SAil drives..?advice pls

[Dodger_jnr]

Can you guys tell me what a saildrive is, and how one can lose ones yacht if its faulty..?? the time fast approaches (house sold ) permission from ERRr indoors to buy our 1st dream yacht.....does it not have a stern-gland.?? any advice taken onboard.

<hr width=100% size=1>

 

[snowleopard]

a saildrive is like the bottom half of an outboard motor attached to the back end of your engine. it sticks out of the bottom of the boat through a rubber diaphragm which could potentially fail. they don't fail but just in case they have two layers with a water sensor in between. they should be replaced every few years as a precaution.

they make installation easy and cheap as there's no shaft to align. they don't have stern glands.

i have 2, they work fine.

<hr width=100% size=1>

 

[Dodger_jnr]

so is it an addon to ..say an old volvo or would it be a replacment engine, Iv seen them advertised with certain yachts can any boat have one...

<hr width=100% size=1>

 

[oldsaltoz]

G'day Brian,

No it is not an add on, saildrives are fitted as original equipment to many boats, monohull and multihull.

Like an outboard, they have an engine that sits on top, with a leg just like an outboard; an engine bed is glassed into the hull and the leg goes through the hull, between the engine (Inside the boat) and the leg (Under the boat) are two rubber gaskets.

The engine bed incorporates a well to contain any leaks, or spills and also the engine covers on most models.

They are simple to work on if you have good access and with no stern tube or stuffing boxes, shafts, 'P' brackets or couplings, they provide most users with a clean and very dry bilge.

Have a look at the Yanmar web page........

I hope this helps.



<hr width=100% size=1> Old Salt Oz /forums/images/icons/cool.gif Growing old is unavoidable. However, growing up is still optional.

 

[extravert]

A small picture of one

Here's a picture of one...

The saildrive bit is the vertical leg protruding below the hull and the upper gearbox directly above it, inside the hull. The big lump to the right is the engine as normal.

Although there is no stern gland, there are 2 other important seals that need maintaining...

1) The shaft seal in front of the prop. This is usually fairly easy to change. Indication that it is failing will be cloudy lower gearbox oil.

2) The double seal at the top of the saildrive leg. These are hard to change as the engine usually needs removing to get at them. These should be changed every few years or when the inter-seal alarm goes off.

All these seals require the boat out of the water to work on them.

<hr width=100% size=1>One day, I want to be a real sailor. In the mean time I'll just keep trying.

 

[Dodger_jnr]

Re: A small picture of one

Thanks to you all for this info, a great help...so much to learn. In all my sailing. racing other peoples yachts and delivering from Sth/ton to River Medway, roamansing that one day I'll have one of my own.. and now that time is nigh...I realise I know ..Shit. in 1998 I crewed a Gibsea 262 from Portsmouth to Medway while the other 2 slept I helmed for 19hrs straight, all through the night, such was my excitment i could never sleep...thanks again Im sure there;ll be more questions for you guys ...watch this space ...lol

<hr width=100% size=1>

 

[peterb]

Gearbox oil

Saildrives have a gearbox at the bottom of the leg, which occasionally needs an oil change. Most require the oil to be drained through a plug at the bottom of the leg, and hence need the boat to be dried out. It's worth comparing your predicted annual engine hours with the required oil change interval. If you're likely to do a lot of motoring then lift-outs are expensive. Probably more applicable to a charter boat than yours, but as well to know.

Manoeuvrability under engine is not usually as good as with a conventional shaft drive, because the propeller is a lot further from the rudder.

<hr width=100% size=1>

 

[penfold]

Re: A small picture of one

19 hours straight?!?!?!?
Were you not hallucinating by the end if it? I think if I had to do that I'd probably be starting to converse with my ancestors and seeing parades of pink elephants......

!!!
Cheers,
david

<hr width=100% size=1>Why'd he call me shortie?
Because you're small,...small,...S, M, all.

 

[Dodger_jnr]

Re: Gearbox oil

Thanks for this advice just what I needed, also for the yanmar site and the Pic;s thanks again guys

<hr width=100% size=1>