[Public-List] Removal of Alberg Rudder

[crufone at comcast.net]

Mick, 

The slotted heads are heads of machine screws which Rachel refers to as "fingers".  These machine screws attach the upper rudder stock to the blade. They are centered in the blade port to starboard and continue aft to the channel molded into the blade on the port side of the blade.  In this channel is where the nuts to the machine screws are located.  You could remove the upper stock from the blade by center punching the slotted heads and drilling them off.  I believe the machine screws are either 1/4" or not more than 5/16" in diameter. Begin by drilling a 1/4" hole in the direct center of the machine screw head, perhaps 3/8" deep. This should be deep enough to be below the head height. After all 5 screws are drilled use a 1/4" drift or pin punch to tap each of the machine screw shanks still in the upper stock to break off the drilled out head. Tap with a hammer a little at a time on each screw. Eventually the head will sever from the shank because it has been weakened from the drilling. Slowly the blade will back away from the stock and then eventually separate. The real issue will then be to excavate the remainder of the machine screws from the blade so that you can replace them. 



Before doing that I would attempt to get the rudder blade back up into its original location to be certain that you have not left the key in place for the tiller fitting. As Stephen mentioned if the key was left in place it may jam in the rudder tube and not allow the upper stock to slide down thru the tube. When the rudder is back in it's original location, use a thin wire inserted thru the tube next to the stock up thru the entire tube.  Have someone in the cockpit and someone below work the wire up and down while under tension to dislodge any debris which might be in the tube. Use a water hose to spray down the tube from above to wash away any debris, corrosion, barnicles, sludge, etc. Not so much fun for the guy down below!!  When you can work the wire all the way around the stock inside the tube, you should then have enough clearance to slide the stock down out of the tube. 



My understanding is that the rudder stock is the same diameter for it's entire length. Some of the original rudder post tiller fittings were fastened with a grub screw which secured into a hole in the rudder post. Later and replacement fittings sometimes used a keyway fastening system. I suspect that your original fitting failed and the replacement one utilized a keyway system so a keyway was cut into the post to secure the replacement fitting using a key and then perhaps a pinch bolt as well. 

Michael #133 
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Michael Taylor" < m_tayau at yahoo.com.au > 
To: public-list at lists.alberg30.org 
Sent: Friday, December 4, 2009 3:12:33 PM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern 
Subject: [Public-List] More on Rudder Removal Problems 

Having looked again at the rudder and on the archive, it seems I have the variation described by Michael (Grosh).  There are two sections to the rudder post that appear contiguous.  The upper post has 5 slot heads that hold the upper rudder section to the post.  I am wondering what these slot heads are screwed into and how long are the threads?  The upper rudder post is  1 1/4 inches whilst the lower seems to be 1 inch.  I was unable to find the tiller head fitting to measure and now I can't see the top of the rudder post but I think the top of the rudder post is only 1 inch so at some point the post has been turned down.  I am wondering whether the extra 1/4 inch diameter of the rudder post is a reason for the difficulty in removing it.  I don't recall reading anywhere in the archive of a rudder post at 1 1/4 inches (in pre- stuffing box configuration). 


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