I am looking for advice on shaft log/bearings/seals. I am an amateur, an old man trying to learn something new.
I am building a boat inspired by Rob White's Rescue Minor. It is not as wide; the box keel is more like a rowing scull. A sliding seat rolls on tracks inside the box keel. It is intended to be a big rowboat with an auxillary inboard motor.
I am designing it as I go along. I understand that this is not the way experienced people build boats but I enjoy it.
The form is built, stem and box keel are together; now I have to figure out how to put a sternpost in the box keel that will marry the framing for the tunnel-stern to the box keel.
The horizontal propeller shaft will pass through this sternpost. I need to design the piece around the log, bearings, seals, etc. and I don't know how to specify these parts.
Robb White said it was the easiest shaft log to install and he referred to the cutless bearing.
I am designing around the BetaMarine 13.5 HP diesel.
Here are my questions for anyone with the inclination to point me in the right direction.
1) It is my understanding that a cutless bearing is water-lubricated. Will such a bearing serve well if it is mounted at the waterline?
2) Does it need to be open to the sea at both ends?
3) The cutless bearing in my old Correct Craft ski boat was mounted in a strut. Is there some standard bronze hardware that would be mounted inside the shaft log to be drilled through the sternpost, bolted from the outside that would carry a cutless bearing?
4) Following what I could glean from Robb White, the propeller shaft is to be horizontally mounted in inboard pillar blocks with the forward end of the shaft in a thrust bearing. A sheave would be mounted on the shaft between the pillar blocks to be turned by a belt from a motor mounted above. Does it need another bearing outboard of the shaft seal? The same question another way -- how much unsupported 1" shaft between the bearing and a 12" propeller is practical?
5) I would like to avoid the drip of a packing gland. Is this an application where a dripless shaft seal would work?
6) Are oil-bath shaft bearings worth considering.
7) I spent all day Googling and felt more ignorant the more I saw. Is there a favored vendor with a patient staff that would help an old man buy the right stuff?
