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Hello again...
I have progressed to the survey stage in the process of purchasing the DE38 I have been talking about here for a while.
One of the many items to do is renew the cutlass bearing. The boat yard where this would be done is asking if it is possible to remove the shaft without removing the rudder (which they think would be rather difficult). Or, can the old cutlass bearing be removed without removing the shaft?
I see some other posts concerning the cutlass bearing, but I thought I'd ask this specific question just to get clarity. Comments please!
Thanks in advance
Fair winds.
Bob
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To the best of my knowledge you need to remove the rudder. I have heard of people doing that both in and out of the water. Neither sounded fun 
I have a vague memory of someone unbolting the drive shaft from the engine and then jacking? up ? the rear of the engine so that you could slide the shaft forward into the boat a bit so the cutlass bearing could be pulled off without removing the rudder.
Scott
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Yikes! Is removing the rudder such a big deal?
Maybe there are some bushings there that should be renewed at the same time?
Thanks Scott.
Bob
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to remove rudder you need to grind glass away from bronze shoe and unbolt from bottom of keel. I think it is much easier to do on the hard.
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Do you unbolt the bottom of the rudder shaft and then pull the rudder down? Or do you pull the rudder shaft up from inside the boat?
The second would seem like more work, but the first needs the boat to be much higher. Maybe I am missing something!!!
Bob
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rudder drops down. I have seen where people on the hard dug a 4 or 5 foot deep hole under the rudder for it to drop down into. Also seen where they just lifted the boat for a 20 or 30 minutes so as to drop it. then lifted boat again later to slide it back in.
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Makes sense. If job is done while boat is in slings it should not be "too" hard.
Still not the best design in my humble opinion.
So there is no way to knock the old bearing out from inside the boat?
I asked the previous owner about this and he said that he changed one once by pulling the bearing out. That sounds rather hard. What can one grab on to.
So we drop the rudder. Add one to the many lessons to be learned with this boat.
Thanks again for you help.
Bob
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Still trying to get to the bottom of this since it seems rather odd that the DE38 design requires one to remove the rudder in order to remove and replace the cutlass bearing. I did ask the owner of another DE38, in the LA area, and he said that a boat yard replaced his cutlass bearing for $175. Can't have been a big job. He did not witness the work so can't say exactly how they did it.
Any one else have experience in this?
Thanks in advance
Cap't Bob
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Hello again
I have searched for and found some old posts here on this subject, and may have found the key to understanding the issues here.
This may be obvious, but not for a newbie. That is the need to remove the shaft before removing the old cutlass bearing. If one can't pull the shaft forward (but why not?) then I can see that the rudder would be in the way of pulling the shaft out toward the back. Once the shaft is out, regardless of the direction, then removing the old cutlass bearing is more straight forward. Am I getting closer to understanding the matter?
Thanks again
Bob
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yep.. one way or the other it has to come out to get the cutlass bearing out. Forward or Aft works equally well. I think forward is the easier method.
scott
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I can see the plot thickening. I need (so says the surveyor) to replace the rear engine mounts. I also need to improve the stuffing box or install a dripless system. So pulling the shaft out makes sense. Might as well clean it up, too. Then replace the cutlass bearing and polish up the prop. Watch my wake!
Bob
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lol... the dreaded project creep. I always hate starting a project because I know it will never be that simple. Once you take the first part off you will see the second thing behind it that needs repairing that you couldn't see before.
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Hello Gents,
I replaced my cutlass bearing (Morse Bonito) a couple of years ago and also installed a new PSS shaft seal. I have an Iveco M4041 40Hp engine and just raised it and removed propshaft forward underneath the engine It was easy. Getting the old cutlass bearing out was a bit trickier as the press that I set up didn't quite push it all the way out. I ended up finishing it off by cutting along the bearing with a hacksaw and then compressing it and then it pulled out easily.
I know it seems daunting if you haven't done it before but it really is simple and I encourage you to give it a go.
