Hope you had a good season. We are a couple of days away from being pulled out and i need to fix the rudder bearings on ours, they make yours look brand new 😂 Given I will be under pressure to get it done and out of the sling when we get lifted i was hoping you could help me understand how the rudder is removed. I assume it is just the large bolt on the back of the tiller hinge thay holds it together but there is another stud and nut on top, accessed by hinging the tiller up. Any tips most appreciated
Hey guys. I see you are fellow Etappers too! I was really worried about doing the rudder bearing job beforehand, but it was actually quite easy and quick. Not sure if you watched the video before this one 'The Boat Projects Begin: Haul out and Rudder Removal', this one may be useful to you as we show how we removed the rudder in the slings. Basically once in the slings we removed the tiller from the rudder stock which was just one big bolt. Then we released the rudder stock from the rudderstock housing (the bit just underneath the tiller), again just one big bolt. The rudder stock is then free but you will probably need to bang it a few times or to give it a wiggle and it should just drop down. Have some chocks ready to put under the rudder so it doesn't bang on the floor and have someone at the bottom guiding the rudder down. (Yard staff will help with this and from our experience they were really knowledgeable about the process as they will have seen it done many times.) Also just make them aware that you are dropping the rudder in the slings before hand so they know it will take extra time. The whole process took us around 15 mins. Hope this is helpful, let us know if you need anything else.
@@gavin_and_james_sailingthanks for the response, I have seen your video, but wanted to check how it was actually attached as that wasn't captured. Pilling out later today so hopefully should go ok
The pricing for these boat specific parts is crazy, I need to do the same job this winter so better start saving. Where did you get the parts from? Really useful video, appreciate you putting it together. The 30 has a slightly different setup but I think the process will be the same
We got the rudder bearings from David Morris who is the UK Etap parts specialist (davidmorrisboats.co.uk/spare-parts) and the saildrive kit was direct from Volvo. I know some people who have had rudder bearings manufactured at a fraction of the price, but you never know how good they will fit so I preferred to pay for the proper ones. Hopefully I will never have to do it again. Thanks for watching and glad you found it useful.
