Formosa 46

[Rod Hegerty]

I am having difficulty in removing the rudder.It seems the top Rudder Shaft must be removed upwards to release the rudder. Can anyone confirm before i take the next step

[alitaptap]

How To Remove The Rudder : Formosa/Peterson 46


S/Y Argo, 1980 Formosa/Peterson 46, was identified as having a wet rudder – after being on the hard for a couple of days, drips of water were still visible beneath, and moisture readings at half-height were above 30%.


We decided to drop and remove the rudder to investigate, and to either, repair or, replace: simple, right? Wrong!


First, the unusually robust and strong (compared to the Formosa/Peterson 44) hinge/bearing design, connecting the lower portion of the rudder to the skeg, meant that the only possible way that the rudder could be removed was to either slide the entire assembly aft, horizontally (compared to the ground) or, remove the two hinge/bearings so that the rudder may slide out, down vertically.


Unlike on the Formosa/Peterson 44, where the hinge/bearings are split castings, the hinge/bearings on this Formosa/Peterson 46 turned out to be complete, cast bronze items, with recessed through-bolts in the wing section of each casting (see image)




The only way to remove thee hinge/bearings was by sliding them out of their corresponding recesses in the rudder and in the skeg - horizontally. Thus, in order for the rudder to be removed horizontally the rudder post must first be lifted vertically out of the rudder top, from inside the hull. This seemed logical assuming the rudder shaft was splined or squared - in the same manner as for the emergency tiller at the top of the shaft (see image 2).




All efforts to pull the rudder-shaft out vertically from inside the hull proved completely fruitless.


Failing to remove the rudder-shaft from the rudder top through the hull, we could arrive at only one conclusion: that either, the entire yacht was built around the rudder or, perhaps more plausible, the hole in the hull where the rudder-shaft sleeve is secured was actually made over-sized and finished after the rudder was installed, i.e. the rudder-shaft would have wiggled into the over-sized hole in the hull and the hinges secured to skeg first then the rudder (or vice versa), then the rudder-shaft sleeve, bearing and packing gland, and the over-sized hole in the hull, were subsequently fibreglassed and fared to appear as if part of the original hull . . . from the apparently dissimilar fibreglass styles around the inside of the through-hull fitting it does look as though this may have been the case (see image 3).




Anyway, we cut and ground the fibreglass in the upper portion of the rudder, to expose the top of the rudder-shaft. You will note from the image that the shaft inside the rudder is straight for the first 7 inches and then takes a (welded) bend (see image 4).




We cut the rudder shaft just above the bend (see image 5).




As soon as the rudder-shaft was cut clear it was then possible to slide the rudder assembly horizontally aft and the rudder could be removed; the shaft stub could then be pulled up through the hull (see image 6).





It was now impossible to reinstall the existing rudder so we decided to build a new one (better anyway as this would ensure future protection from moisture ingress and osmosis). Reusing the cast bronze fittings made good sense as they were obviously over-engineered for the purpose and would therefore continue to serve the yacht well. But we needed a better solution for re-installing the rudder-shaft through the hull. We decided to machine-spline the removed shaft and secure a splined sleeve into the top of the new rudder. In this way we could slide the new rudder forward, horizontally, into place and drop the machined rudder-shaft down through original through-hull fitting, into the splined sleeve. In this way, should the rudder ever need to be removed in the future then it will be the relatively simple task it is supposed to be.

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, alitaptap.

Wow!!!

[toerail]

Hi guys


Well there is another way. This rudder hasnt been modified yet. I dont know the correct names so bear with me. Look at the middle hinge, or upper hinge set, thats the key. Its missing a notch. It can be cut in with various tools. Multitool or drill and reciprocating saw, etc. The notch goes under the hinge attached to the hinge on the rudder side, in other words its cut into the rudder. And a notch in the rudder where the part mounted to the boat can slide out when the rudder is turned 90 degrees. So only the rudder is notched. I can rotate my rudder 90 degrees, raise the rudder, and slide out the hinge part attached to the boat. And the very bottom gudgeon tap off with a 2 lb hammer downwards with kinda light taps, hopefully no one used 5200 on it. I havnt removed mine yet, doing that now, and I must say the notch to raise the middle pin out is only about 1/4 inch wide below the hinge.. But looking in the hinge hole the pin looks about 1 1/2 inches into the hole because I can see the bottom of the pin. If thats what I am looking at. If need be I will simply make that notch bigger. I will glass this notch in permanently. But I will make a small piece of wood glassed, and lightly fiberglass it into the notch, leaving some gaps so they can tell it was notched, so that the rudder cannot be raised up out of the middle hinge hole. Just extra precaution. But, I can easily cut it off should I need to remove the rudder again. Hope this helps anyone looking to remove the rudder. There is nothing in the notch area, mine is just wood core there. This method is far less destructive to your rudder. So there is a notch under the hinge set in order to lift the rudder, and a notch behind the hinge set in order to slide out the part attached to the boat. Looks like an L shape. Hope it helps.

[toerail]

Update


Where to cut in the notch.
On the bottom piece of the middle hinge set, cut down(or vertically 2 1/4 inches of the rudder, directly under the bracket part attached to the boat, only cut the rudder, so when rudder is raised there is no material of the rudder there to hit. You can measure your bracket Mine is about 2 1/4 inches tall roughly. So remove 2 1/4 inches of rudder under that bracket and make it 5 inches long horizontally. . Make the gap horizontally 5 inches long. So the entire notch is under the bottom piece of the middle hinge set(pair). So that when the rudder is raised 2 1/4 inches, there is no material there on the rudder. And it doesnt contact that bottom hinge when raised. Raise the rudder straight up with it pointed amidships, or straight ahead, because there is no room at the top of the rudder to raise it turned. With the rudder raised, I used a 2x4 and 2 lb hammer and tapped loose, tapping on the back of the hinge that was attached to the boat in the direction that it pushes it toward the rudder into the notch. I could not rotate the rudder 90 or 45 degrees and raise it without hitting the boat. So I raised it straight up. Its about 2 or 2 1/4 inches and the pins will be free. Tap out and then pull out the hinge into the 5 inch long notch, yes the brackets on the hinge are 6 1/4 inches long but the bracket is kinda V shaped. The last two inches you can curve the bracket out due to the width of the bracket at the back. So the notch is rectangular, 2 1/4 inches tall and 5 inches long. Now if I could just get the rudder packing nut loose.

[toerail]

As a note the material next to the pin horizontally did not need to be removed, it was already that way.

[toerail]

Taking the bottom grudgeon off the boat, tap downwards on the upper edge once or twice and move to the other side and do same. Rotating back and forth from one side of the boat to the other it will slowly come off, unless your dealing with 5200. Oh and I had to cut 1 1/2 inches off the top of the rudder post because it would hit the bottom of the cockpit, still left me about 3 1/2 inches above the quadrant which the post is squared at the top.