I finally figured out how to drop the rudder on this 1988 NT 26. Short story…boat is out of water…
1. Remove the tiller arm and appurtenances.
2. Loosen the packing gland nuts to remove any friction therefrom.
3. Remove four lag bolts holding the flange to the hull.
4. Loosen the 5200 under the flange by your method.
5. Lift rudder by jack and push the bronze rudder port upward. Gently.
6. Keep relieving 5200, keeping tension upward. Twisting housing base when possible.
Once the whole assembly is free, it can be lifted off the upper rudder post. At this point, the rudder can be lifted out of its lower socket on the skeg, slid aside, and dropped out.
EZ. I can provide more details. This rudder port is not a Tides unit but looks a lot like Buck Algonquin units maybe originally intended for wood hulls?. There is no apparent identification on it.
My questions:
- Is this weld repairable or indicative of wholesale rot? Though these welds are not great, I don’t think it warrants a new custom rudder. Can I simply patch it with JB weld, then a couple coats of barrier coat and bottom paint and move on?
- Should this plain steel set screw be replaced with stainless, similar to what is used on PSS shaft seals? Also note key, apparently brass showing pink…upgrade to SS key?
- Is there a supplier for the lower cutlass style bearing? Shaft is 1” diameter. Bottom of shaft is showing some corrosion/erosion. The drain hole in the skeg was pretty well blocked. Maybe have welder grind it clean and weld back up to original height?
- Should I replace lag bolts with through bolts? I would use flathead SS machine screws and nuts topside, countersink into hull and fair with compound before bottom paint. To be fair, once the base is glued down and the stem firmly bedded through the hull, these screws don’t do much.
- Is Sikaflex 291 a suitable compound for rebedding this unit?
The impetus for this whole project is preparation for a fall total bottom paint barehull redo. Anything I do ahead of time will be to the good. The poor weld(s) caught my eye, looks like done by a beginner. The shaft packing, original flax was long overdue, though could have been done in place. Also, I will cut a hole in the rudder to facilitate propeller shaft removal for the future. I do not think cutlass bearing warrants replacement at this time, but I don’t want to have to repeat this whole process when the time comes.
I will try to post pics in the order of my numbered questions.
Thanks for reading!