Albin 25 double cutlass bearings

[kittieford]

Hello owners group. I discovered the my Albin 25 (hull #278) has two cutlass bearings - one at each end of stern tube. Is this familiar to any of you? Boat has been repowered (Yanmar 3HM), has 1” shaft, and aqua drive coupling.
Should I remove the inboard cutlass bearing?
Thank you for your input.
Kittie

[WillieC]

Keep it. make sure shaft is aligned. That's a long shaft for only one support, though the aqua drive is a nice addition and will accommodate a lot. What do you have for shaft seal?

BTW, the original had what they called the inner bearing. Not much more than a bushing.

See:
http://mmd.nu/shop233/catalog/product_i ... qg6it6lac5

Somebody went to a lot of trouble to fit that bearing inside the oddball size tube and to fit the one inch shaft. Again, alignment is key. If it is worn and not making a racket, I wouldn't worry about it. My engine mounts were so shot, there was no hope for alignment. The shaft wobbled badly enough to actually hit the sterntube occasionally, but it had a nice beat to it.

Here is one of my threads addressing some of what I found re: cutlass bearing(s).
viewtopic.php?f=28&t=9044

And, Welcome to the AOG! We are on Hood Canal and making plans for a Desolation Sound trip this summer. Come along!

[kittieford]

Thank you for your input, WillieC. The information in the thread you referenced was very helpful too.
We removed the PSS shaftseal to inspect the inboard bearing and it appears in good condition. The fit with the prop shaft is appropriately snug and there is no evidence of uneven wear to indicate misalignment, so we are moving forward to put the drive system back together. One more visit to the machinist to spruce up the aqua drive thrust bearing coupling surface, and we’ll be ready to dial in the alignment and finish this project! Again, thank you for sharing your knowledge and linking me to the broader discussion.
Best Regards, Kittie

[WillieC]

You sound like you are in good hands there. Watch the maintenance suggested for the PSS. Six years or something like that. The folks in Mukilteo are very helpful and will get you in and out in no time. R&D Engineering.

Hope to run into you, well not literally, the Starfleet Commander is a very good driver. I'm just the hired hand.

[DesertAlbin736]

That's interesting! Our 1971 A25 #736 (wow, your boat is even older than ours!) has been similarly repowered, only with the older 3GM series of Yanmar engine, and the Aqua Drive coupling. That was done 25 years ago & 3 PO's before us, and the engine now has around 3,000 hours on it & still runs good. 400 of those hours we put on it since becoming owners in March, 2014. Speaking of Aqua Drives, the specs for the thrust bearing mount bushings are that the bolts should be tightened to where there's 15 mm of thickness between the "ears" of the bearing carrier (light blue in this photo) and the bed plate that it's attached to.

DSCN3676crop.jpg

I have not gone as far as you have in pulling the shaft, but did pull the stuffing box forward to see how centered (or not) the shaft was in the stern tube. Did not notice any evidence of an inner bushing like what you're talking about. The documentation that was passed down from previous owners did not include any reference to shaft size or whether in fact the original one was replaced, but I'm pretty sure it's 1" & not 25 mm for the same reasons yours is 1". In fact the only receipt related to the engine swap was one for the Aqua Drive unit ($358 in 1992) and the installation sheet for it. I did measure the shaft with a micrometer delineated in inches and measured 1.02 inches, which if it was a 25 MM it would be just under 1 inch.

If you've pulled the outer cutlass bearing & happen to have a picture of it I'd be interested in seeing what it looks like. I plan to pull our prop & cutlass bearing to inspect it & replace if necessary. And barring that, which one of the photos below most resembles yours?

Albin Motor carries both a 25 mm bearing and a 1 inch bearing, but they look significantly different from each other. The 25MM looks like this:

25 mm cutlass.jpg

And the 1 inch looks like this:

1 inch cutllass.jpg

1 inch is only 0.4 mm, or .016 inch bigger diameter than 25 mm, so I wonder if a 25 mm bearing could be reamed out to 1 inch?

Here's an overall view of our Yanmar/AquaDrive installation. Must say, this combination is very quiet running compared to other A25's that I've been on.

DSCN3674.JPG

And by the way, we plan to trailer our boat up your way in late June for an extended cruise to Desolation Sound. Seems we've got quite a little fleet of A25s going in the Puget Sound/Salish Sea area. Would be nice to have a rendezvous sometime, somewhere.

Our old school bronze stuffing box.

DSCN1991.JPG

[Sunsetrider]

I have read that the correct spelling is in fact “cutless” bearing due to the origin of the term - a bearing that did not cut into the shaft as earlier models did.

[DesertAlbin736]

Oh, & here all this time I thought it had something to do with pirates? Arrrggghhh!

BTW, we are out on the lake right now. Cold night last night, relatively speaking. Cold front blew through yesterday afternoon leading to one of the coldest nights this winter, low 30's. High today is hovering around 60, cold for us. Stayed overnight in a marina slip w/shore power & ran our electric heater. Was supposed to be a sailing club raft up anchored out but a few of us got guest slips at the marina instead & had dinner in the restaurant where they had a live classic rock cover band playing. We had the best time. Now we're anchored in our favorite cove & kayaking & rowing the dinghy. Also, since I adjusted the tightness on the AquaDrive thrust bearing mounts the prop shaft is running straight & true.