Cutlass Bearing/Bush.

[Clyde_Wanderer]

Can anyone tell me what type/make of cutlass this is, and how far into the hull should I expect it to be extending?
It is held in against the skeg by two slot head csk screws.
And where could I get one?
Thanks, C_W
PS this pic is of an Elizabethan 30 which is identical to my skeg/hull etc.
Who is the E30 owner on this forum? as he may know, I am sure the pic is of his boat.

 

[grimmy]

Hi, I think you will find that cutlass bearings are pretty well standard items, all you need to know is the shaft diameter and the outside diam. They are about 4 to 5 inches long (from memory) depending on diam. You should be able to get them from most marine engineers and the larger chandlers.

 

[Kyle2]

I recently replaced the bearing on my Snapdragon, which has a similar fitting to yours. Your photo shows the bearing holder, which will unscrew from the end of the stern tube when you have removed the 2 screws. There may be a grub screw securing the bearing in the holder. In my case there was not, and I couldn't get the old bearing out. I took the holder & bearing to an engineer who machined the old bearing out and fitted a new one. In this case you would only need to know the diameter of the shaft. The bearing on mine did not extend into the hull at all, as a lip on the inside of the holder prevented this. Don't forget to apply plenty of underwater sealant to the screws & holder when refitting to the hull. Hope this helps.

 

[milfordman]

I recently replaced my cutlass bearing. I expect that if you remove the prop, then the the two bolts securing the bearing holder you should be able to with draw the cutlass bearing in it's holder. There may be a screw of some kind biting into the side of the cutlass bearing to stop it from rotating, if this the case you will need to remove this. With the holder held in a vice you should be able to drift out the cutlass bearing. ASAP should be able to supply a new bearing.

 

[damo]

If you are lucky you may be able to get the bearing out without removing the stern tube fitting - IF you can get the shaft out! It is much simpler not to have to remove the end fitting, especially if the stern tube comes out with it, as mine did.
From the pic it looks like you have the prop in an aperture - can you get the prop off and the shaft out?
There should be a grub screw holding the cutless bearing in place, then you may be able to hook the bearing out. It will probably be seized in, so some careful hacksawing should produce a slot down one side of the bearing and allow it to be released.
The new one will probably go in as far as a stop, then cut to length if necessary. Mark the bearing with the grub screw, then CAREFULLY drill a shallow dimple to take the end of the grub screw.
You need to know shaft diam, and external diam (ASAP-Supplies do them)

 

[milfordman]

I looked at your photo again and I notice that your prop is very close to the bearing. I wonder are you able to see the end of the bearing? Can you see the end of the slots up the cutlass bearing, or are you just assuming it is a cutlass bearing? It reminded me of the bearing that was fitted on the Macwester 26 that I had a part share in 25 years ago. I had to replace that bearing one time. Getting to hold the bottom nut was a bit of a problem, I had to use a socket set with a universal joint and a long extention bar. Also the bearing was a white metal bearing that was removed by heating and melting. The bearing was then re-cast and bored to suit the shaft.

 

[milfordman]

Damo is right if you can easily get the prop and shaft out. It is possible to pull out the cutlass bearing. This is what I did this year on my boat. It also has the advantage you can measure the shaft where the bearing touches the shaft. In my case the shaft was worn as much as the bearing, and had to be replaced. To remove the bearing I passed a 2meter long piece of all thread up the tube from the rear then fitted a steel plate to the all thread with nuts either side. The steel plate was made to be 0.5mm less than the O/D of the bearing. I then fitted a slide hammer ( The sort used for car body repairs) to the outer end and pulled out the bearing.
Best of luck.

 

[TigaWave]

The bearing carrier can usually be fitted with a bearing of your choice, there is a standard Length to Diameter ratio of 4:1.
Check for shaft wear at different diametric positions with a vernier, if the shafts worn it will wear a new bearing.

 

[RTB]

A word of caution - if you are removing the "bearing holder" by unscrewing form the stern tube, then take care. I did this last year and the stern tube broke ! i.e fractured. It was quite old but I probably applied pressure in the wrong places !
I ended up having to replace it completely.

Take care

 

[Clyde_Wanderer]

Thanks all for the advice.
From what you are saying, Is it that, the pic is of the holder which actually carries the cutlass inside it?
I have my rudder removed at the moment for repair, and the gearbox out also for repeir, (above pic is not my boat, but identical carrier) and at present I can slide the shaft in and out so far, but if I remove the prop, I should be able t withdraw the shaft into the boat far enough to clear this holder.
As it is now if I pull the shaft/prop aftwards a bit I can see the rubber ribs in the cutlass but cant see if it will pull outward or wil I have to remove the carrier.
Can anyone say what the two screws are actually screwed into? ie, grp, wood, metal or what? as I cant see any nuts on the inside of the hull.
Kyle, the carrier on the Snapdragon is much longer than on mine, but the same shape, there is a Snapdragon right next to me in the yard, thanks for the help.
Thanks again all. Cheers, C_W.

