Mainship Pilot 34 Rudder Shoe

oak · Aug 2, 2016

Should there be a bearing in the rudder shoe. I hauled the boat today and noticed an approx. 1/4 inch space between the
rudder post and the shoe is this the way it was built or should there be something to fill the space?

jleonard · Aug 2, 2016

That seems like to much space IMO. Enough space that you might hear a rattle from the prop wash in certain situations.
If it were me, I'd fit a closer fitting bronze (or stainless to match the shoe material) bushing.
I did that on my old 34 model I.

oak · Aug 2, 2016

Thanks for your response. Do you know if there was a bushing in the shoe originally. It does not seem that there is enough room
for a bearing. Did unbolt the shoe to install the bushing? If shoe was removed did that creat any issues?

jleonard · Aug 2, 2016

Remember mine was an old model, totally different that the pilot.
I don't know for certain whether the pilots have a bushing. My old model did not, it was just worn and had more play that I liked.

Since I did not like the way it was fastened to the keel I removed the shoe/skeg and modified the bolt holes as well as having the rudder hole bored open for a bushing. Clearance between bushing and post was about .020-.030 " diameter as I recall.

DavidM · Aug 2, 2016

oak:

The following is a pic of my 2003 Pilot 34's rudder and shoe (with the faired deadwood, which did not do any good for high speed cavitation). I am pretty sure that there was no significant clearance between the pin at the bottom of the rudder and the shoe on my boat. There certainly wasn't any play in the rudder.

If you have 1/4" of clearance, that sounds like more than there should be, but does it matter? Do you feel any prop vibration back through the helm particularly at low speeds. I know that my Island Packet sailboat with the same rudder/shoe set up would vibrate at the helm at 5 kts or so. The solution was a bushing in the shoe.

So if you do see problems, then you could drop the shoe, have a bushing made up that fits more tightly around the rudder pin, enlarge the hole in the shoe so that the bushing fits and put it all back together.

But, if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

David

oak · Aug 2, 2016

Thanks all for your input. The boat in named Miru and is a 2007 pilot. There is no vibration at any speed. There is only a slight movement if I exert considerable force at the bottom of the rudder. The shaft stuffing box and upper shaft support are good. I think at this point I will measure the existing condition and monitor any change.

ImageUploadedByTrawler Forum1470167841.293773.jpg

ImageUploadedByTrawler Forum1470167899.753429.jpg

ImageUploadedByTrawler Forum1470167923.342894.jpg

DavidM · Aug 2, 2016

oak:

I see that your deadwood is faired around the cutlass bearing. Was that factory practice in 2007 or was it done after it was built. It looks exactly like my fairing job which didn't do any good. Mine cavitates a bit at WOT, but little to none at a cruising speed of 14 kts. See the pic below before fairing.

Doing nothing for now and monitoring is a good solution given that there is no vibration.

David

oak · Aug 2, 2016

The boat is new to me so I have can not compare the performance of the boat with or without the faring. 2800 rpm seems to be a comfortable cruising speed doing approx 14 kts. I have not noticed any cavitation at wot about 3300 rpm. I need more time to monitor the performance. Very different from my previous boat, a 36' trawler which I cruised for about 10years at 7kts and before that a sail boat for 18 years.

Symphony · Oct 12, 2017

i just hauled a 2007 for survey. Seller is the original owner from now. The deadwood is not faired.

Tegan765 · Mar 6, 2022

DavidM said:
oak:

The following is a pic of my 2003 Pilot 34's rudder and shoe (with the faired deadwood, which did not do any good for high speed cavitation). I am pretty sure that there was no significant clearance between the pin at the bottom of the rudder and the shoe on my boat. There certainly wasn't any play in the rudder.

If you have 1/4" of clearance, that sounds like more than there should be, but does it matter? Do you feel any prop vibration back through the helm particularly at low speeds. I know that my Island Packet sailboat with the same rudder/shoe set up would vibrate at the helm at 5 kts or so. The solution was a bushing in the shoe.

So if you do see problems, then you could drop the shoe, have a bushing made up that fits more tightly around the rudder pin, enlarge the hole in the shoe so that the bushing fits and put it all back together.

But, if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

David

There any chance I can pick your brain on how you glassed in that stern tube/cutlass and what you did as far as inside the boat. Did you fill the keel in some? I’m rebuilding a 79 and trying to ditch the brass stern tube and go with a glass one. I can’t quite figure out how to personal message on here. But my email is
Tegan765@gmail.com

DavidM · Mar 6, 2022

Tegan, we can discuss your question on this old thread if ok.

If you are rebuilding a '79 model then it is probably a Mainship 34 classic trawler, very different from the pilot.

The fairing on my Pilot 34 was done by building up layers of glass and resin around the cutless bearing. Nothing was done inside.

David

Mainship Pilot 34 Rudder Shoe

oak

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oak

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jleonard

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DavidM

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