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Old 04-13-2013, 06:59 PM   #28
awpptdt
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City: Wilmington, N.C.
Vessel Name: Donnchaidh
Vessel Model: Marine Trader 40' sedan
Join Date: Nov 2010
Posts: 167
Your stuffing box does not get grease, it has rope seal "packing" that is impregnated with wax, most likely. The two nuts are used to tighten the gland nut which puts pressure on the packing and closes the gap between the shaft and packing housing. It should drip while running as the water lubes and cools the packing. The pipe connected at the top provides water to the packing and the forward cutlass bearing, as a boat with a long shaft log may not get enough water from the prop end to provide cooling. There is also a cutlass bearing on the prop end. As mentioned previously the shaft log is the tube that the shaft is housed in, it has the two cutlass bearing mounted one in each end for the shaft to ride in. These bearings also depend on water for lubrication and cooling.
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