Every now and then a sailboats prop shaft needs replacing. It can be caused by corrosion, bending or wear at the stuffing box or cutlass bearing surfaces.


On many boats removal of the cutlass bearing can help avoid dropping the rudder. On this boat, an Ericson 34, the shaft just barely slid by the rudder with the cutlass bearing removed. This saved hours of labor time in not having to drop the rudder. To remove the cutlass bearing I used a Strut-Pro tool.


Before the nitpickers come out in full force the word "Cutless®" is a trademarked brand name of Duramax Marine. I therefore use the alternative accepted generic spelling of "cutlass" so as not to infringe on a trademarked "brand name".


From the Duramax Marine web site: "Cutless® is a registered trademark of Duramax Marine® LLC."