ADVICE dropping a spade rudder

[vfrbiker905]

I have a ufo27 with a spade rudder which I am trying to drop. I need to do this for prop shaft removal,for cutlass bearing replacement
the boat is out of the water. I have removed the tiller and tiller bracket. I have also removed a screw with screwdriver head on top, also a pin that goes through the rudder shaft at the top, also 2 grub screws that were going in at the side presumably also securing the square at the top of the shaft . I was expecting the whole assembly to drop at this point. I have given the top of the shaft some hammering down and nothing drops.my concern, is there something else to be removed or is it a matter of more forcefull persuasion with the hammer

 

[sailorman]

I have a ufo27 with a spade rudder which I am trying to drop. I need to do this for prop shaft removal,for cutlass bearing replacement
the boat is out of the water. I have removed the tiller and tiller bracket. I have also removed a screw with screwdriver head on top, also a pin that goes through the rudder shaft at the top, also 2 grub screws that were going in at the side presumably also securing the square at the top of the shaft . I was expecting the whole assembly to drop at this point. I have given the top of the shaft some hammering down and nothing drops.my concern, is there something else to be removed or is it a matter of more forceful persuasion with the hammer

I have an Oyster 37 your big sister, i dropped mine 2 yrs ago, just removed the steering quadrant & the ring on the deck that was it, you will need the boat lifting or dig a deep hole.
Have you tried wiggling it back n forth, it might be grease holding it. have you got the "Oilite" bearing & stuffing box

 

[GrahamM376]

A friend had to drop the rudder off his Feeling a few months ago, the bottom bearing was more or less ball shaped and had cutouts only allowing the rudder to drop when at 90 degrees, relative to ahead.

 

[30boat]

Maybe you don't have to drop the rudder at all.
On my Fulmar I remove the cutless bearing with a split extractor which allows the shaft to be slid out by pushing it sideways.

 

[vfrbiker905]

I have an Oyster 37 your big sister, i dropped mine 2 yrs ago, just removed the steering quadrant & the ring on the deck that was it, you will need the boat lifting or dig a deep hole.
Have you tried wiggling it back n forth, it might be grease holding it. have you got the "Oilite" bearing & stuffing box

the boat is upon a trailer high enough as let the rudder drop no digging required. I,m not sure on names like "oillite and I am assuming the quadrant is the block at the top I will try and send picies

 

[sailorman]

the boat is upon a trailer high enough as let the rudder drop no digging required. I,m not sure on names like "oillite and I am assuming the quadrant is the block at the top I will try and send picies

you will only have a quadrant with wheel steering

I had an Oilite bottom bearing glassed inside the hull, this then had a shaft stuffing box ( same a a prop shaft seal)above on the rudder tube
http://www.oilite.com/bearings.asp?type=oilite

 

[Halo]

Oilite is a material with tiny holes in it impregnated with lubricant so that it is self lubricating
Is there a collar with a grub screw acting like a washer where the metal block hangs ? If this is countersunk into the shaft it could be holding things up

 

[rob2]

Not familiar with the design of your boat, but when I dropped the rudder on my Weston I found that the bearings were not aligned and the resultant friction (not detectable on the tiller) was enough to hang it up. I unscrewed the top bearing housing and prised it off - the shaft now slid gently down. Had to refit in reverse order, pushing the top across until the top beairng housing lined up with its mounting screw holes.

Rob.

 

[Twister_Ken]

In your second pic, is that the top of the shaft under the tiller bracket, or is it a separate collar? Either way, it looks a (too?) tight fit in relation to the circular plate beneath it.

If a collar, then presumably the bracket needs to be lifted off, and the collar somehow removed, before it will drop.

 

[Blueboatman]

Clean up the faces and any further pins should be obvious?

I think you might like to try getting a puller on to it next, tho 3 or 4 legged I dunno to engage with the corners of the tiller bracket.. maybe a bit of judicious heat/cold water/repeat will help too but dont cook the fibreglass ( use a blow torch but have a water hose playing on the cockpit sole continuously...)

 

[sailorman]

The tiller fitting has to obviously to be remover, under that there is a s/s collar that stops the stock from falling out of the boat

 

[Alan ashore]

I know the OP doesn't have to dig a hole, but this thread reminded me of a cold spring day some years ago when I met a couple of chaps toiling away at the compacted gravel of the marina car park beneath their rudder. "That looks hard", says I, "how much deeper do you need to make it?". "About as deep as that one...", they replied pointing to a deep pit a few yards away, "....which we dug last week." The marina had moved their boat (to extract another for launching) in the meantime!

Oh how they must have laughed....

 

[vfrbiker905]

twister-ken
I think it is a separate collar in the second pic,i have removed a bolt that goes through the side of that collar,the holes that is seen on the left of that tiller bracket had a grub scew on each side, I was assuming that the little square on pic 1 with the screwhole in the middle was the top of the rudder shaft an would be round at or below the collar

 

[Norman_E]

The grub screws may have raised burrs on the shaft, causing the parts to stick. Can you raise the rudder a little bit? If so use a bearing puller to pull the top part off. You need the type with two claws. Have someone holding the rudder up so that it does not drop suddenly and get damaged. Hammering the shaft is a bad idea, as it may spread the end and make it more difficult to separate the parts.

 

[sailorman]

twister-ken
I think it is a separate collar in the second pic,i have removed a bolt that goes through the side of that collar,the holes that is seen on the left of that tiller bracket had a grub scew on each side, I was assuming that the little square on pic 1 with the screwhole in the middle was the top of the rudder shaft an would be round at or below the collar

the only sq section is where the tiller head is fitted

 

[Andrew G]

Can you lift it enough to get the bearing puller feet underneath? To stop it dropping when free tie a line gunwale to gunwale passing under the blade.

 

[vfrbiker905]

thanks guys for all the comments I do own a 2 prong puller, though I will need to seek out the club member who borrowed it not to difficult and I reckon I will get the feet under ok
so cheers will try that

 

[sailorman]

thanks guys for all the comments I do own a 2 prong puller, though I will need to seek out the club member who borrowed it not to difficult and I reckon I will get the feet under ok
so cheers will try that

Make sure that rudder doesnt drop with a splintering sound

where r u based

 

[knuterikt]

Dropping rudder

We dropped the rudder for inspection some years ago, don't know if this helps
Secure the ruder with a rope tied on to the rudder, we used the cockpit winches to lift the rudder couple of mm up - this will take the load off the trust bearing.

http://i372.photobucket.com/albums/oo167/knuterikt/Autopilot/IMG_1592_zpsb3689b0d.jpg

We have wheel steering, top of the ruddershaft, with the square for emergency tiller and the trust bearing.
The through bolt lock the thrust ring in place

http://i372.photobucket.com/albums/oo167/knuterikt/Autopilot/IMG_1465.jpg

The thrust ring had a very tight fit the friction/miss alignment kept the rudder in place, using a screwdriver carefully bending the ring upwards got it moving
We used the winches to control the decent of the rudder.
Rudder going down

http://i372.photobucket.com/albums/oo167/knuterikt/Autopilot/IMG_1594_zps1239520b.jpg

We had to remove the rudder quadrant also, but you want need to do that

 

[Andrew G]

Knuterikt. Is that snow in your first picture? Many in Oz have little idea of what you guys have to live with (I did live in Manchester for 3 years but not boating). I'm not going near my boat this week because it is too hot. 35+ (deg C) last few days, 40 tomorrow and 30 min overnight. Andrew