lawrence Johnson, Freeport, south to Sunrise cnat think of the street name.

[sgharford]

Thanks, found them (http://www.ljmw.com/ ). They are open Saturdays too from 10 to 1. Said he would have to replace entire shaft (couple hundred dollars each). I didn't see a pin holding shaft to rudder (could be painted over). Anyone know if rudder shaft can be replaced on 43 DC or was it cast as one piece?

Going to see if I can find a local place that can just fill and lathe as I think this would be cheaper. Got a call into local yard manager, but does anyone know of shop on Long Island (NY) that can do this?

[sgharford]

Found local shop that can fill and remachine. S & S Propeller Co in College Point (Flushing), NY. They can also pick 'em up from house or boat yard anywhere on LI. Will probably try these guys out and let you know how it goes. There is apprehension in filling and remachining due to liability of failure (especially in steering system) – they are going to have to look at before committing to this type of repair.

[Red Hatt]

We have had several boats in our Yacht Club that had there rudder post repaired like you are doing and theirs worked out great. None of them have had the first problem and no more leaks either.

[sgharford]

I got the rudders off the boat and measured the shaft diameter as well as diameter of rudder bearing (bushing). It looks like the tolerances should be about 1.510 for bushing and 1.495 for shaft based on smallest/largest readings respectively. This makes for a clearance of 0.015”. Largest diameter for bushing was 1.524” and smallest shaft diameter (where grove at worst) is 1.479” making for clearance of 0.045”. So looks like I have 0.03” slop (if you can something that small slop).

What do you guys think – should I just leave it alone? Groove really looks pretty minor and is on one side only. Other rudder post is ok – no groove. I am sending props in to be reconditioned and was going to include rudder, but don’t want to piss any more money away if not necessary.

One more thing – should I grease the bushing prior to reinstalling rudder shaft?

[yachtsmanbill]

Plus .003" is ONE HAIR! Hmm. New shaft bearings are just about .000" but thats also spinning 500 lbs of shaft and wheel with 1000 hp in front of it.
I'd prefer to piss that dough away on something fun... like insurance or storage LOL. I think youll be ok. Try ruffing thenm up and JB welding them if it really bugs you. Check out the link I posted on the chill thred...
http://hunnertcarpileup.com/2008/pictures/ ws

[sgharford]

Thanks Bill. Dig the pictures of the old cars and bikes - I like that they all look 'used'. See you made mention of a Harley in The Big Chill - bet you have a couple of bikes in the Garage. Buying the boat last year really cut into my riding time and don't see much more time to ride this season as still having too much fun with free time working on her. Last show I rode too was about 400 mile day ride to Mass-of-two-sh*ts, British bike show. Did it with local Connecticut BMW club.

Anyway, slop is 0.03", not 0.003". Really isn't bothering me too much with exception that I have rudder off boat and props are going in for service anyway. Also, bottom is stripped and drying out for barrier coat and two coats ablative when weather gets better. Also put new trim tabs and actuators as well as replaced 4 thru-hulls. Basically everything below the water line will be done this season (still have to test and replace bonding wires as need be). I don't know how much this 0.03" of slop is going to bother me once back in the drink without confirmation from HOF that it's no big deal.

[LENZ]

Thanks Bill. Dig the pictures of the old cars and bikes - I like that they all look 'used'. See you made mention of a Harley in The Big Chill - bet you have a couple of bikes in the Garage. Buying the boat last year really cut into my riding time and don't see much more time to ride this season as still having too much fun with free time working on her. Last show I rode too was about 400 mile day ride to Mass-of-two-sh*ts, British bike show. Did it with local Connecticut BMW club.

Anyway, slop is 0.03", not 0.003". Really isn't bothering me too much with exception that I have rudder off boat and props are going in for service anyway. Also, bottom is stripped and drying out for barrier coat and two coats ablative when weather gets better. Also put new trim tabs and actuators as well as replaced 4 thru-hulls. Basically everything below the water line will be done this season (still have to test and replace bonding wires as need be). I don't know how much this 0.03" of slop is going to bother me once back in the drink without confirmation from HOF that it's no big deal.

Hi can you make a drawing or take a picture of the shaft? Give me the O.D. of the shaft and the O.A.L. I can either fix your existing shaft by under cutting it where the grooves are (.030 per side) coat with a ceramic filler and machine back to size. My company does this sort of work daily. It works great on pumps and valve shafting. Or I can just make you another one, It would take me about a day. I have special HOF pricing (for the small stuff) you'll like it.

Lenz
43'DC

[SKYCHENEY]

Forget marine shops. Go to any regular machine shop and have it built up and turned back to specs. There are all kinds of little guys with equipment to do this and they generally don't worry about liability and such. As a general rule, the further away from a metropolitan area you can get, the better the price will be. Those farmers that make parts for their old equipment are your best bet.

[fixin-to-cruise]

I had 2 rudder shafts repaired by Frank & Jimmy's in Ft. Lauderdale 6 years ago. It looked like brazing was added to the scored area. Then they turned it on a lathe. The repair came out fine. I'd be more concerned about the chance of a failure if the shafts were replaced than if the scoring was repaired. If that shop won't fix it bring it somewhere else.

[sgharford]

Anyone know if (and how) the shaft is removable from the rudder? To be specific - this is 1976 43' DC. I assume rudder would have to be removed from shaft to get shaft on (most) lathe's.

[sgharford]

I called SAM's and talked to Steve - he told me shaft and rudder are cast as one piece.

[fixin-to-cruise]

My rudders were 1 piece also. You can measure the width of the rudder from the centerline of the shaft to find the size of the lathe required to turn the rudder after brazing. Any machine shop or prop shop would know the max diameter they can turn.

[LENZ]

I called SAM's and talked to Steve - he told me shaft and rudder are cast as one piece.


I can turn up to 24" on my lathe. The shipping cost might start to get expensive though.. I think UPS will ship up to 70lbs?

Lenz
43 DC

[sandspur1966]

Though they are fewer and further between these days, any mom and pop machinist can build up the bronze and turn it back down to spec.

Off-hand I know S&S can do it but will be $$. Shellfish Marine has a guy named Charley Hart who is a gifted machinist and may be more reasonable. They are in West Sayville.