Emergency tiller fitting replacement / dropping the rudder.

[waterdog]

My cast aluminum fitting for the emergency tiller pretty much welded itself to the stock of the rudder.   I cracked it dropping the rudder today.  (Please don't ask how or I will have to admit to what I did.)    It's still serviceable as a retaining collar for a day or two, but will need replacement.  I would like to stick my schedule and splash on Tuesday.  Not sure how quickly I can get a new one delivered to Vancouver. 

So here's the question.  Can the cap be removed and replaced with the rudder in the water or is this a major pain in the ass?   

It seems to be the bearing surface for the rudder and I fear the rudder will drop to the quadrant level and I'll have a major challenge getting the bolt in on the new one.  Or maybe the new rudder just floats and it's no problem.   Let me know what you know. 

I had no problem loosening the bolts for the rudder yesterday - thru bolt in the quadrant and the thru bolt on the cap.   The quadrant was amazingly clean and corrosion free underneath.   And then I came home yesterday and read the instructions which said I had to loosen the four bolts that hold the quadrant together.   Major pain in the butt!   Stainless tapped into aluminum.   Got one out.  Sheared one off.   Couldn't budge two of them.   Managed to drop the rudder anyway.   

Somewhere somebody made reference to pulling the panel in the aft cabin to gain access.  Don't bother doing this (at least for old MKIs).    Pull the propane locker.  Remove the plywood shelf.   Pull all the crap out of your aft locker and go spelunking.   There is plenty of room in there if you get the crap out. 

[Craig Illman]

Steve - I had to use an impact wrench to remove the four bolts on my quadrant when I replaced my rudder last fall. I spent the $$$ and replaced the quadrant because the original looked pretty corroded and was shimmed. My original rudder cap had been replaced with a fiberglas version. I have no idea where it came from, but it seems adequate for the task. I think to be safe, you should clamp the rudder stock above the packing gland, even if the rudder supposedly is buoyant. I'm sure you'll appreciate the new rudder. It certainly makes backing up easier.

Craig

[Tom Soko]

Steve,
Yes, you can remove the rudder post cap while in the water.  If you take a line from one aft cleat, under the rudder, then up to the opposite aft cleat, you can hold the rudder in the "up" position.  I've been told that the rudder is semi-buoyant, but can't verify it.

[Kyle Ewing]

Based on my personal experience the rudder (at least the MK II rudder) is semi-buoyant.  In the water the plastic bushing that the rudder cap sits on spins relatively freely under the cap.  By comparison there's too much weight resting on it to spin it with the boat out of the water.  I couldn't do this with my old rudder, probably because the foam core was pretty wet.

[waterdog]

Excellent tips.   Thank you!   

While I was in the slings fighting with the rudder we made the decision to put it in the jacks high so the rudder could be pulled without occupying the travelift.   The yard guy called for a measurement on how much shaft was in the boat.    Couldn't find the tape measure, but I threw down a piece of 1/8 dacron and told him it was exactly as much as the string.   We blocked the boat up with the rudder a string length above the ground.   We tortured the rudder cap off and removed the old rudder with exactly a quarter inch to spare.   

Felt pretty smart for a day until I came home put a coat of epoxy on the new rudder and remembered it's six inches longer or so.   Whoops.   

[waterdog]

Steve - I had to use an impact wrench to remove the four bolts on my quadrant when I replaced my rudder last fall. I spent the $$$ and replaced the quadrant because the original looked pretty corroded...

No mere mortal will ever get these bolts loose with an ordinary socket wrench.   The genius who decided tapping the stainless into the cast aluminum housing in a marine environment has hopefully found a job in another industry.   I used the handle for manual bilge pump to gain extra leverage.   Removed one.   Sheered one.  Rounded 2.   Blocked the rudder and turned the wheel to break it free.   Penetrating oil did nothing to get through the white powder.   Some heat and leverage got other two bolts out on the bench.   To remove the sheered bolt I turned the two halves of the quadrant independently.   The threads came free and the bolt remained in the unthreaded half - completely seized.   I had to punch it out.  My quadrant had a lot of surface corrosion on top.   It was clean on the bottom.   It's sandblasted now.  Looks beautiful.   With new through bolts it will be better than new.   

[Steve Sayian]

Steve,

When I removed my stering gear two years ago, I cleaned the quadrant and then sprayed it with 4 coats of clear lacquer.  No more corrosion.  Also put some grease on the stainless bolts so next time it won't be so hard to remove them.

Steve

[dgill]

Another way to remove the emergency tiller cap, if it is seized onto the rudder post, is to use a saw-zall and cut it off.  This worked on the ETC on my boat.  You just need to cut some of the top and front and then pry it off - assuming the bolts are removed.