Rudder Shaft Steering Quadrant Wooden Bulkhead

[PeteW]

I was crawling around in the engine compartment and happened to notice that the wooden beam that seems to support the steering quadrant is completely dry rotted on my Pearson 365. I am able to push my finger clean through this plank. It would appear that this beam is there to keep the rudder from dropping out of the bottom of the boat. I am headed to the ship yard next week for a haul-out. How dangerous is this situation? I sort of recall some gudgeons in the skeg that support the rudder?

Pete W.

[barrylab]

There is actually a skeg foot with a bearing, that supports the bottom of the rudder:
I had to repair this area last year due to water in the skeg (it's hollow).

[PeteW]

Here is a picture of the bulkhead that appears to provide some torsional support for the steering system and the rudder shaft.



There appears to be some sort of plain bearing that rides in this beam which in this picture is totally gone. Some epoxy repairs were attempted by a PO.  My redesign might be a new beam that is split to contain a bolt together pillow block that can be assembled around the existing shaft with having to dissable the steering quadrant.

The beam that is in there seems to have been added. There is no glass or paint on it. Maybe it was intended for a autohelm motor of some sort. Anybody have any info on this?

Pete W.  "restoring hull# 6"

[EdHouston]

I am sure this if factory installed, I have the same beam albeit mine is still in good shape, I am thinking it is designed to support the shaft as it is a fair distance from the gland to the quadrant and I would think there would be some bending moment on the shaft without the beam. I like your idea of making a split beam replacement seems like a good idea to me.

Ed

[Jim S]

The beam is probably more intended as a rudder stop than as an upper bearing for the rudder shaft.

[PeteW]

Ed,
I am in agreement with your assessment as to the purpose of this beam. I had a strong hunch that it was factory installed. What gave it away for me was the structural aluminum angle brackets used to attach it to the upright beams. This style is so totally Grumman-esque. I say this because growing up on Long Island, my father worked for Grumman for 35 years and the materials used in aircraft production often made their way into various home repairs and projects around our house. At another time I will posted excerpts from a rare book I own "The Grumman Story". As we all suspect it was the acquisition by Northrup that put an end to the Allied-Grumman boat work up in Cranston RI. Roy Grumman was a sailor and he probably owned hull #1.

I am missing too much info to make a proper redesign at this time. There appears to be a collar around the shaft, or is that an actual bearing? A plain bearing riding in wood seems like a rather poor design to me if it is indeed original.  I would preffer to see that plain bearing riding in a block of nylon.

Pete

[Dale Tanski]

Boys,

Your post prompted me to slither back in there and take a look see.  Mine is exactly like the above picture complete with the aluminum angle brackets, massive wood blocks and the flanged "bushing".  The bushing appears to be aluminum and simply pressed into the hole.  I guess it is one of those things that has lasted 30 plus years, so it must have been a reasonable design to begin with.  I would agree that it provides bending support to the rudder post from the cable loads from the steering mechanism.

Dale

[PeteW]

I wanted to finish out  this thread  so that Pearson owners will understand the significance of the the rudder shaft support/steering quadrant stop beam. Discusions with a couple of shipwrights have convinced me that the function of this beam is three fold:

1. It provides axial support for the rudder shaft at the steering quadrant which prevents wear on the stuffing box and its mount to the fiberglass rudder post tube.

2. It provides stops for the steering quadrant to prevent the cables from jambing due to over steering. The stops more importantly prevent damage to the rudder/skeg/steering in a backing down collision on the rudder. Techniques to absorb the shock of such a collision vary. I used rubber bumpers. I've also heard of using breakable bolts on the stop posts themselves.

3. The 2" plain bearing attached to the rudder shaft that rides in this beam has a collar on top so it is actually a thrust bearing. This bearing is the remaining line of defense to keep the rudder from falling out if the skeg gets damaged. More than likely the rudder would only drop down 4" without the thrust bearing, but this would jamb the quadrant against the beam making steering impossible. Something for Swiftibis to think about.

Here's the new and improved beam. Its a pillow block design which allows it to be assembled around the shaft without having to disassemble the steering. It's solid ash finished with west system 105/207. The bearing surface is hardened with epoxy and assembled with grease. The quadrant stops have rubber bumpers.



Here's the old beam. Probably time to crawl down there and inspect the one in your boat.



Pete sv "Tartanic" Pearson 365 Ketch

[Dale Tanski]

Pete,

Good looking replacement and robust to boot.  Nice job.  I suspect getting it installed while trying to occupy the same space is the next issue. Thanks for the update and the photos as they will be extremely helpfull to the next one of us that checks that beam and find bad news.  I know it is on my spring "to check" list.

Dale