Rudder repair

berwick · **Joined:** 21 Oct 2006 18:12 **Posts:** 325

I guess I better do mine next year at haul out. Does anybody know the distance the rudder has to drop before being free? My cradle is fairly high but if I know I have to dig the ground out to drop it I'll have to watch where they put me.

Thanks, Richard

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

I worried about this too, but we have the deep keel model and there was no problem at all with the keel on the ground.

I had printed the line drawin from the Tartan website and scaled off it to get an idea of wether it would work.

If you are in a yard where you can dig a hole......

berwick · **Joined:** 21 Oct 2006 18:12 **Posts:** 325

Most of our ground is rock so it would be good to have an idea first. I have the CB type so am lower to the ground.

Richard

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

I will be posting some pictures of my rudder repair once I have some time. After all said and done, it really wasn't all that bad of a repair to do, you just gotta have the gumption to jump right in!!! Word of caution: take a real close look for crevice corrosion at the rudder post welds, the tabbing that comes off of the post and of course the pintle and its associated parts. I replaced the pintle bolts with 316 stainless instead of the 304 that was used. I had a local welder run a bead all of the way around the bolt head thinking that this may mitigate the water penetration around the bolt head curbing the crevice corrosion that is most likely here. My 304 bolts previously were just 10 years old and showed significant corrosion on two of the heads.

The rudder needs to drop about 18" +/- in order to clear the post/hull. Have your boat yard block up the boat an extra foot and you shouldn't have any problems. The fairing that is above the skeg wedges itself against the top of the rudder as you drop it or when you need to reinstall. This occurs because the rudder tapers significantly at the leading edge with it being nearly 9 inches across at the very top and close to 6 inches at the pintle. This means that the fairing that is attched to the hull above the skeg will need to stretch 3 inches for the rudder to drop. This was real tight!!!!

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

OK,
Here's some pictures of the rudder in the various states:

Oops.....Looks like the forum has reached it's capacity for anyone posting photo files!!! Shocked

If anyone is interested, PM me and I'll shoot you an e-mail with photos.

Reflections #434 · **Joined:** 19 Nov 2009 16:17 **Posts:** 11

Looks like I just joined the pintle repair club. A few weeks ago I noticed a huge increase in steering resistance when there is pressure on the rudder. When I hauled a couple of days ago I investigated and found that the thrust bearing is gone and the pintle bushing is loose in the rudder post. The rudder moves side-to-side and the pintle plate (4 bolt model) is now rubbing directly against the rudder.

I have researched and read the forum posts but what is not clear to me is whether or not I have to cut off any or all of the skeg fairing to replace the pintle and bearings. If so, how is it removed?

Any pictures (stevebearden@comcast.net) or advise would be great! Very Happy

Ardea · **Joined:** 19 Mar 2007 16:40 **Posts:** 195

The fairings on T-37s are attached in two different ways. On my boat and others the fairing is sandwiched between the pintle and the hull and comes off when you drop the rudder/pintle assembly down. It may or may not be faired in where the fairing meets the hull. The other way is that the fairing is just glassed to the hull with no portion of it between the pintle and the hull. In that case you need to cut the fairing off on a plane even with the top of the pintle bar (don't cut the hull though). For reassembly you would have to glass it back on. When you start to drop the pintle the fairing should become loose for the first case above and remain attached for the second. Check the pictures in the tech section here on pintle replacement. They don't show the fairing but you can see the pintle once unbolted from the boat. I have some pictures of the glassed in version but haven't had time to post them. Perhaps this weekend. A new fairing is available from Tartan Parts also.

-Jim

Reflections #434 · **Joined:** 19 Nov 2009 16:17 **Posts:** 11

Thanks Jim for the great info.

My fairing is glassed straight to the hull not sandwiched. There is about an inch of space between the pintle bolt heads and the top of the fairing. I can’t tell if there is enough clearance to drop down the thru-hull pintle bolts and slide out pintle without cutting the fairing.

If the bolts do not clear, rather than cut off the whole fairing my thought is to cut out a section of the fairing on the port side, cutting forward, level with pintle bar (avoiding the hull) just enough to grant adequate access to the bolts, replace the pintle then glass the cut-away section back in place. What do you think?

Pictures of the glassed in version would be very helpful.

I saw the new fairing and pintle on the Tartan Parts website; they want $400+ for each. If the pintle is in good enough shape, I will re-use it and plan (hope) to order a new thrust bearing and pintle bushing.

Reflections #434 · **Joined:** 19 Nov 2009 16:17 **Posts:** 11

By the way, if anyone wants mussels for dinner, I have about 30 pounds of them living in the fairing pockets…. Mad

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

While you have your rudder dropped, now's a good time to do any repairs on it. Many of our vintage 37's have a compromised rudder where the foam core is saturated and the fiberglass has holes in it, primarily at the pintle attachment region.

Tartan37.com

Rudder repair

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