Stern or sail drive

[Guest]

Can anyone help please?
I have an unfinnished Marcon 22 Striker, i found an almost new Yanmar 1GM10 to put in it as an inboars. There is a stern tube in place but the configuration is so old that no one seems to be able to help with parts etc. It appears to be a brass tube with rubber seals at bothe ends and a grease filler poin in the middlesticking up through the GRP in the bilge. There is no place for any type of gland packing so it seems the whole shooting match is relying on these two rubber D seals.
I have been told that to remove this tube and fit a modern standard one would cost about £1500 to £2000.
I have just been "given" a brand new Lombardini Sail drive unit with mounts and GRP stand and i was wondering if it could be used in conjunction with the 1GM10 and whether fitting it would be a viable option instead of ripping out the stern tube( just fill it up!)
Any thoughts would be welcome as this project is dragging on now and i would like to get the boat in the water early next year.
Rgds
Kev

 

[ccscott49]

To be honest, the fitting of a saildrive plinth (mountings) and asscociated plumbing and then getting the engine to fit is going to cost a lot more than replacing the sterntude, I'd go with the sterntube. Have you had a professional look over what could be done, by fitting an outside cutlass bearing and an internal packoff, there is probably a way of doing this. Hope you get it solved.

 

[scottie]

how long is this tube
if it is say 4 -5 inches with seals at both ends them was fairly usuall set up
what size of tube do you have
do you have a shaft
or just a tube?

 

[scottie]

cost of replacing your existing tube seems excessive
speak to lake engineering or sillette

 

[Guest]

The tube in place is about 2.5 ft long with an internal seal at each end.
The shaft is 1 1/8" in diameter.
Where the tube comes out the tube into the bilge area it has a bearing of
some sort in place surrounded by a case which bolts onto a steel block in
the bilge as a sort of thrust block i guess. There is no room for any type
of gland seal or packing.
I have spoken to Camper & Nicholson in Gosport who cannot give me a definative answer as to how reliable this type of tube/seal arrangment would be.
The last thing i want is to go through all the work finnishing the boat internally and the hull externally only to find it leaks once in the water!! I would like to sort it out one way or antoher for definate prior to this time.

 

[ccscott49]

I would say replace the whole thing, for a simpler modern system. Are the engine beds in? If you are fitting new stern tube, it might be an idea to fit a halyard type thrust plate. In fact you could fit a halyard type of stuffing box on the existing stern tube, if you can get this block affair off and get to a straight tube, the halyard sytem of packing, or any other type which uses a rubber pipe to connect the packing to the stern tube. Campers should be able to help with this, or teignbridge propellors and stern gear in Newton Abbot, Devon should be able to give advice, I wish I was there to have a look at this, I think it might be simpler than we or the yard are making it out to be. Now is the time to sort it, it's much easier with nothing in the way!