Picking up on a thread I started a while ago...
Mark, I tend to agree with what you said before that my alignment issue was not because of the way the boat was blocked. Here's where I am and wanted to get some input. I'm supposed to go in sometime this weekend.
When I hauled the boat, the port side shaft was almost touching the bottom/right corner of the shaft log. It wasn't "actually" touching, there was no evidence or vibration/noise last year. The cutlass bearings are both tight with no play. Over the winter, I replaced the stuffing box and hose on each side and cleaned up and re-bedded the shaft logs. When I disconnected the side in question, I could see it was off by a lot. Once I got into it, I also noticed that the left front trunnion engine mount was only about an 2" from the end. The Crusader spec is 1" exposed and I'm at an 1.5"
The off center shaft log/shaft relationship has been bugging me. In order to get it more centered, I can do the following:
Loosen the clamps on the stuffing box hose and shift it to the left about about a 1/4". By doing this, the end of the hose doesn't sit exactly flush with face of the shaft log on one side now. There's still plenty of hose on the log no issue there. BTW, these are "self-aligning" spud style stuffing boxes.
I called Buck Algonquin and they said this was actually a good idea and would save time in "wearing" in the new stuffing box. I guess the SS shaft does wear into the bronze after some time to find its "spot". I can see that if I look at the old one. This part could actually be good news and once it goes in I can do my final alignment.
The downside is now there's a slight gap on one side of the cutlass bearing because I've shifted the shaft over. At some point, I assume it'll wear into the other side and eventually cause a vibration. It really wants to be more to the right because I'm sure it's been that way for years. It rotates fine, it's not binding up but is slightly tighter in this position than where it was. I guess that's to be expected.
The million dollar question is can I run it a season in this new position? I just don't know how quickly these cutlass bearings wear and how many hours in before I have a potential issue?
I know I can get the engine aligned doing it this way but probably need to replace the cutlass bearing and/or change the strut alignment. Again, no play now but a slight gap that wasn't there before. I could probably put it back the way it was but I just don't like the idea of the shaft being so close to the log, not much margin for error if it shifted out of alignment.
I'm trying to make this decision now while I can still see under the boat.
thanks,
Bob
Mark, I tend to agree with what you said before that my alignment issue was not because of the way the boat was blocked. Here's where I am and wanted to get some input. I'm supposed to go in sometime this weekend.
When I hauled the boat, the port side shaft was almost touching the bottom/right corner of the shaft log. It wasn't "actually" touching, there was no evidence or vibration/noise last year. The cutlass bearings are both tight with no play. Over the winter, I replaced the stuffing box and hose on each side and cleaned up and re-bedded the shaft logs. When I disconnected the side in question, I could see it was off by a lot. Once I got into it, I also noticed that the left front trunnion engine mount was only about an 2" from the end. The Crusader spec is 1" exposed and I'm at an 1.5"
The off center shaft log/shaft relationship has been bugging me. In order to get it more centered, I can do the following:
Loosen the clamps on the stuffing box hose and shift it to the left about about a 1/4". By doing this, the end of the hose doesn't sit exactly flush with face of the shaft log on one side now. There's still plenty of hose on the log no issue there. BTW, these are "self-aligning" spud style stuffing boxes.
I called Buck Algonquin and they said this was actually a good idea and would save time in "wearing" in the new stuffing box. I guess the SS shaft does wear into the bronze after some time to find its "spot". I can see that if I look at the old one. This part could actually be good news and once it goes in I can do my final alignment.
The downside is now there's a slight gap on one side of the cutlass bearing because I've shifted the shaft over. At some point, I assume it'll wear into the other side and eventually cause a vibration. It really wants to be more to the right because I'm sure it's been that way for years. It rotates fine, it's not binding up but is slightly tighter in this position than where it was. I guess that's to be expected.
The million dollar question is can I run it a season in this new position? I just don't know how quickly these cutlass bearings wear and how many hours in before I have a potential issue?
I know I can get the engine aligned doing it this way but probably need to replace the cutlass bearing and/or change the strut alignment. Again, no play now but a slight gap that wasn't there before. I could probably put it back the way it was but I just don't like the idea of the shaft being so close to the log, not much margin for error if it shifted out of alignment.
I'm trying to make this decision now while I can still see under the boat.
thanks,
Bob