Lucky old me?

[pig]

Chuntering along the Coventry Canal today between Atherstone and Nuneaton, a sudden tonktonktonk noise followed by a big clunk, and the rudder felt very strange. Having had the rudder come out of its bottom bearing before, after a little tiff with a lock cill, I knew what had happened.

I managed to pull the rudder up and after a few goes, reseated the rudder into the bottom cup on the skeg.

So......

 

Am I very lucky to get the rudder reseated?

 

And

 

Is there something wrong that allows the rudder to move up and out of the skeg cup?

[magnetman]

That seems odd pig.

 

I wonder if the bottom bearing/cup on the skeg is damaged?

 

Other than cilling or obvious grounding I suppose a piece of wood or other object could in theory get in the prop and lever the rudder off but it does seem a bit improbable.

[churchward]

That seems odd pig.

 

I wonder if the bottom bearing/cup on the skeg is damaged?

 

Other than cilling or obvious grounding I suppose a piece of wood or other object could in theory get in the prop and lever the rudder off but it does seem a bit improbable.

The odds indeed are probably low but not impossible. Once when coming up the Buckby flight on the GU with another boat they were ahead of us going towards the top lock there was a loud noise and their boat steered left hard. The rudder had been hit with what looked like a fence post or similar and knocked it out of the socket and jamming it sideways.

Edited August 20, 2014 by churchward

[magnetman]

That's when you are glad not to have a stern deck stool

[Martin Megson]

As you mention the tonktonk noise before it popped out it's possible something solid caught in the prop which could have been forced against the skeg or rudder and dislodged it.

[dave moore]

Re - hanging the rudder, in my experience, is one of those jobs that goes easily, as was your experience, or can be an absolute swine. I've had several occasions with my back under the tiller, lifting the whole assembly, while trying to drop the bloody thing back in to the cup.

It may have come out because you rode over an obstruction, something trapped by the blades....who knows? There's nothing wrong, most rudder systems are designed and work this way.

 

Cheers

 

Dave

[Tuscan]

It's happened to me twice , the first time took about 5 mins to reseat, the second took two if us nearly an hour.

[RLWP]

There's nothing wrong, most rudder systems are designed and work this way.

 

Cheers

 

Dave

 

Although the ones with a square casting holding a bearing, bolted down to the deck can cause a different problem. If you cill the rudder, it pushes the rudder shaft upwards, cracking the casting in half and popping the bearing out on top. The housing stays put, held down by the bolts with the bearing now on top and the shaft hanging out of the cup. As the bearing is spherical you cannot pop the bearing back into the broken casting and have to unbolt the broken halves from the deck to get the shaft back in the cup

 

Richard

[magnetman]

I was assuming the op's boat had a sleeve rather than a fixed ball bearing. All older boats were designed with a sleeve do the rudder could be lifted out wuite easily but mosy modern boats now have bolted down ball bearings. If the op has a bolted down ball bearing I would have thought his previous cillling would have been very loud, if the bearing casting broke. Also rather obvious visually.

Spelling is getting terrible I am trying to write too quickly on a phone

[pig]

Thanks for the replies. My rudder bottom bearing is a plain sleeve/cup type. In fact it's worn and causes a rattle at some (low) engine revs. It certainly felt like some big branch first hit the prop, then went on to knock the rudder out of its cup.

Good to know this can happen, and doesn't indicate some problem, and double good to be so jammy as to get it back in again!

[churchward]

That's when you are glad not to have a stern deck stool

too right! the lady steering was luckily ahead of the tiller other wise she would almost certainly have been thrown into the canal when the rudder was forced violently over. It has made me think twice before standing anywhere other than ahead of the tiller when under way.