packing extraction

jamesbuehner · Post by **jamesbuehner** » May 13th, '11, 20:36

A recent thread describing the madness of getting at the stuffing box of a CD 26 introduced the term packing extraction, which I have found impossibly difficult, well actually impossible to accomplish on my CD 36 Perkins 408. I have the corkscrew gizmo- two sizes from West Marine - which are too big. So I tried to fiddle with a large paper clip. I have given up believing that I am missing something. Can anyone shed light here? Jimmy Oh, and BTW, what size flax. It's a one inch shaft.

sgbernd · Post by **sgbernd** » May 13th, '11, 23:04

Last time I used one of those stainless steel probes shaped into a hooks. I found them at a gun show for about $5 for 3. Get the heavy strong ones because the thin ones will just bend then break. One year I bought a dozen sturdy fish hooks and grasped them firmly with the needle nose and hooked the packing. They worked ok for the first two layers but the last layer is hard to hook due to the geometry of the fishhook, and if you try to reshape them, they break.

Use the probe to find the joint where the two ends of the packing meet and pry out enough of the packing to get your needle nose pliers to hold. Gently pull out the packing. If the packing doesn't want to come out, move the bronze cap back and forth on the shaft while pulling with the needle nose to encourage it. Bring an extra probe or two as they can break or bend.

When all is done, celebrate with your favourite adult beverage. You earned it. And if access on your CD-36 is anything as bad as the CD-28, make an appointment with your chiropractor.

moctrams · Post by **moctrams** » May 14th, '11, 03:21

Do what we do at Flag Harbor. We take a long drywall screw and screw it into the flax and simply "pull out the old flax material". Simple and "cheap".

rollo_cd26 · Post by **rollo_cd26** » May 17th, '11, 11:48

The 1 inch prop shaft uses 1/4 inch packing (per the Cape Dory Owners manual), but you had better measure the shaft with dial calipher first and learn how to cut it diagonally.

I have the CD26D referred to earlier. I accessed the stuffing box last weekend (awful position) and found the packing nut to be very loose. When backed off I have about 1/2 inch opening to work through to unpack and repack the nut. I was thinking of pulling the prop shaft back to make a little room and maybe take the nut off. I removed the two set screws on the collar the shaft mounts to the transmission and tried to nudge it back with a few light blows of a rubber mallet to the prop collar. Nothing extreme or persistent. No progress there. So I am resigned to work in the most difficult conditions. I called my dental hygienist and she has some dental picks for me to try. I am also going to fashion a tool out of a bird spike from a old windex. The fish hooks sound like a good idea. I have decided to use 1/4 inch Graphtex Ultra packing. I never want to do this again.

I have practiced yoga for the last year and it came in very handy last weekend. So did a few hard drinks after the exploration I did.

Ray Garcia · Post by **Ray Garcia** » May 17th, '11, 12:20

Be careful with the dental tools. They are hardened stainless, the ends are brittle. If you snag one on a thread or lip of the stuffing box and pull hard, it will fracture. Don't ask me how I know that.

I wound up making one out of some wire I had aboard. The long screw method sounds pretty good.

rollo_cd26 · Post by **rollo_cd26** » May 17th, '11, 12:43

How much room do you have to work with on the CD27 when the packing nut is backed off the threads? It can't be much more than on the CD26D. The dry wall screw sounds great to me, but I do not have a straight shot into the packing due to the 1/2 inch or so opening left after backing the nut off.

The dental tools do sound a little dangerous to me too, and I am worried about the threads on the bronze packing nut getting galled.

How do you ge the propeller shaft loose and pulled back?

Ray Garcia · Post by **Ray Garcia** » May 17th, '11, 15:37

How much room on my 27? Not enough either! You could remove the coupling from the shaft and slide the packing nut off. I came close to considering this, but rationalized with myself that this 20 minute job is going to turn into a two hour job. Honestly it is a struggle to get the old packing out. Especially if it is well compacted in there. Persistence pays off for this task. Try getting yourself a variety of tools, some may work better than others, it is all in the angle of the tool you are using.

If you go the coupler method it helps to have the rudder hard over so you can slide the shaft and prop backwards once you remove the coupling. Do a search on "coupling removal" on this board. There are some very good posts on how to remove it. As long as the coupling is not too rusted on the shaft.

rollo_cd26 · Post by **rollo_cd26** » May 18th, '11, 10:14

Based upon the combined intelligence and experience provided in this thread and the "stuffing box" thread, I see no reason to attempt pulling the prop shaft to get at the packing. My experience so far is that, in this location on this part, a 2 hour job becomes a 2 day or longer job, and rapidly mushrooms past the available resources, tools. patience, money, and alcohol. There is high potential for unrecoverable damage to the boat and my self esteem here. I am resolved that prayer and invocations to various deities will help me accept the penance I am about to receive below the battery locker. I am also going to set up something to relieve my frustration - some smashable inanimate and expendable object. I will post the results next week.

rollo_cd26 · Post by **rollo_cd26** » May 22nd, '11, 19:45

Packing extracted and replaced! What an awful job. The place is just like someone wrote, a little piece of hell in a boat. When fully backed off, my stuffing box had a 1/4 inch opening between the end of the threads and the packing nut to work with. I pulled out three rows of old 1/4" original flax (1988 CD26D) through that 1/4" opening. After much disbelief, I made a radical decision to cut about 1/4" off the hose end the stuffing box sits on and slide the coupling back. It worked, and the picture here shows the space I had to work in, I used a modified technique of that shown on the Compass Marine web site. Total time was about 8 hours. I used Western Pacific GTU. I have some real battle scars to prove the difficulty of this job. The most important tools were a set of dental tools and a few straighten fish hooks, and several more things I made. I also used some PVC shims to "pack" the GTU into place. If you have a CD26 or CD27 and need to know more I have pictures I will send.

Paul D. · Post by **Paul D.** » May 22nd, '11, 20:28

Good work! I must say the first time I did my 33 it took a long time. I was younger then and did not need the beverage or chiropractor. Nowadays, since I do it every two seasons, it is easier. I too use the drywall screw method and needle nose pliers. This seems to work best but it is never particularly easy. But when I am down there I take some Sailkote, a strong light and check the steering gear, the engine exhaust. the tranny, vent ducting, everything. It is a good job to do.

I gather everything I need ahead of time and place it on the battery shelf so I can get it. Also, I almost had the locker cover close on me which would have created a very funny interpretive dance to get out over the engine into the cabin. I suggest making it fast to the lifelines if alone!

All the best,

The Cape Dory Board

packing extraction

packing extraction

Try a pick or fish hooks

drywall screw

Packing stuffed in box.