Don't know if this will work, but can you put a bushing in from the
top without removing the rudder, by just removing the tiller head,
sticking feeler gauges in there to figure out what the slop is,
getting some appropriate material of the correct thickness, cutting it
to the correct circumference, and sliding it in?
A pre-made or DIY split bearing like
could be wrapped around the shaft on the bottom side and slide upward
maybe.
If there's existing bushing in there that's worn an oval shape, that
won't work. Old would have to come out or at least be pushed out of
the way. A metal split bearing wrapped around the rudder shaft and
gently nudged might be able to accomplish that.
Just brainstorming here.
Unrelated but it looks like groups.io just stopped talking to my main
mail account so doing gmail instead here.
Cheers,
-scott
#93
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On 12/13/21, jeremy@... <jeremy@...> wrote:
On Mon, Nov 8, 2021 at 10:41 AM B P <blurise2@...> wrote:
Since the rudder sits in a boot
at the bottom, is there a clearance to lift it out of the boot so you
Can slide it down and out?
No. That is largely a good thing, because it means it won't accidentally
pop out if you bang the rudder on the ground/rock.
Another thing to watch out for is that the rudder does *not* drop straight
down -- but slides out at an angle because the rudder post is at an angle.
I got as far as removing the boot and attempting to slide out the rudder
only to realize that due to the angle, the rudder would hit the boat
cradle.
Also the 'dig a hole' idea is nice, but in some boat yards, the top few
feet or more of the ground is packed gravel -- which is a major pain to
shovel. So make sure you can actually dig a hole before needing to rely on
digging a hole.
In theory, removing the boot is as simple as removing 4-6 bolts. But..
those bolts were (a) covered in years of bottom paint (2) seized nicely in
place on my boat. So, trying to remove the rudder while the boat is in a
travel lift sling is a nice idea since that can (a) give you enough ground
clearance to remove he rudder and (b) won't be in the way of removing the
rudder. But, getting the boot off can be a tedious process -- so it could
work fine if the boatyard will leave your boat in the sling overnight (or
more), but not the best option if you only have an hour.
- jeremy
