Cutlass bearings

[gbsteffo]

Hi y'all,

Got an -81, 44ft IG, was wondering if anyone knows how many cutlass bearings it has. About to get them replaced and my mechanic quoted me on four and I thought there were only two. Am I totally off here?

Cheers!

 

[tiltrider1]

I can’t say for a fact but I would expect 4.

 

[fractalphreak]

I can’t say for a fact but I would expect 4.

I would agree. My 42 ft trawler has 4, 2 per shaft. You may or may not be able to easily confirm this by looking for where the struts are bolted through the hull. One cutless bearing per strut. I have access panels in the floor of my aft cabin that I can at least see the bolt locations. I don't have photos of them, but here's a photo of my running gear... the aft strut is the vee shape, the forward strut is the little short one right before the shaft goes through the hull. I would think you IG would be similar. I think my forward struts are about 2 1/2 feet or a tad more aft of my stuffing boxes.

 

[wwestman]

I have six, three per shaft. According to yard not that unusual on the Taiwan built boats.

 

[Vadim]

Hi y'all,

Got an -81, 44ft IG, was wondering if anyone knows how many cutlass bearings it has. About to get them replaced and my mechanic quoted me on four and I thought there were only two. Am I totally off here?

Cheers!

If you don't mind, how much?
I am questioning one cutlass bearing on my boat, but when you do one you need to address the other 3 as well. I have IG 36 and i have 4 total two per shaft.

Thank you.

 

[O C Diver]

I have six, three per shaft. According to yard not that unusual on the Taiwan built boats.

I only have one.

Ted

 

[Alaskan Sea-Duction]

I only have one.

Ted

I only have 2, one per shaft. Lots of boat $$ to replace 4......

 

[gbsteffo]

Thanks all for your responses, so helpful!!

I got quoted 4k including haul out, w/ wash, and 3 lay days.

Cheers!!

 

[tiltrider1]

Who quoted you that? Did you call Yacht Performance for a quote?

 

[cdsailor]

I have six, three per shaft. According to yard not that unusual on the Taiwan built boats.

Where is each bearing located on your boat? We have an Albin 36 with twin Lehman 120’s, and I discovered a bearing within the shaft log - in addition to the bearings in the aft strut and mid-shaft support.

 

[catalinajack]

Where is each bearing located on your boat? We have an Albin 36 with twin Lehman 120’s, and I discovered a bearing within the shaft log - in addition to the bearings in the aft strut and mid-shaft support.

A DeFever 44 has has four cutless, yes cutless, not cutlass, bearings on each side including the one near the shaft log.

 

[Steve DAntonio]

Not at all unheard of to have four for a vessel of this size, many Hat's do as well as some GB's. It's also not unusual to find one or more out of alignment. Heavy wear at one bearing is often an indication. When I ran a yard we always used a laser alignment tool when ever a shaft was removed or bearings changed to make certain they were properly aligned. A misaligned bearing will prematurely wear a shaft. After the bearings are installed and the shaft reinstalled, and with bearings lubed with dilute dish washing detergent, the shaft with prop should turn with ease (no more than three fingers on the prop should be needed to do this).

Before the mechanic proceeds you might ask him about how he intends to go about removal and replacement. This article may be helpful https://stevedmarineconsulting.com/cutless-bearing-etiquette-2/

Years ago I received a terse note from Johnson Duramax, the manufacturer of Cutless bearings, reminding me that if I used the word Cutless on my website, or in printed articles, that I needed to include the registered trademark symbol with it. Of course strictly speaking they were right, but it seemed nitpicky, so I changed "Cutless bearing" to "shaft bearing" throughout my site, and from then on used "shaft bearing" instead of "Cutless bearing", because there are other manufacturers. I researched the name prior to that for an article, it was originally coined because their bearings cut (or wore) the shafts with which they were used, less.

This web page also shows a handy trick for "cracking" the bearing. https://forums.sailboatowners.com/index.php?threads/replacing-a-cutlass-bearing-photo-heavy.107374/

 

[Dawdler]

A DeFever 44 has has four cutless, yes cutless, not cutlass, bearings on each side including the one near the shaft log.

