Typical # of hours to replace prop strut?

[NE-sail]

The prop strut on my 35' sailboat broke, and the yard gave me an estimate of 58 hours of labor (plus parts) to remove the old strut and install the new one. That seems like a really high number of hours, and I've heard that this yard is known for inflating the number of hours. What's a typical ballpark number of hours for this job?

[skipperpete]

Originally Posted by NE-sail

The prop strut on my 35' sailboat broke, and the yard gave me an estimate of 58 hours of labor (plus parts) to remove the old strut and install the new one. That seems like a really high number of hours, and I've heard that this yard is known for inflating the number of hours. What's a typical ballpark number of hours for this job?

Impossible to say. Timber hull? Grp hull? What caused the strut to break? What access is there to whatever holds the strut in place? Is the shaft bent? Are the mounts broken?
Too many variables and too little info to even make a wild guess at how long the job would take.
I see that this is your first post, welcome to the forum

[NE-sail]

Thanks, and here's some more info that I didn't include in my original post. The boat is 25 years old. Hull is endgrain balsa, between multiple layers of fiberglass. The strut seems to have failed because the cutless bearing was failing and the vibrations caused the strut to crack through. The bolts for the struts are relatively easily accessible under a piece of wood sole, not under the fuel tank or anything like that.

Here's the actual list of tasks that they included in the estimate:

REMOVE SECTION OF FLOORBOARD AND LOCATE BOLTS THAT HOLD STRUT ON, REMOVE ALL STRUT BOLTS. STRUT IS INSTALLED INSIDE A GLASSED-OVER POCKET. REMOVE BOTTOM PAINT. GAIN ACCESS TO BOLT HEADS. CHISEL FIBERGLASS TO ACCESS BOLT HEADS. REMOVE 6 BOLTS HOLDING STRUT TO HULL OF BOAT. PRY AND SCRAPE OUT BROKEN PIECE OF STRUT FROM HULL. TAKE APART PROP. REMOVE FROM SHAFT. REMOVE SET SCREWS FROM PSS SEAL, SEAL IS NOT SEATED PROPERLY. REMOVE BOLTS FROM COUPLING. PLACE SPACER BETWEEN TWO COUPLING FACES AND PRESS RUSTED COUPLING FROM SHAFT. PLACE ANOTHER SPACER IN BETWEEN COUPLING AND USE BOLTS TO PRESSS REMAINDER OF SHAFT OUT. REMOVE COUPLING AND REMOVE SHAFT FROM BOAT. TEST FOR RUNOUT. SHAFT APPEARS STRAIGHT WITHIN 5,000THS ON BOTH ENDS. SAND BLAST COUPLING, PREP AND PRIME WITH 3 COATS. --- PROCURE REPLACEMENT STRUT. REINSTALL

[Sailor Sailor]

I removed my prop shaft strut, replaced the prop shaft and cutless bearing, rebedded the strut, and faired the area. It took me about 6 hours total spread over several days.

The most difficult parts are removing the shaft from the transmission coupling and the propeller from the shaft. Cutting the shaft is the easiest and fast way to solve those problems.

Your post is the reason I DIY. Not only do I save money and get to know my boat better, but I care about the results.