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Frozen rudder shaft Hinterhoeller 28

25K views 195 replies 26 participants last post by  Mervs1 
#1 ·
Well I took the plunge today. My offer on a 1966 HH 28 was accepted and I am a new owner. I am excited to get going fitting her out to go back in the water. The only potentially serious problem to be addressed is a frozen rudder. Using the wheel above and putting pressure on rudder below because she is on the hard, the rudder refuses to move at all. Even after dousing the shaft from above with WD40 overnight. Any ideas on how to approach a repair? The boat has been stored for a number of years so no doubt something has seized up over time. The seller says he had previously exercised the rudder regularly. He appeared as surprised as I that my third visit to see the boat revealed the frozen rudder. See pic but I am looking for ways to approach a fix. The rudder neither turns nor can it be dropped. Thanks.
 

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#173 ·
Congratulations on your great progress. I hate to be a wet blanket but want to alert you to a concern about the potential for galvanic corrosion arising from your use of graphite packing in the stuffing box.

To avoid galvanic corrosion contact between dissimilar metals should be avoided. Further,the greater the difference between metals on the galvanic corrosion scale the greater the potential for corrosion. Graphite and alunimum are far apart. If your rudder shaft is aluminum and you use graphite packing you will likely experince coorosion of the rudder shaft.
Galvanic Corrosion, theory documents Galvanic Bimetallic Corrosion

Flax packing is a better choice in this situation.
 
#176 ·
Thanks for the alert on galvanic corrosion. The shaft was actually determined to be stainless. Is grounding still advised in that case? If so how does one do that? No worries about wet blanket. This is a learn as I go and I want to get things right.
 
#178 ·
It will be a standard thread, I expect.. the lock nut should resist the tendency of the shaft to 'turn' the gland off if that's the rotation direction.
 
#179 ·
I called the manufacturer today on the GTU packing. They told me no problems on the stainless rudder shaft. I am thinking about leaving it and checking on it occasionally.
 
#180 ·
Graphite and SS are fairly close on the galvanic corrosion scale, therefore, the potential for corrosion is less than with graphite and aluminum, which are very far apart on the scale. Further, the relatively large size of the rudder shaft helps protect it from the graphite.
 
#181 ·
Thanks Hudson... I almost pulled it all out today. Instead i called West Pacific trading who sells the stuff. Jack called me back with lots of technical info on the graphite rope. According to Jack the GTU/GFO is fast carving out a large share of the market in terms of stuffing. The US Navy uses it as do most commercial vessels. He has sold a lot of this stuff in the past 6 years and never had a comeback or report of problem. I described my application in detail and agreed to leave it in. He did ask me to get back to him if there was any problem because he does track this stuff. One technical piece of info he gave me was that when tested end to end it does not conduct an electrical charge. It has something to do with the types and way the fibers are braided. He lost me there but it sounded good that a multimeter would not reveal connectivity. Anyway for now I am going to leave it in and monitor for the first year anyway. It can quite easily come back out if needed.

Also see attached pic of finished job. Whatcha think?
 

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#184 ·
Congratulations Rbyham and all who helped.

This site truly amazes me, and you don’t see this scenario everywhere: a bunch of folks unknown to each other who takes a fellow sailor by the hand and guide the apparent difficult work right thru the end of job.
I mean, Rbyham was ready to raise his hands and surrender to the yard monkeys!
Looking back, I wonder how much $ was saved, and better yet, I bet the end result was superior! And the satisfaction – priceless.

Way to go, you guys rock!
 
#187 ·
SJ... I have no experience with boatyards on a job like this but I doubt I would get away for less than2k.my costs were about 400 of which 300 was stuffing box which I almost got free from marina owning brother if bronze pricing had not been so high :) I hear Charleston is expensive. Pricing to step mast and splash it is running about 475. Ouch!
 
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#192 ·
Well, there's your next project... laminating a beautiful wood veneer to your transom so you can bright finish it for Denise!! ;)
 
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#194 ·
Here is a pic of what she looked like back in about 2003 when still under care of PO. Hopefully I can bring her back to this look. First everything structural to get in water then cleaning sprucing, etc. once in slip with elec and water. My plan is to sail her for a year and then haul for full painting which I plan to do myself back in storage yard. I figure it better to learn to sail and especially dock her with old rather than new paint job.
 

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#195 ·
That little bimini came with the boat to me. Not sure what to do with it. I would prefer but not sure I can afford a dodger. Plus I will need something overhead of driving seat. My dermatology appointments are too frequent as is...
 
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