Thank you, Jack and Steve.

 

[SyKladovo]

Sorry for resurrecting an old topic, but I didn't find a better place to latch onto an existing discussion (and English is not my first language, so please pardon my mangling of terms.)

We had a wild DeFever 44 appear in our yard for some maintenance work and overhauling, and our friend the owner wants to replace the shafts and all bearings. However, we ran into trouble with figuring out how to replace the bearing at the place the prop shaft goes through the hull -- I'm guessing that's the "shaft log" bearing, mentioned a few posts above -- without resorting to cutting out part of the hull as well. It looks like it was sealed in place by pouring the glass fiber material all over it.

We don't have a lot of expertise with the trawlers, but the look of it seems very strange to us indeed. Any thoughts and ideas, or perhaps a hint on how to find out how this part should look as installed by the factory, or sharing an experience on its removal would be greatly appreciated.

 

[mvweebles]

Welcome to TrawlerForum! There are many Defever 44 owners here as well as many other Defever owners (48, 49, etc.). Can you post a picture of what you're seeing? Possible the vessel in your yard had a modification - a savvy Defever owner here may be able to spot it and assist.

Good luck!

Peter

 

[RT Firefly]

Greetings,
Welcome aboard.

 

[Comodave]

Welcome aboard.

 

[mvweebles]

Two boats from Weebles at the boatyard is a 55-ish Viking Sportfish yacht. Not sure it helps, but here's how the shaft enters the hull. I have no idea if there's a bearing behind the plate.

Peter

 

[Bmarler]

there are i.d. bearing pullers for that, or some folks make tools for doing that as well. these are slide hammer tools that have a lip in the inboard end that hooks over the end of the bearing. the slide hammer taps them out. many have a set screw going in from the side that gets covered by bottom paint making them tough to find as well. needless to say, the set screw needs to come out or it's going to be tough going. the shaft needs to come out first to use an i.d. puller. (obviously)

 

[Bmarler]

i just saw this method too. might be helpful. https://www.google.com/search?rlz=1...te=ive&vld=cid:b2308a65,vid:D_adrU9x3dQ,st:60

oh yeah, i didn't ask if it was single or twins. i was assuming single.

 

[SyKladovo]

Thanks everybody, for the welcomes and helpful hints.

We can see the bearing after shaft removal, but not the way to get the bearing out, either with a puller tool, or any other way. It seems to be just... sealed in place. The only viable options we could imagine are cutting it out of the hull, or bringing it out in pieces - but then the question is, how to put it back together again?

Here's the situation with this particular boat (and yeah, it's a twin engine)...

Here are the three positions of bearings:



The first two looking from the prop (inside struts and supports, i.e. in the first two pictures) we removed without issues, but the third one (at entry into hull itself) is problematic.

Before removing the shaft:


And afterwards:


Would anyone happen to have any photos of how this should look like in an OEM install? Possibly someone tried to seal some leaks, but before we start hacking away at the material, it would be very good to know what we're getting into.

 

[Steve DAntonio]

Many Grand Banks use three bearings per shaft, one of which is in the shaft log. The log bearing on many vessels is half-length as well, as it doesn't work very hard.

I actually did rebuild this shaft log support area on a DeFefer several years ago. I'll dig out the photos and share.

 

[Steve DAntonio]

Here's a photo.

 

[SyKladovo]

Thanks @Steve DAntonio, that looks like a clean install indeed. Our situation looks very different, though. Both for the found situation, as photos should prove, but also because the surrounding hull construction looks different.

We're guessing that, to extract the bearing, one needs to remove this flange piece, and then use whichever bearing puller is adequate... However, if we remove the two visible nuts (above shaft), the flange piece won't budge, it's sealed shut. We could surely force it open, but guys working on it are afraid of losing the shaftline center position, introducing all kinds of trouble later on.

Any experiences with this? Or are we maybe approaching the problem from a wrong perspective?