Help! Cutlass bearing question

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South of Heaven

South of Heaven

Guru
Joined
May 11, 2017
Messages
1,167
Location
USA
Vessel Name
Slow Lane
Vessel Make
2005 Silverton 35 Motoryacht
Guys,

My boat is for sale and during the haulout the surveyor found a slight bit of movement in the prop. He diagnosed it as needing a cutlass bearing.

Now myself and the potential buyer are trying to figure out how much it would cost to get it done.

The shaft is 1.5 inches and goes into the keel. How involved a process is this?

Is it a $500 job or a $5K job!? Other than that my boat surveys came back with flying colors. The buyer even had a separate engine done.

Thanks so much ! Please feel free to call or text me. We're trying to get this sorted out ASAP (like today). Im gonna call some local marinas today but I think they may be closed.

Jason 617.817.1136


20181004_113624.jpg
 
Your best bet would be ask the surveyor for his opinion on cost or better yet call a local boatyard and ask them. A guess would be the cost of a haulout plus a few hours labor.
 
sean9c said:
Your best bet would be ask the surveyor for his opinion on cost or better yet call a local boatyard and ask them. A guess would be the cost of a haulout plus a few hours labor.
Click to expand...

We did that. He couldn't give me a ballpark estimate and now most places are closed til Tuesday. Aaargh!
 
Jason,
They told me that last time we hauled.
Very small amount of of movement. I told them no thanks.
There was movement but less than 1/32”.
I’ll look at it next time we haul.

Another way to look at this is that the surveyor is working for the buyer. And the buyer thinks the longer the list of faults found with the boat the cheaper it will get. Tell them “this is not a fault. This is normal wear”.
 
Last edited:
You take the shaft out so you can get a puller on the bearing. And if the shaft won't clear the rudder, you take the rudder out. That's why you see some rudders with a hole.

Enclosed bearings like this need forced water lubrication. Usually it comes from diverting some of the exhaust water, but sometimes the builder adds a scoop on the keel forward of the bearing with a passage or plumbing directed to the front of the bearing. If the bearing doesn't have lubrication it will just wear out again.
 
Nomad Willy said:
Jason,
They told me that last time we hauled.
Very small amount of of movement. I told them no thanks.
There was movement but less than 1/32”.
I’ll look at it next time we haul.

Another way to look at this is that the surveyor is working for the buyer. And the buyer thinks the longer the list of faults found with the boat the cheaper it will get. Tell them “this is not a fault. This is normal wear”.
Click to expand...

I agree with you. But the buyer of my boat wants to do a 2500 mile trip next spring and wants to have everything fixed. I don't blame him.
 
Somewheres between $500 and $5000.

Depends on how the bearing is held in your keel.

Doesnt look like there is a srparate bearing carrier....but either setup usually requires the shaft to be pulled. If the shaft clears the rudder as pointed out earlier good...if not there's possibly another large addition to the project.

So it may take a whole day just to get the bearing out after taking the prop off, shaft out and dropping the rudder, then a whole day to reassemble.

There's a couple grand in labor alone possibly.

I did mine last summer and it took me a day and a half. I have a hole in my rudder so I avoided that problem.
 
Unless someone that owns a Camano and has replaced the bearing, or a mechanic that has actually changed one on a Camano comments....we are all just pontificating.
I recently changed one on a Volvo powered 42ft sailboat. Shaft did not have to come out, simply pulled the prop. Was just over $250 parts and labour.
If the rudder doesn’t need dropped...great!
If it needs dropped...ouch!
Until that is known....we are all just guessing.
Hope for your sake it’s an easy swap out.
 
Mine cost about $1500. The rudder had to be dropped, the threading in the stern tube had to be redone and the Cutlass bearing turned on a lathe to fit the diameter of the tube. So I would guess yours would be a whiole lot less. Incidentally, my prop is 44". Oh yes, and there is a forward and stern bearing, not just one.
 
Durant F said:
Unless someone that owns a Camano and has replaced the bearing, or a mechanic that has actually changed one on a Camano comments....we are all just pontificating.
I recently changed one on a Volvo powered 42ft sailboat. Shaft did not have to come out, simply pulled the prop. Was just over $250 parts and labour.
If the rudder doesn’t need dropped...great!
If it needs dropped...ouch!
Until that is known....we are all just guessing.
Hope for your sake it’s an easy swap out.
Click to expand...

Was your cutlass in the keel or a strut?
 
All rubber (or whatever that hard rubber like material is) no brass or bronze sleeve
60hp Volvo
Just aft of keel
 
I called so many places today and nobody was there on a Saturday. I probably left about 10 voicemails. Now I just have to wait til Tuesday.....FRUSTRATING.
 
From your pictures, it's drop the keel shoe, drop the rudder, pull the shaft from the flange at the transmission, and then pull the cutlass bearing after removing the retaining screws. Once you do it, it's a relatively easy procedure to repeat in the future, I have done mine twice in the past six years.

