Week 1: Start up the project
After a period of 30 years the bearings of the rudder blade are starting to make some noise. Doesn’t sound that well and a bit worried of what can happen… and as always will not happen… So just to be safe we start up the ‘Rudder Bearings Project’… After the first inspections and engineering action it is time to start up finding a supplier of rudder bearings and other equipment…
At this stage of the project we are making some pics and did some measurement…. Now we start up our internet discovery and find a supplier..
Week 2: Take apart the system
After some internet and social media consultation we found Jefa Ruders in Denmark (Click Here for the page). We did some mailing and a quick respond came over. We shared some information and first advice give insights about the possibilities.
Now we be assured of a supplier and systems we can start up to take apart the rudder blade and bearings. We started gentle, but soon we are confronted with a system for more than 30 years no maintenance. The result: only the grinder gives result after a few days of be gentle.
After complete dismantling the rudder system we can start up the selection process of a new system.
Week 3: The retraining ring:
Now we discovered it is a Harken system we tried to take apart the bearing but also with the rest…..no change at all. So we skipped the idea for further dismantling. Next step is to lift the boat and take out the rudder as a whole.
Further inspection of the retraining ring shows why the was always there was always water in the boat. Two rotten rings shows the problem. After cleaning and remove the old one, we can select retrain rings. At the SKF site we found some new ones Click Here.
Week 4: Lifting the boat:
After some arrangements we lifted the boat so we could take out the rudder. Unfortunately there are no pics of this step but a quite impressive action. After the rudder was taken out of the boat we were able to remove the bearings.
Now we can select the right bearings.
For more information, there are two separate pages; one with an overview concerning the dismantling and a page with the measurements. Please check the menu or select:
- Overview page: Click Here
- Measurement page: Click Here
