Just got back from a month out boating. Great time (retirement boating is the best) One issue arose. Just before we left and for the first couple days of our trip we could hear both cutlass bearings squealing when the prop was free wheeling ( only when we were moving slowly and I put it in neutral). Just a single note from both until the prop stopped turning. The sound is a bit like using a wet finger on a wine glass.
The cutlass bearings were replaced 12 years and 1500 hours running ago . We thought we better have them looked at and we had the boat hauled out. The yard pros said the bearings looked new. We had NO shimmy or vibration and have never had any. We decided to ignore it and went on with the trip. The sound disappeared shortly thereafter and was gone for the month's trip. Now its back. The only thing I can think of is- there must be some difference between fresh water vrs salt water. We keep the boat in fresh water in Seattle and go through locks into the saltwater of Puget Sound to vacation in our Northwest island paradise. The sound came back within 2 running hours of being back in Lake Union. Having the boat kept in fresh water has lots of obvious advantages. One unusual thing about our fresh water is that the lake water builds up a crust on zincs which must be wire brushed off each year. (beats electrolysis and zinc replacement every year). I am wondering if the fresh water is not as good a lubricant for the cutlass bearings as salt water. Or there might be some lake crust issue? Has anyone ever heard of this bearing issue? I'd hate to change them if I don't have to. Or should I change them as a matter of routine maintenance? I could have it done next year when I haul out the boat. Can you do it cheaply or do you have to pull the shafts as well? I always value everyone opinions here. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "UnifliteWorld" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/unifliteworld. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
