Erik, When we replaced Calypso’s cutlass bearing a few years ago we did the easy work and paid the yard specialist to remove and replace the bearing. Calypso’s rudder was already out for repairs from a log strike making removal of the prop shaft straight forward.
Removing the rudder was not as difficult as it looked however Calypso has good access to the steering quadrant and the rudder shaft bearings. Many C&C’s do not have adequate clearance in this area. Pulling the prop shaft out of the coupling was the only difficult part. I ended up borrowing a slide hammer/shaft puller from the yard. If you are mechanically inclined and have the time this type of project is a good way to get up close and personable with your boat’s mechanical gear. If you are short of time and not familiar with this type of boat maintenance I recommend using the yard guy. Martin DeYoung Calypso 1971 C&C 43 Seattle [Description: Description: cid:D1BF9853-22F7-47FB-86F2-4115CE0BAF2F] From: CnC-List [mailto:cnc-list-boun...@cnc-list.com] On Behalf Of Erik Hillenmeyer via CnC-List Sent: Wednesday, March 30, 2016 9:45 AM To: cnc-list@cnc-list.com Cc: Erik Hillenmeyer Subject: Stus-List Cutless Bearing Having only owned the boat 3 years I've never had to change this before, but I noticed while greasing my max prop that there is a lot of play in the prop shaft and the bearing definitely needs replaced. How difficult of a job is this? Does the rudder have to be removed to remove the prop shaft? How likely is an amateur to make a very costly mistake in the course of removing the shaft from the coupling and removing the bearing from the strut? The yard tells me this is a half day job at least, which means $$$ if I have them do it. I'm weighing the cost-benefit of saving money by replacing this myself and the possible cost of a screwing up the job and needing them to come in anyway. Erik C&C 35-3
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