Cutlass bearing 36c and strut

I'm in the yard in Venezuela. We hit a fish trap in PR bent the strut real bad but the shaft shark cut it off. I was able to some what bend it back but not far enough after 2hrs of underwater hammering with a 4lb hammer and a hooka rig. It got us this far.Got the shaft out, it's bent and scored. New shaft is being made now, got the bearing out of the strut but need help on how to get the one out of the hull. Can the strut be streightened and without cutting it out of the boat ???? It was probably bent about 3" to port and I was able to get about half that back. Any help would be great.

SID and MANUELA in and on "PARADISE"
36C HULL #51 I've had her sence new
Cruising now in Venezuela
boatbumms@aol.com

That is not good. I would try to get a new strut shipped from the states. I cannot believe that the alignment will ever be right with the one you have which will always cause premature cutlass bearing failure and maybe shaft scoring. First, it has to be in line with the shaft. Second, it has to be parallel with the shaft. Just my opinion. Rudy at D&R may know where to get one of these. http://www.drmarine.com/

That link didn't work for me but I checked the Google cached info and got this:

D & R Marine
14 Water St
Assonet, Ma 02702

Ph 508 644-3001
Fx 508 644-3002

Cutlass Bearing 36C and Strut

Dean & I have an Ericson 36C, hull #54, 'Blue Jeans', here in Seattle, WA. The propeller strut was broken at the hull line by (we think) electrolysis. Marine Hardware in Redmond , Washington has patterns for the Ericson 36C and quoted $550 to make a new one. Still looking for a cheaper source (old stock somewhere? Anyone?).

Marine Hardware, Inc
14560 NE 91st Court Shipping address
Redmond, Washington 98052-6553
USA

PO Box 3099 Mailing address
Redmond, Washington 98073-3099
USA

Tel: 800-536-5971
425-883-0651
Fax: 425-869-1232

marinehardware.com

Don Starbuck is the person I talked to.
Let me know if you find a cheaper source.

Bob McKee
'Blue Jeans'
romckee@comcast.net

Byter01 said:

Marine Hardware in Redmond , Washington has patterns for the Ericson 36C and quoted $550 to make a new one.

Click to expand...

Probably a lot cheaper to make two than to make one. You guys should cut a deal with the manufacturer.

36c strut

Thanx for the info. Thats not too much, but the poblems getting it to us are worse. It takes 6 to 8 weeks for anything to be shipped in and ready for release.They charge 40% duty on any thing shipped in, then you have to pay the ransom to the customs agent to find it in the back room, then tip the guy that has to carry it to the front desk and hope it's the right box and if it is we are not sure what is in the box as it may have been opened 20 times. Now if you get the part you have to find a yard that will take you and some one that can help you and that will be there every day. Right now I think we will see how this fix will work. If I have to change the cutlass bearing every few years thats ok. The ones I took out were 30 years old. If you are going to buy one let me know? Maybe they would cut a deal for two. Thanx again.

Sid and Manuela in and on "Paradise"

Straightening strut for 36C

Sid
I saw this old post on a bent strut and thought Id respond. Not sure if you are completely satisfied with your strut alignment. When I pulled Brass Dragon (36C) out to replace cutlass bearing in strut I found that my strut was at least 1" misaligned from engine and upper cutlass bearing. Rather than hammer or bend against the buried end of the strut, I built a simple bending clamp made of 2 plates; one with two bars across ends, one with single bar in center with two 3/4" dia bolts thru. I found that with a good size wrench, the strut bent controllably and without violence to the hull joint. with a straight broomstick as a pointer, you can watch the progress. Also, I cut curved airfoil shaped inserts of oak which I planned to shim one way or the other if I needed angle adjustment (which I didnt). Start near the hull for major bending and slide it out toward end for the final minor adjustments.

strutting

Thanx for the info. Maybe you could send some pix. I saw your Brass Dragon in the storage yard in Green Cove Springs, FL a few years back. Hope you're having a good time working on her. If you have any questions just e-mail us. Hope to see you out here some time. Stay in deep water.
BOATBUMMS@AOL.COM

Strut bending tool

Ive (hopefully) attached photo of the tool, looks a little different than I described from memory. Pretty basic but effective