shaft or cutlass bearing 1st?

[lobsta1]

Snapped my stb shaft. No way coupling was coming off, so cut the shaft inside the boat. After haul cleaned everything up including pulling the cutlass bearing out.
Ordered everything new including having the new coupling faced to the shaft. The ? I have is how do I get the new coupling onto the shaft? Also should I install the shaft 1st & then figure out a way to drive the bearing on. I do not have access to a press.
Thanks
Al

[h2ojst]

Although there are tools out there for installing your cutlass bearing with the shaft in, it's a heck of a lot easier to do it first with the shaft out. Tap the set screw holes out to make sure they are nice & clean, then clean up the inside of your strut with a half-moon file or drum disc sander to make the inside nice and smooth and I also chamfer the rear slightly to make the install easier. Freeze the new bearing for a couple hours, lube the strut (some use grease & other's just use dish soap....both work) place a flat hardwood board across the bearing and smack it in place with a mallet. Should go right in without any issues. I "dimple" the bearing with a drill bit then Loctite new set screws and lock it in place. I have a bearing installation tool and your boat yard should have one that you can borrow also but I've also done it the way I explained numerous times. If the new coupling is fit to the new shaft it should slide on and off without tools. Just install the shaft, then slide the coupler on the shaft from the inside and tighten the bolts and then wire them in in place. Here is where you definitely want to use some brand of anti-seize on both the bolts and inside the coupling. I don't know what kind of stuffing box you have, but if it has packing & not dripless, clean out the packing gland and re-pack while you're doing this. It's also a lot easier to do when everything is clean and out of the water. Hope this helps. It's not a hard job.

[lobsta1]

Joe, Thanks for the detailed explanation. Decided to go with the dish soap instead of the silicon. In the future I don't want it interfering with the Pettit spray. Already have the old GFO pulled out{looked new} & ordered new GFO. Just have to wait now for Deep Blue to do the machining & ship everything.
Al

[dougl33]

Al,

Sorry to hear about the shaft snapping. What happened?

[lobsta1]

It broke. Doug, don't mean to be a wise guy but I just don't know. The day I launched it was blowing about 25 & we had an 11' tide outgoing. I was drifting down on the Kernwood bridge & heard the horn & put it in gear. Then I had nothing on the stb side. Fought like hell to get away from the bridge & upriver against the wind & current. Ultimately ended up with both anchors deployed & with my bow about 6' from the shore in 4 1/2' of water.
It was an interesting afternoon.
Al

[dougl33]

Well that sounds like it was a shitty day. Does it look like there was any kind of corrosion or electrolysis in the shaft where is snapped?

[dougl33]

Al,

Did you ever come to a conclusion as to why the shaft snapped? Did it look like electrolysis was the culprit? Curious if you brought the shaft remains to be looked at by a prop shop?