 

[damo]

Mine is a similar layout externally, and the 2 bolts go through to nuts and washers inside. There was very little room to get at the lower nut, but just possible with the shaft tube in place.

You may also not be interested to hear that my mobile dropped out of my pocket to the bottom of the narrow bilge at that point, while I was virtually hanging upside down! Since there was no space to get my arm past the tube I found a useful trick - a blob of sealant on the end of a stick, let it go off on the back of the phone, then carefully withdraw and unpeel the phone /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[Tranona]

Pretty sure this is a Stuart Turner stern gear. The two screws will just go into the GRP (but might have a wood insert bonded in). Pull the shaft into the boat, remove the screws and unscrew the bronze housing from the stern tube which is buried in the boat - you may need a fair sized wrench to get it moving. If it is the original ST bearing it will be a rubber bush, 3 and 5/8 inches long and a 1 inch shaft. However, it may have been modified by sleeving it to take a standard cutlass bearing which is a 4 to 1 length - that is 4 inches long for a one inch shaft. Obviously a cutlass will need shortening to fit the housing easily done in a lathe or carefully with a hacksaw. Removal is easy in a machine shop with a press, as is replacement. If you do modify to use a cutlass you will need to drill and tap for a locking grub screw. From memory (20 years since I modified mine!) the ST rubber bearing (which is still available and I have one in my useless spares box) may not have a grub screw.

Critical when you put it back together if you have a cutlass is to leave at least 15mm exposed shaft aft of the bearing to let the water out. The photo does not show this. Lack of this clearance will lead to short bearing life. If you do not have the gap then put a flexible coupling on the gearbox to move the shaft back - although from the pic there does not seem a lot of clearance to the rudder.

If I am wrong about the ST bit as others such as Teignbridge look similar, but are usually longer, every thing else about removing and replacing the cutlass including clearance aft of the housing is relevant.

Hope this helps

 

[milfordman]

Hi Clyde_Wanderer,

Answer to Q1 yes,

On my Macwester 26 that looked similar to the photo:- There were nuts on the bolts inside the skeg. The top one was buried under a load of crud, but reasonably acessable, the bottom one was hidden in the skeg under the prop shaft tube also buried in crud,virtually invisible. If the area is clean and well lit and you still can not see any nuts, is it posible that some swine has glassed over them? I have seen some pretty amazing codges over the years. Another possibilty is that a metal plate was purposely built into the lay up to be drilled and tapped to provide captive nuts, but if this is the case you would expect to see the ends of the bolts, I supose they could be wood screws or self tappers. Either way if you cannot see any nuts, you will have to remove the screws. If you intend to remove the bearing carrier. In which case I would suggest that you soaked the area with WD40 repeatedly for several days if you have the time, then cross your fingers and use an impact screwdriver to remove the screws, not while your fingers are crossed however.

You say that the gearbox and prop are removed, and you can move the shaft forwards, until I expect the shaft coupling touches the end of the engine or flywheel. When the shaft is as far forward as possible, does the rear end of the shaft clear the front of the cutlass bearing.

If the answer is no, and you cannot get the bearing carrier off as detailed previously.

Then I suggest that you remove the coupling from the front end of the shaft that connects it to the gearbox.

When the coupling is removed you will be able to withdraw the shaft out rearwards.

You would then be able to remove the bearing as sugested in my previous post.

Best of luck.

 

[ebbtide]

Replaced the cutlass recently, it had to be drilled out as it was fused inside the shaft tube. That is held against the aft face of the keel with 2 bolts which had wasted: the top one had an accessible nut above the shaft. but the lower one was set into the grp. Great fun!

 

[Clyde_Wanderer]

Thanks all for your really helpfull replies.
I guess there is nothing now only to get down there and get my sleeves rolled up and hope for the best, although with my luck the way it is at the moment, I suppose will have to do some excavitation, which brings to mind a previous surveyer's report which said that there was a repair done to the skeg just to the sb side of the cutlass, I wonder if it had anything to do with a difficult previous removal of the cutlass, I will let you all know what happens.
I can say there is definatly no nuts on the inside of hull/skeg.
Thanks guys, Cheers, C_W.
PS anyone with a Hurth HBW 50 gearbox might be interested in a post I will be putting on shortly.