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Fuzz wrote: ↑Sun Aug 09, 2020 2:33 pm The vibration could be normal for your engine. Lots of small engines do that until they are up to speed.
My buddy can find no evidence that the cutlass has ever been changed in his forty year old boat. Yours could be the same. The good news if you do need to change it out you will likely not own it long enough to need to do it again.
When you put a new shaft zinc on it make sure it is a two part one that can be changed out easily.

Appreciate the input Fuzz, that's reassuring.

I'll have my marina guy give his opinion on the cutlass once it's on the hard and he can shake it. He maintains a number of similar boats at the marina and doesnt recommend work if its not needed.

Occurs to me that I can probably just add a 2 piece anode if/when its needed and either leave the existing or just cut it off. The one-piece on there looks perfect right now.

Finally got a chance to see this thing without being underwater. Definitely not a zinc. There is no zinc, should not be an issue in freshwater on a mooring.

My marina guy is guessing it's a line cutter that has lost its blade. I think it's just a drag reducer and is supposed to go just ahead of the strut.

Shaft movement not warranting a cutlass replacement, apparently, so I'm not gonna worry about it. Weather was too crappy to put my mooring ball on so splash postponed till next saturday.

Here's the whole sh'bang:

I am with you, that is to reduce drag. Someone was trying to get the boat to go as fast as possible. If it were a line cutter it would not work there, too far from the prop. Is there screw holes on the back of it to bolt something to it?
Be very happy you do not need to change the cuttless. It would not be too bad with your set up but still a pain. I am in the middle of helping my buddy change his. It is a real pain in the butt To get the shaft out we had to pull the engine. And from all I have seen blow boat builders give no thought to needing to work on the engine

Fuzz wrote: ↑Sun May 30, 2021 1:55 pm from all I have seen blow boat builders give no thought to needing to work on the engine

sure they do. You lower the sail and sew on a patch.

Fuzz wrote: ↑Sun May 30, 2021 1:55 pm I am with you, that is to reduce drag. Someone was trying to get the boat to go as fast as possible. If it were a line cutter it would not work there, too far from the prop. Is there screw holes on the back of it to bolt something to it?
Be very happy you do not need to change the cuttless. It would not be too bad with your set up but still a pain. I am in the middle of helping my buddy change his. It is a real pain in the butt To get the shaft out we had to pull the engine. And from all I have seen blow boat builders give no thought to needing to work on the engine

I dont think there are any screwholes, the line cutter theory didnt hold water with me either. As I said, the previous owner was really competitive so no doubt he could have added it to reduce drag.

I pulled the shaft on my 68 century once and it was hellish. Seemed like hours with a slide hammer screwed on the shaft to get it to budge out of the mating plate, whatever that's called. On the sailboat, access to the shaft is excellent if you happen to be sub 3' tall, otherwise it takes a contortionist, which I am not. Luckily this boat gets pretty light use, the engine may get 10-20 hours in a season, so the maintenance is pretty reasonable. All told, this boat probably costs me <$2000/season for storage, mooring, maintenance, it's pretty amazing.

Jaysen wrote: ↑Sun May 30, 2021 5:31 pm

Fuzz wrote: ↑Sun May 30, 2021 1:55 pm from all I have seen blow boat builders give no thought to needing to work on the engine

sure they do. You lower the sail and sew on a patch.

YES! I have a speedy stitcher that works great for a quick patch. My furled genny is pretty old and tired but it keeps working, keeps pulling so not gonna replace it yet!

VT_Jeff that is a shaft smoother or better called an rpm equalizer. Since you have a folding prop it helps maintain an equal rpm on the shaft. Have not seen one in a long time. But my father in law's boat had one up on Lake Erie. At least that is what I recall it being, I may be wrong.

Tom

TomW1 wrote: ↑Sat Jun 05, 2021 12:14 am VT_Jeff that is a shaft smoother or better called an rpm equalizer. Since you have a folding prop it helps maintain an equal rpm on the shaft. Have not seen one in a long time. But my father in law's boat had one up on Lake Erie. At least that is what I recall it being, I may be wrong.

Tom

Interesting theory, Tom. It would not appear to have enough mass to do much in that regard but maybe it doesn't need much, I'll do some research.

Tom is correct but I called that a shaft balancer.