Cutless Bearing replacement

[Gresham CA]

Has anyone here ever replaced a cutless bearing in a strut while the boat is still in the water? If so, what words of wisdom can you share? Mine is about shot and where the boat is it will be about two years before I can get the boat pulled.

[Bob Cleek]

I've never replaced a cutless bearing in the water, no, but I've replaced a few out of the water. I know divers that can do amazing things underwater, but come to think about it, I think that replacing a cutless bearing isn't one of them. Think about what you have to do. It may be easier to have the boat hauled and change the bearings "in the slings" and then splash her back in the water. That ought to be cheaper than a haul out where you have to put the boat in the stocks. All it takes is to remove the prop and then remove the bearing, sliding it off the shaft and then sliding the new one on. It will get dicey depending on how your bearing is fitted. If it is frozen in the stern bearing (almost always the case), and the whole bearing assembly cannot be removed along with the cutless bearing itself, which may be the case if you are dealing with a strut which is itself the bearing holding assembly, you will have to pull the shaft in order to get a hack saw inside the bearing where the shaft was to nick a couple of lines and bend up the edge for a tab to drive it out. Either way, if you remove the bearing assembly or the shaft, you are going to have water gushing into the boat. Lot easier to haul her and do the work while she's hanging in the slings. Check with a good diver though, it may be possible, but the diver will probably cost as much as the haul.

[Gresham CA]

Bob,
I've done it before on the hard but I can't have it hauled because of lake levels for two years. Also there is not the first travel lift on this lake. Think maybe that's a business opportunity?

[Ian McColgin]

I tried and failed. Couldn't get the leverage to pull the prop, so later prospects for failure just never came up.

Now, if you're really crazed, you could try wrapping some polypropelene line around the shaft near the cutless and loopes about the strut to hold it still a bit. Run her in reverse for 5 minutes (tied to the dock) and if you've not broken anything, maybe you'll suck enough plastic into the cutless that it shims things up and you can get away for a bit longer.

Not exactly joking. A couple of years ago I planned on replacing Grana's cutless. It was right on the cusp of too loose so I figured 'next haul.' In the next couple of years I got an interesting wrap of pot warps and such and at last spring's haul the cutless appeared to have healed itself so . . .

But if you do it and it breaks your transmission, the committee will disavow all knowledge of things nautical . . .

[Donn]

If I read this site (http://www.strutpro.com/) correctly, it can be done if you have a "StrutPro."

[Gresham CA]

Damn Donn,
That is almost exactly what I was going to rig up to do it. Theirs looks prettier though. Thanks. This is looking do-able after all.

[Donn]

Charles...I'd have a hefty pump or 3 on hand as well...and do the job in the shallowest water you can get into.