do i need to remove rudder to remove shaft 37cc

[jumpnkd]

boat is in water do i need to remove rudder to remove prop shaft? ideas on how to do this?
37cc Bill White

[mcollins07]

I have not removed my shaft yet, so hopefully some one will confirm or shoot down my plan. But I'll take a crack at this since no one has replide.

I have a 37 cc and plan on removing the shaft in the near future. I do not plan on removing the rudder and here is why.

By my estimation, the shaft length between the stuffing box and the transmission seems to be about 4'. The propeller is only about 1.5' from the rudder. Based on this, one would need to remove the rudder, But....

First, I'm planning on removing the propeller, which will allow the shaft to pass near the rudder. Second, I'm planning on sliding the cutlass bearing out the rear of the stern tube. As I understand it, the cutlass bearing is about 4" long and will slide aft along the shaft to be removed from the stern tube. This, along with removing the coulping and connections inside, should allow enough play in the shaft to pass right beside the rudder as it comes out.

[USCGRET1990]

The rudder should be slightly off set, so the shaft can pass by it with the prop off. This would be quite risky and hard to do while still in the water.
The prop and coupling can be very stubborn to remove.

[Eleanna]

Removing the rudder with the boat still in water is a bad bad bad idea. I had my cutlass bearing replaced on the dry and they removed the rudder (for other reasons)witch was a job and a 1/2. The rudder is mounted with thru bolts that was fiberglassed over.
There was some fiberglass work to do before the rudder was remounted.

Could it be possible to remove the engine mounts and raise the motor enough to slide the prop shaft in instead of out?

Good luck, I think you are better off spending the money and taking the boat out of the water, but that just me.

Thomas

[wesjustice]

you will need to remove the rudder in order to get the shaft out from personal experience and the cutless will need to be pushed foward into the stern tube for removal