With luck, you can pull the cutlass bearing with a slide hammer, if unlucky it may have to be cut out with a sawzall. It depends on how tightly fit the cutlass is in the stern tube. My shaft is also 1 1/2" and the bearing is a Duramax "BITE". If you have to cut it out, some minor epoxy repair to the stern tube may be needed, lots of U-tube video's on the procedure available.

Good luck, the cost is in the labor and time, not in the parts...
 
Cutless Bearing Clearance

You never want zero clearance, and even the new clearance is a function of shaft size.

In my experience on my 32', when you get over .030" free play on a shaft around 1 1/2", or if there is noticeable vibration, its time.
 
When calling around, find a yard that routinely does them, such as a waterman's yard. This isn't that common a job for recreational yards as most boats get used so little. A yard that specializes in waterman (commercial fisherman) tend to do this job more frequently based on boat use. An experienced yard should be able to do it in 8 to 16 hours depending on difficulty of removing the shaft and possibly the rudder. While the yard I use charges $60 per hour, I'm guessing in Massachusetts you will likely pay more like $100 to $125 per hour. Add to that a haulout cost and maybe $300 for the bearing. $1,500 to $3,500 would be my guess. Find a yard that does very few of these and you may be looking at $5,000.

Ted
 
O C Diver said:
When calling around, find a yard that routinely does them, such as a waterman's yard. This isn't that common a job for recreational yards as most boats get used so little. A yard that specializes in waterman (commercial fisherman) tend to do this job more frequently based on boat use. An experienced yard should be able to do it in 8 to 16 hours depending on difficulty of removing the shaft and possibly the rudder. While the yard I use charges $60 per hour, I'm guessing in Massachusetts you will likely pay more like $100 to $125 per hour. Add to that a haulout cost and maybe $300 for the bearing. $1,500 to $3,500 would be my guess. Find a yard that does very few of these and you may be looking at $5,000.

Ted
Click to expand...
Ted: what yard do you use? My bearings need replacing.
 
Hi Jason
Curious if you got any quotes back from mechanics experienced with the Camano and if so, what the price spreads were?
Hope it plays out ok for you.
 
Durant F said:
Hi Jason
Curious if you got any quotes back from mechanics experienced with the Camano and if so, what the price spreads were?
Hope it plays out ok for you.
Click to expand...

Hi there. Yes, we got a solid response from a reputable shop nearby. The shaft definitely has to be pulled out and the rudder disconnected. The parts costs are minimal and the labor is the bulk of the bill. We were ballpark quoted $1750-2000k.

NOW THE CRAZY PART! The buyer was hospitalized last weekend for 2 days with chest pains and I allowed him to back out of the deal. He even showed me a picture of his hospital chart with the date on it. It's totally legitimate and just very bad luck (for both of us!).


Fast forward to today. I'm willing to sell the boat for $79k OBO. I have the 2 good surveys in my hand and am also willing to pay for winter storage. I want to sell before winter! If anyone knows anyone looking for a well equipped Camano then send them my listing. THIS IS A BARGAIN AND A HALF.... No survey costs, haulout fees or winter storage fees! That's about another $5k of savings!!

https://www.yachtworld.com/boats/2000/camano-troll-3246166/?refSource=standard listing#.W8CGsddKgdU
 
O C Diver said:
They have a 30 ton travel lift. Don't know if they will haul it.

Ted
Click to expand...
Our home port is Hartge Yacht Harbor in Galesville on the West River. When we get back there in May after doing the Loop, I'll drive down to Deale and talk with the yard. I checked their website. They claim to have a 35 ton lift. That would be metric tons so a capicity of 77,000#. Thanks for responding.
 
Cutlass bearing

I just had mine replaced on a Grand Banks 36. $500, not including haul out.
 
We have a similar setup in our Nordic Tug. If you are lucky, the bearing was installed with a small amount sticking out of the hole, maybe 1/4 to 1/2 inch. If that is the case, they may be able to remove it with a big pair of pliers after pulling the prop. This is how ours was replaced. If not, then everyone is correct that you will need to drop the rudder, pull the shaft and use a special puller tool. Our mechanic only charged us one hour labor, and he reinstalled with a bit sticking out so that if we have to replace again it will be the same process. Of course, there needs to be sufficient space between the bearing and prop for cooling water.

Good luck with the sale. We were in the market for a Camano when we happened on our Tug. If we were in the market, I'd be flying to your neck of the woods this weekend to see the boat. We really loved the Camano, just happened to stumble on a great deal for our Tug.
 
Don't mean to offend with pickiness, but here for the sake of correctness:

"Seems to have both names used but really it is CUTLESS. The design was so named because of the grooves cut into the wall which let out the grit etc. so that it CUTS LESS! Nothing to do with pirates or swords!"​
 
During a haulout for bottom job, thru-hull valves and ither items, I had the cutlass bearing replaced. It was not necessary to pull the shaft nor drop the rudder. 1/2” was cut from the log, a setup made to pull the old bearing. Easy Peasy. I’ll try to post a photo of the setup
 
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