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  1. #1

    I've never had a bad cutlass bearing...

    This is my 5th boat with inboards and there was a drag on the port engine. After many hours spent on the engines and other things, there didn't seem to be anything left which could drag on that very healthy engine. People kept saying your cutlass bearing on that side must be bad.

    Still, I was a little bit skeptical because it hadn't happened before....and it's such a simple thing. What could go wrong with it?

    There are 6 under the boat in total. 2 in the long strut and one in the smaller one forward...all the same size. The yard pulled the first 5 and they all looked pretty good, albeit old. (first pic) The last one came out to show the problem.

    Old but functional:
    20211208_152414.jpg

    Not functional:
    20211208_152153.jpg
    At the mouth of the Caloosahatchee
    1984 52C

  2. #2

    Re: I've never had a bad cutlass bearing...

    The SB prop turned a little stiff, but not too badly. I almost had to hang on the port prop to get it to move.

    All that crap caked in the bad one looks like copper. Could some idiot at a yard, long ago, have slopped bottom paint on that shaft and it ran down into the bearing?

    That black line you see at the front of where the cutlass was is so hard, you can barely scratch it off with a hard edge. It's like super-tempered copper ground onto that shaft. Luckily, the shaft doesn't even have a groove on it under there.
    20211208_151738.jpgI guess some goober painted my bearing.
    At the mouth of the Caloosahatchee
    1984 52C

  3. #3

    Re: I've never had a bad cutlass bearing...

    Not paint it’s a growth like coral. I had it in mine a few times. Typically it builds up on the shaft. I usd to eat up a set of bearings every year. My shafts were scored in the running area. Even polishing them with Emory Paper didn’t help. I put one piece shafts in and got rid of the Muff couplings. Stopped eating bearings. In theory the water Chanel’s flow through the bearings and the shaft rides on a thin film of water and never touches the bearings surface. Never glom paint in the front of the bearings it will cut the water flow and burn up the bearing
    "DON'T BELIEVE ANYTHING YOU READ OR HEAR AND ONLY HALF OF WHAT YOU SEE" - BEN FRANKLIN




    Endless Summer
    1967 50c 12/71n DDA 525hp
    ex Miss Betsy
    owners:
    Howard P. Miller 1967-1974
    Richard F Hull 1974-1976
    Robert J. & R.Scott Smith 1976-present

  4. #4

    Re: I've never had a bad cutlass bearing...

    Quote Originally Posted by rsmith View Post
    Not paint it’s a growth like coral. I had it in mine a few times. Typically it builds up on the shaft. I usd to eat up a set of bearings every year. My shafts were scored in the running area. Even polishing them with Emory Paper didn’t help. I put one piece shafts in and got rid of the Muff couplings. Stopped eating bearings. In theory the water Chanel’s flow through the bearings and the shaft rides on a thin film of water and never touches the bearings surface. Never glom paint in the front of the bearings it will cut the water flow and burn up the bearing
    Interesting. It looks just like blue-green copper. The growth must've developed when the boat was somewhere else...since dumping Lake O filth down our river killed everything but a few catfish.

    Did you know the bearings were grabbing when your top speed fell? Or did some routine maintenance indicate the shaft was hard to turn??
    At the mouth of the Caloosahatchee
    1984 52C

  5. #5

    Re: I've never had a bad cutlass bearing...

    I never noticed any rpm drop but I run the boat often. It looked like scale buildup on the shafts. It would eat the rubber. I’m in Vero Beach on the Indian river. The last few years the bottom growth here has been really bad.
    "DON'T BELIEVE ANYTHING YOU READ OR HEAR AND ONLY HALF OF WHAT YOU SEE" - BEN FRANKLIN




    Endless Summer
    1967 50c 12/71n DDA 525hp
    ex Miss Betsy
    owners:
    Howard P. Miller 1967-1974
    Richard F Hull 1974-1976
    Robert J. & R.Scott Smith 1976-present

  6. #6

    Re: I've never had a bad cutlass bearing...

    What is this mental illness I have? Watching them press the new cutlass bearings onto my ol girl made my soul rise. There's something about restoring former glory that I find irresistible. I can't wait to run her up on plane.

    The DYS yard on Ft Myers Beach has done a pretty good job on everything. Of course, I can't recommend them until after I get the invoice!

    20211215_084602.jpg

    20211215_084628.jpg
    At the mouth of the Caloosahatchee
    1984 52C

  7. #7

    Re: I've never had a bad cutlass bearing...

    Curious what this costs as well. I probably need to change mine and replace the stuffing box pipes, rudder seals, etc while I am at it.

  8. #8

    Re: I've never had a bad cutlass bearing...

    Quote Originally Posted by Briankinley2004 View Post
    Curious what this costs as well. I probably need to change mine and replace the stuffing box pipes, rudder seals, etc while I am at it.
    I'll let ya know - should be done early next week.

    Haul-out and pressure wash.
    Repack rudders.
    New cutlass bearings.
    Dripless seals installed.
    Install the new props I have.
    Grind down and paint all the running gear.
    Zincs.
    Etc etc.

    How nice to pay for that right before Christmas.

    Kinda' funny: They have a gigantic lift and pull a lot of 100 + footers. But, they didn't have a puller big enough to get my shaft coupling off. The head guy had to go buy a big steel plate and make a new one. They don't build em like they used to.
    At the mouth of the Caloosahatchee
    1984 52C

  9. #9

    Re: I've never had a bad cutlass bearing...

    I replaced all six of mine for the price of the bearings. Well, I did have to cut the steel pieces and buy the all-thread to make the bearing pusher. And it did take a good part of the day to replace them. But it really isn't a bad job.
    Sky Cheney
    1985 53EDMY, Hull #CN759, "Rebecca"
    ELYC on White Lake--Montague, MI

  10. #10

    Re: I've never had a bad cutlass bearing...

    Quote Originally Posted by SKYCHENEY View Post
    I replaced all six of mine for the price of the bearings. Well, I did have to cut the steel pieces and buy the all-thread to make the bearing pusher. And it did take a good part of the day to replace them. But it really isn't a bad job.
    On my first boats, starting 25 years ago, we had do-it-yourself yards around here. I'd pay a couple hundred to have her put on blocks and do all the rest myself. Those were the days.

    Now, waterfront real estate costs so damned much, yards have to be full service to pay the debt for being there. The property this yard sits on is probably $10 million.

    I get why FL is getting so expensive and crowded...especially now. Still, it hasn't been paradise for 30 years.
    At the mouth of the Caloosahatchee
    1984 52C

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