Removing a saildrive

Do I need to cut the cockpit floor to remove a saildrive? Lester H. (#010, Insouciance)

a. I removed my saildrive two times by pulling it backwards, by hand, from behind the engine. It is awkward but doable. The unit weighs only 60 pounds. It is a two man job; one inside the boat to pull and one outside to push and helping to angle the drive so it passes thru the hole in the bottom of the boat. I do not understand why you want to cut out the floor in the cockpit. Good luck, Valois Nadeau (#096, Giva).

b. In 2004, while in Australia, I replaced the original 35hp Volvo engine and 110S saildrive for a 50hp and 120S saildrive from the companionway. The engine was a tight fit but the saildrive was easy and carried inside by hand. I see no need to cut the cockpit floor. Good luck, Michel Z, “ex” Corbin owner (#108, Neige d’Ete).

c. Sorry for your troubles. Try not to get into it if you can help it. I have no photos or drawings. #186, Visitant had 3 removable panels. 2 large ones (full width of cockpit floor, from companionway to pedestal) and 1 small aft of the pedestal. The base floor openings of the cockpit floor were molded with a ” turned up & raised ” 1″ lip (similar to the forward deck lockers) with the covers overlapping. This gave water a way to drain into the channels without overflowing and without the need for excessive gasketing. These hatches had 8 x 1/4 – 20 round head (carriage) bolts with rubber washers and through bolted to below. Sorry Lester, of all the photos that I have, I never took any of the cockpit floor ……….. Regards, Frank Bryant (#186, Visitant).

d. I have a centre-cockpit that has a swing up floor section. There is a water drain lip in the floor around it. John Gleadle (#181, Spinnaker).

e. Our Corbin CC came with a large opening hatch on a recessed cockpit floor to act as a gutter system for the cockpit drains. This looks like it was moulded in the construction of the cockpit frame when the boat was built at Corbin ( I have no drawing or plans). I will be going to the boat next week and can send you some pics. Not sure how you would do a solid floor but I would suggest you re-enforce the opening and cutout of the cockpit floor and get a good gasket to seal the opening from green water. Will the saildrive not come out through the companion way door? Regards, Paul W. (#190, RKalliste’).

f. There should be some stainless steel sheet metal screws holding the removable cockpit floor panel in place. These are accessed from underneath. Once the screws are removed, just pry up on the panel. I found some bedding compound in between the two floor panels when I removed the upper panel. The lower floor is a molded flat surface inboard from the cockpit drain channels. Lay out the opening cut-out lines at least 2″ inboard of the inside edge of the drain channels. You will need this flat area to mount the upper floor panel seals. At the corners, mark the centers for a 3″ hole saw to give you a nice 1-1/2″ corner radius. You do not want square corners here in order to eliminate any stress concentration. Drill out the four corners with the 3″ hole saw, then cut away the floor with a sabre saw, or sawall. Make sure you have help, the panel is very heavy and must be well supported as you complete the final cut. It is cored with the mahogany plywood. The upper panel was cored with end grain balsa. I elected not to hinge my panel as it could only open towards the companionway due to the taper of the cockpit (newer deck design). 4 cams hold it in place against the hollow Buna D seals installed inboard of the drain channels. Very dry, no leaks. I’ll be working on my boat today and will take some pictures to send to you this evening. Best Regards, Jeff Shutic (#145, Luff Shack)

g. I have a saildrive on Bodacious. I had the gearbox replaced a few years ago. The saildrive is attached to the gear box right behind the engine. There is no cockpit floorboard; the saildrive was removed via the companionway after removing 4 or 5 bolts. Regards, Murray F. (#102, Bodacious).

h. My 1982 aft cockpit model (built after Marius’ fire) has a partially removable sole, about 3 ft. fore/aft, bolted in which would expose the engine space. All the best, Bill Ullmann (#136, Saguaro).

i. We have a hatch in the cockpit floor that hinges up in order to access the engine room. I want to warn you that the hatch might impact the structural soundness of the cockpit floor. We felt it necessary to reinforce the floor under the steering pedestal. (We won’t be going to the boat for another month so I can’t send you pictures right now.) Just something to keep in mind. Nancy L. (#187, Toboggan).

Category: ENGINE and SHAFT and PROPELLOR