Rudder repair

DAEDALUSCAN · **Joined:** 09 Dec 2007 21:03 **Posts:** 114

We bought Adios at a very fair price knowing that the rudder , among other things , needed work. I have been putting it off, but we palnn to head to Mexico in the fall so I needed to get it done.

I hauled the boat on Friday. While waiting for the travellift I backed off the bolts holding the rudder bearing and the quadrant after loosening the cables. I had been dosing them all with penetrating oil for a few days (I must be growing up to think so far ahead) and they all came off easily.

As soon as the boat was blocked I took them right off, and split the rudder quadrant. I then pounded on the bolt heads with a 6 lb lump hammer and a piece of aluminium to protect the heads. I had blocked the rudder from below to avoid drama. This was the toughest part as the plate was heavily goobed to the hull and around the threads in the holes. I have a four bolt unit, hull#301.

I did not need to take the lower skeg fairing off as I had though I would, the bearing plate came out without touching it.

The rudder then lowered out, it was heavy! I poured at least two buckets of water out of it through the lower bearing hole.

I had thought that the bushing had collapsed, but I could see now that the lower part of the rudder shaft was loose in the rudder.

I then took it home and cut the side off with a zip disc. I knew it was the starboard side I needed to cut off as I had read a thread here. Saved me a lot of guessing!

The foam inside seemed to have shrunk away from each side of the rudder, there was at least an inch of free space on either side of the foam. I could tell that it had once contacted both sides of the rudder as there was foam residue in the weave of the glass.

The old foam was actually really tough and quite hard to get out. I cleaned the inside with a hose and a wire brush and left to dry. I think about 4 hours to this stage.
I could see that the tabbing on the lower tang had failed, though not totally, mostly on the lower edge close to the shaft but this allowed about 1/4" of play at the lower bearing.

DAEDALUSCAN · **Joined:** 09 Dec 2007 21:03 **Posts:** 114

Today I ground around the areas that I would be reglassing with an angle grinder and a die grinder in the harder to reach bits. I also cut some mahogany blocks to fill in the V between the tabs, and some larger blocks to tie the whole affair to the starboard rudder skin. This may be overkill, but it was easy to do and I really don't want to be back in here again.

I used a whole yard of coarse roving cut into patches and some lighter cloth to tie the blocks in with. Also a fair bit of thickened epoxy to fill out the voids. Its drying in the sun now, and I hope to fill up with foam before tonight.

Maybe another four hours.

Down2TheC · **Posted:** 21 Jun 2009 19:50

Wow! Great work!
Tartan

DAEDALUSCAN · **Joined:** 09 Dec 2007 21:03 **Posts:** 114

Thanks. As with all of these jobs the thought of it is much harder than the practice.

I added the foam when the epoxy had cured, I mixed 4 litres (2 0f A , 2 of B) which was way too much!!

I waited 45 mins and then cut it down with a handsaw. Tomorrow I hope to put the starboard skin back on.

DAEDALUSCAN · **Joined:** 09 Dec 2007 21:03 **Posts:** 114

Sanded down the foam, glued the skin on with thickened epoxy.

Creative clamping. Lunch.

Mike · **Joined:** 09 Jul 2008 12:51 **Posts:** 251

Nice job. I am the third owner of my Tartan 37. The first owner drilled two holes at the bottom of the rudder and tapped them with large hex screws. Once a year the boat was hauled for regular maintenance and during that time drained of any water. The fact that water accumulates in the rudder is a bit unsettling but it still seems solid and in good shape.
If we ever did any extended trips I would rather fix it than have it in the back of my mind all the time.

DAEDALUSCAN · **Joined:** 09 Dec 2007 21:03 **Posts:** 114

Nearly done.

I taped up te seams with 2 layers of 2" tape, 3 layers of 3" and a few layers of woven mat between. I also reinforced the whole notch area after removing an older gooey repair. Forgot to take photos.

Then a coat of fairing filler. This stuff is really wierd, it self levels. I hope it sands easily, they advertise that it does.

So that is about it, I am really pleased with how this went, it really wasn't as challenging as I had thought it was. For those on the East coast who haul your boats this could be a relaxed winter project. I hope this helps others as the previous thread here helped me.

I have a theory that when you go offshore you REALLY need three things. The water on the outside, the mast in the air and the rudder functioning. Having a jury rudder ready is well and good, but if you ever lose the rudder it will most likely be in big seas, and without a functioning rudder that is a nasty situation to be in....

DAEDALUSCAN · **Joined:** 09 Dec 2007 21:03 **Posts:** 114

Well I though it had all gone too well!

When I was tightening in one of the four bolts holding the lower pintle the boat sheared off at a very light torque. I am glad that it did as I would never have known how corroded it was. I really don't think that stainless underwateris such a good idea.

I have bought four new bolts and will cut the old ones out and weld in new ones.

I also bought a length of 1" shaft to cut a new pin from, it too shows signs of crevice corrosion and sounds hollow.

DAEDALUSCAN · **Joined:** 09 Dec 2007 21:03 **Posts:** 114

Ground out old bolts, two were badly corroded, two ok.

Knocked out old pin and turned a new one.

Waiting for the power hookup to my shop this morning to weld them. Otherwise I have to move the dryer and put my welder in its place and that makes my wife irritable.

Tartan do sell this piece, in either four or three bolt pattern but it is $400. I think a local welder would fabricate one for less if you took the old one out for a pattern.

The rudder from Tartan at $2000 looks like an excellent deal however, but I think this fix cost me about $300 and time. I am really cheap.

Tortuga's Lie · **Joined:** 27 Oct 2006 10:32 **Posts:** 827

Alright, after 15 years of owning Tortuga's Lie, I finally dropped the rudder to fix the saturation that has plagued it since the day I bought her. I did a similar repair as described in the posts above, but without the added wooden fins.....I just heavily fiberglassed the stainless straps with more woven roven and a mat build up making the port side a very thick piece of laminate. ONE WORD OF CAUTION:::::: If you are compteplating any offshore ventures, I would take a VERY close look at your rudder and examine things very closely for I believe my rudder could have broken apart if left too much longer. My rudder was severly compromised at the seams, where the rudder post enters the top of the rudder and at the base where the pintle rubbed against the fiberglass portion of the slot wearing a hole through the glass...it's no wonder it leaked! This could have ruined a good sail or worse Shocked

These things are getting quite old now and mine was 33 years old before a repair was made. I will be posting photos once I get the final glassing finished up...should be the next couple of days.

Tartan37.com

Rudder repair

Who is online