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Stern tube and prop shaft needs replacing after 2 years??


Tuttifruity

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21 hours ago, Tuttifruity said:

Sorry for late reply, I’ve been away. I put the antifreeze in separately, should I have mixed it with water first? I looked at the invoice again and they have done other things, I didn’t know the pipes had no support brackets as I didn’t know they needed any ?. The pipe to the expansion tank looked ok to me but I’m a relatively new to understanding boats. One thing I didn’t mention was when we were driving past Tully’s boatyard in Rotherham, all the nuts fell off the stuff box. Fortunately Tully’s had a slip way and I managed to reverse the back end onto it so we didn’t sink, and the Canal and River rescue bloke put it back together. From there we managed to get back to our mooring. The other thing is the boatyard put in lots of water but no antifreeze so I’m going to have to drain the damn thing again to get some in! ☹️

0BB7BC60-D925-4A91-8F7F-DEB1880E248D.jpeg


So £640 + VAT for labour, which I make £768 inclusive.

I'm not sure what hourly VAT inclusive rates are being charged by a typical yard, but at (say) £50 per hour, that is till over 15 hours work being charged.  Even at a swingeing £70 per hour it would still be about 11 hours.

This seems a staggering charge for the work listed, unless there was far more to it than how they have itemised it.

How much time do you reckon they actually spent working on it?

Edited by alan_fincher
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Hmmm. That's a lot innit. Valve clearances? why? Apart from the fabricate and weld pipe brackets the rest is simple stuff. I'm not belittling anyone's lack of DIY skills ( I was stumped recently by a fuel problem) but it is really important to know your boat. The very fact that RCR exists at all shows how little people know about their boats. Start by oil and fuel filters and basic stuff, understand the things that go into drive train and alignment issues and you will soon start to save money, Keep it simple, you really do not need loads of electronic gubbins on a canal boat. Talk to other boaters (especially the hairy and dirty ones, they are poor so fix stuff themselves) and don't be afraid to get the spanners out (but don't strip the injection pump down!)

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When the boat overheated, there were a lot of blue fumes in the engine bay so the chap checked the valve clearances as the engine does clatter, but he said he couldn’t adjust them anymore, the engine is very worn. He tied the boat up and had it running in gear for a while to test if the water went down again, maybe he stood there for 5 hours? ? the yard charges £40 an hour, and with us leaving the boat with them for a week, im not sure how long he spent on it, but it does seem excessive, 19 hours.

i went on a RCR course last year and learnt the basics, I’ve changed the oil, fuel and air filters, and know how to change the belts, but yes I definitely need to learn more. ?

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6 minutes ago, Tuttifruity said:

When the boat overheated, there were a lot of blue fumes in the engine bay so the chap checked the valve clearances as the engine does clatter, but he said he couldn’t adjust them anymore, the engine is very worn. He tied the boat up and had it running in gear for a while to test if the water went down again, maybe he stood there for 5 hours? ? the yard charges £40 an hour, and with us leaving the boat with them for a week, im not sure how long he spent on it, but it does seem excessive, 19 hours.

i went on a RCR course last year and learnt the basics, I’ve changed the oil, fuel and air filters, and know how to change the belts, but yes I definitely need to learn more. ?

Where are you? I am at Rotherham so can maybe help you 

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That’s really kind of you, we’re in Victoria Quays, and we’re going to the boat tomorrow for the weekend. Someone was parked up in our mooring last time we were there, so we’re hoping to move it back. Hopefully nothing will drop off or the water won’t stop coming in when I turn the engine on!

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13 minutes ago, Tuttifruity said:

That’s really kind of you, we’re in Victoria Quays, and we’re going to the boat tomorrow for the weekend. Someone was parked up in our mooring last time we were there, so we’re hoping to move it back. Hopefully nothing will drop off or the water won’t stop coming in when I turn the engine on!

What time as I am going to Chesterfield in the afternoon so can call in on the way?

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Great! We’ll get to the boat about 3pm, and we’re moored just outside the swing bridge. We haven’t painted the name on yet, but it’s a dark blue boat with an orange life buoy on the front, and I’m Chris. Look forward to seeing you Pete

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  • 2 weeks later...

At last got some photos and thanks to Peter for coming down to see the boat, and he agrees I’ve been ripped off. I’ve included one photo of the stern gland, and I got a tight hold of the propeller through the weed hatch and it was rock solid, no play whatsoever. There’s also a photo of the fabricated support brackets that the Boatyard did.

7B5AA6C6-CEA9-4542-8A34-27324DB73BE2.jpeg

039B3E9C-0FD0-47E2-B6FC-292C77A024E7.jpeg

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On 08/08/2019 at 14:32, Tony Brooks said:

 

It does make RCR membership look like a good idea because at least they have a reputation to care for and are likely to take steps against a contractor who appears to be indulging in what it looks like went on here.

 

On 14/08/2019 at 22:36, Tuttifruity said:

Unfortunately, he was the engineer who the River and Canal Rescue sent :( 

 

Hmm. 

 

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On ‎14‎/‎08‎/‎2019 at 11:21, Tuttifruity said:

Sorry for late reply, I’ve been away. I put the antifreeze in separately, should I have mixed it with water first? I looked at the invoice again and they have done other things, I didn’t know the pipes had no support brackets as I didn’t know they needed any ?. The pipe to the expansion tank looked ok to me but I’m a relatively new to understanding boats. One thing I didn’t mention was when we were driving past Tully’s boatyard in Rotherham, all the nuts fell off the stuff box. Fortunately Tully’s had a slip way and I managed to reverse the back end onto it so we didn’t sink, and the Canal and River rescue bloke put it back together. From there we managed to get back to our mooring. The other thing is the boatyard put in lots of water but no antifreeze so I’m going to have to drain the damn thing again to get some in! ☹️

0BB7BC60-D925-4A91-8F7F-DEB1880E248D.jpeg

what a con just wow

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1 hour ago, cuthound said:

 

Makes you wonder If he got the decimal point in the wrong place.

 

How can that work take nearly 13 hours at say £50 per hour?

The problem is that the stern gland then fell to pieces and the boat was taking on water, luckily they managed to reverse it into Tullys slipway in Rotherham to stop the stern going under! So not only was the job a rip off it was also sub standard

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14 minutes ago, peterboat said:

The problem is that the stern gland then fell to pieces and the boat was taking on water, luckily they managed to reverse it into Tullys slipway in Rotherham to stop the stern going under! So not only was the job a rip off it was also sub standard

 

I hope the OP claims for the docking and repairs, in the small claims court if necessary.

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