Stiff steering/rudder

[RobGallagher]

1988 C&C 30 MKII

I bought the boat knowing the rudder/steering was stiff. Negotiated this into the price.

It is NOT anything in the steering. Remove the cables from the rudder and the steering is smooth and easy.

I have tried injecting grease into the rudder post via a zerk and it seems to have loosened things up a bit, but not nearly enough.

There does not appear to be any damage to the rudder.

Are there bearings in the post or what? I'm considering dropping the rudder this winter, but don't know if that's the correct way to approach it. Nor do I know what to expect.

Any suggestions?

[CalebD]

Just to hazard a guess judging by where you keep your boat (LI Sound) I'd guess you might have some barnacles and/or other growth slowing your rudder post down.

[RobGallagher]

Originally Posted by CalebD

Just to hazard a guess judging by where you keep your boat (LI Sound) I'd guess you might have some barnacles and/or other growth slowing your rudder post down.

Reasonable guess, however;

I purchased the boat in Annapolis. The boat was on the hard and the bottom was clean/painted. Rudder was hard to turn from the survey.

[HDChopper]

Sounds like someone might of installed new bushings and didnt hone them proplerly ?

Or injected epoxy ( or simular) to an older bushing to tighten it up and is to tight maybe ?

Keep working it back and forth with plenty of grease will help, but grease needs space to work in

[Tempest]

Am I misunderstanding the problem? If the Rudder moves freely with the cables disconnected, why are you focusing on the rudder? What type of system? Radial, Quadrant? shouldn't you be looking to see if the steering system requires attention?

[WDS123]

If you checked the typical mechanical items - then likely something inside (grit, growth, )

[RobGallagher]

Originally Posted by Tempest

Am I misunderstanding the problem? If the Rudder moves freely with the cables disconnected, why are you focusing on the rudder? What type of system? Radial, Quadrant? shouldn't you be looking to see if the steering system requires attention?

Sorry, I should have been more clear.

I removed the steering cables from the rudder and the helm moved freely. The rudder however, was still hard to push by hand while disconnected from the steering mechanism.

[PorFin]

Tempest is right -- fault isolation indicates the problem is not in the rudder or rudder stock, and instead is somewhere in the linkage. Keep narrowing down the fault based on that.

[PorFin]

Originally Posted by RobGallagher

Sorry, I should have been more clear.

I removed the steering cables from the rudder and the helm moved freely. The rudder however, was still hard to push by hand while disconnected from the steering mechanism.

OK, disregard my last post

[Captainmeme]

Are you sure the rudder post is not bent?