Here's a linlk to my website which has a video of the shaft when it is out and the PSS shaft seal set up. http://www.tondelayo.com/#!Tha.....8e0016d024
If the link doesnt work just go to Tondelayo.com/Captains Blog/That sinking feeling.
I wish I had taken a video of the cutlass bearing replacement but unfortunately I didn't. I should have some photo's somewhere so I'll see if I can dig them up.
I hope this helps
David
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Many thanks, David. That does help to demystify the process.
I love your website. Lots of good stuff there. Keep it up.
I'll let you know how things turn out. Right now I am concentrating on the question of replacing v. rebuilding the engine!!!
Cheers to all
Bob
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Hello again
Looking over the photos I took when the boat was out of the water for its survey I see that I did get a pretty good one of the stern tube and shaft.
It looks like that stern tube can be unbolted from the hull, pulled off and the cutlass bearing would come with it. Has anyone else seen or had this configuration?
If it is what I think it is that would make replacing the cutlass bearing rather easier than with other set ups.
Any comments?
Many thanks in advance.
Bob
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Help!!!
I am getting close to the time when I have to pull the boat for bottom cleaning and painting and then I'll have to address the issue of replacing the cutlass bearing .
Of course I'll shake it pretty well to be sure it needs renewal, but assuming that the surveyor knows what he is about I should replace it.
From the several posts I have seen the
shaft is usually removed, but to my tiny brain this should not be necessary.
With the prop removed I would think that the stern tube with cutlass bearing could be pulled off and then the cutlass bearing pushed out of the stern tube.
If the stern tube cannot be removed, and if a fair amount of the cutlass bearing is clear, one should be able to grab it and pull and/or twist it out.
I can understand that the stern tube may be "glued" in place and won't come out easily, if at all, but the cutlass bearing itself should twist out (no?)
Undoubtedly I must be missing something, so please let me know what's wrong with my thinking.
Many thanks in advance.
Bob
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Common knowledge is that there isn't enough room between the end of the shaft and the leading edge of the rudder to get it over the shaft. There is barely enough to get a prop on and off.
If you can get it to work let us know and take a lot of pictures so we can document it and do a write up for other owners. Sometimes common knowledge is wrong.. most of the time it is common because lots of people have bumped in to it. I haven't personally replaced a cutlass bearing so am going by others stated knowledge. I would suggest those that have done this on a DE share their experiences and maybe we can combine them into a changing the bearing cutlass FAQ for DE boats.
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Thanks, Scott. I guess I'll not know until the boat is out of the water and I can accurately check the clearance. It looks to me that, once the prop is off, the stern tube flange with the bearing should be able to be removed, too. I can only live in hope.
Since I have just had the engine and transmission replaced I really don't like the idea of moving the engine in order to pull the shaft forward, so if there is not sufficient room to get the stern tube and cutlass bearing off with the shaft still in place, I think i'll go for dropping the rudder. That seems extreme, but maybe that's what it will take.
Stay tuned!
Bob
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I'm guessing you're done with this by now but we just yanked the engine and transmission. Found a bad engine mount (!!) and replaced the faulty dripless shaft seal at the same time as replacing the cutlass. I think we probable did the long saw blade trick: make a saw cut in the bearing and squeeze it. It was the best/fastest method and while pulling the engine is not something you want to do lightly, it was a excellent opportunity to take care of things that normally get passed up; painted the engine room and replaced some hoses.
It turns out we should have rebuilt the engine when it was out but that's a different story altogether...
Rick
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Hi Bob,
I replaced the cutlass bearing while in the water and stumbled upon a McGiver method for removing the bearing. I first removed the set screw outside the boat. I then lifted the engine a few inches with a jack so that the prop shaft would slide into the boat. I then took a 1 inch piece of wood and pushed the prop shaft into the boat. This was done without any water entering the boat.
After about a week, the wood had swelled up tight against the old cutlass bearing and I was able to drive it out from inside the boat. The bearing came out enough to get a pipe wrench on it and remove the rest of the way.
When installing the new bearing leave about 1/2 inch outside the boat so you can get a pipe wrench on it the next time.
Cheers,
Jim
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