repair rudder while moored

[batshaven]

hey all

Happy new year and belated Xmas to all,
wont waste time with reasons and excuses
lol


anyways
i have a 26' grampion i think 68 aquired last year (not my columbia in my avatar)
and have noticed that tiller and rudder has like a vibration
out of alignment with car tire type of thing, can i replace
bushing, rod, type of thing while moored in water or does it
have to be done while i am on dryland, sorry new to this

thanks in advance

Mike

[Faster]

If I remember correctly the tiller head is on the cockpit floor? You'll need to take the head off to work on the top bushing, and most such rudders rely on the tiller head to hold the rudder in the tube (ie the rudder literally 'hangs' off the tiller head or a pin against the top bushing.

This make it a difficult job to do in the water.. it's also hit-and-miss whether your rudder will float or sink if you do manage to drop it (accidentally or on purpose) and re-installing it in the water it harder still. Also, of course, you cannot work on the lower bushing while the boat's afloat.

For a proper job this probably needs to be done on the hard or at least on an elevator or tide grid.

[batshaven]

thanks, that is kinda what i thought.

[rhr1956]

This is the way I installed a new rudder on my Pearson 26. To remove it would be reverse the order of things. Ok with the new rudder ready to install:
1. Slide lower bushing over rudder post and down to where the post enters the body of the rudder.
2. Rig a wire bail through the two holes at the top of the rudder post (where the bolt that holes the rudder head on will go through later)
3. Tie a weight onto a line (any kind of rope) and drop it through the hole in your cockpit floor. Don't let the weight pull the entire length of line through the hole! Send you buddy into the water to retrieve the weighted end of the line or grab it with a boat hook or something. Remove the weight.
4. Tie the line onto the wire bail you fashioned earlier. Now you can send your buddy back into the water to position the rudder post into the hole, while you pull the line. The post will come up through the hole in the cockpit floor. Give the line a hard yank to set the lower bushing. Your buddy can confirm when it's fully seated visually.
5.Slide upper bushing onto the rudder post and work it into it's fully seated position.
6. Install rudder head and tiller handle and your done.
Note: My rudder and rudder post was brand new and I was using brand new bushings. Everything was snug enough the rudder was not going to fall out after I removed the line and wire bail to install the rudder head.

[Brent Swain]

I've drilled and tapped the top of the shaft to take a 3/8th inch SS eye bolt ,which is smaller OD than the bearings.This lets you pull the rudder up and put the tiller fitting on, before taking the line and eye bolt off. Welding a nut on the end of a bolt makes a small OD eye bolt.

[rhr1956]

Not sure I get the picture...you have any pictures of this?

[DivingOtter]

As a diver i do a fair amount of in water wheel fouling, replacements, shaft & rudder swaps. If you arent up to job then contact a commercial diver. I ALWAYS have everything tied off for when , not if something drops. 150 dollars an hour ( just going by my rates ) is less expensive to most vessel owners than having a haulout. Just be sure they are properly trained and insured. Good luck

[souljour2000]

Originally Posted by DivingOtter

As a diver i do a fair amount of in water wheel fouling, replacements, shaft & rudder swaps. If you arent up to job then contact a commercial diver. I ALWAYS have everything tied off for when , not if something drops. 150 dollars an hour ( just going by my rates ) is less expensive to most vessel owners than having a haulout. Just be sure they are properly trained and insured. Good luck

Otter,et al...
Have you done rudder repairs on many older CCA boats...Mine is abit older than the Grampian in question but not much...but I wonder if the Grampian is like mine...the drawing below is a Columbia 26 from1970...so maybe helpful to ask this question...or just self-serving and "hijacking" of me but...I have a '66 Columbia 40 that has a rudder port and heel type assembly like the one pictured...there is a bushing at the top of the shaft...shaft goes thru port which is basically a fiberglass tube..and the lower end of shaft sits on a bronze rudder "heel" at the furthermost end of the full keel. Anyways, the rudder is very stiff, though we were able to get full travel.I think there are critters in the rudder port that are making the shaft stiffen as it grates against them inside the tube...I am close to tapping a hole in upper region of the tube and pouring in some muriatic acid to dissolve the calcium-based lifeforms in there...and then later using that hole for a grease fitting also to keep the shaft packed with thick grease between the top and bottom fittings...Only problem is I'm not sure if my understanding of the set-up is correct... I am going back down to the boat in a few days but and will have crawl under the cockpit and size things up before drilling any holes in the rudder tube but curious if you or anyone might think if I might be on the right track...I would appreciate any thoughts....

[DivingOtter]

just going off of the photo, what i would do is remove the whole rudder and inspect the tube to make sure there is nothing else that could be the issue. if it was marine growth, chances are a good reaming could possibly solve the issue. I will take a better look later today as im on my mobile and it is hard to see.