Archive | Steering Systems

Bringing New Life Back to an Older 112’ Westport Yacht

We are seeing a growing number of new owners of older 112’ Westports. This “Made in America” production boat has a lot to offer but many of these vessels are purchased without a solid maintenance history. Nevertheless, their new owners/Captains still want to bring them back to life.  In order to do that, sometimes a total refit of the vessel is required.

One of these new owner refits spent a few months at LMC getting a full paint job, mechanical upgrades, interior work and hydraulic systems overhaul and refurbishing. Our capable team of hydraulic technicians was tapped to handle all the hydraulic projects.

Starting with the Naiad stabilizer system, we did a full rebuild including removing the shafts and bearings.  The entire stabilizer actuator system was also rebuilt back to new.  The stabilizer shaft had some corrosion in the lip seal area from sitting too long in salt water so our on-site machine shop, Straight Line Marine, performed a cladding repair.

We then moved on to work on the entire hydraulic central system where we performed a full hydraulic fluid flush, cleaned and pressure tested the heat exchangers and changed all the filters.

In the engine room, we found that we needed to change a large number of the hydraulic hoses.  Hydraulic hoses have a 10-year life and can cause huge problems when they fail on the high-pressure side so it is very important to inspect and replace them during routine service.

We also did a little work on the bow thruster, installing new seals in the lower leg, adding fresh gear oil and testing the hydraulic motor.

Stainless steel ring on main gear

Our team did a full rebuild on the single Maxwell 4500 windlass on the bow, down to the gear box including installing new seals and bearings.  As part of the rebuild, Straight Line Marine also fabricated new stainless steel rings for the main gears to help prevent future gear oil leaks around the lip seals. We also replaced the small Maxwell 2500 capstans in the stern with new electric units due to the cost of installing new versus re-building these smaller units.

We found the steering system to be in good shape.  There were no leaks on the cylinders so these were left alone.  We did, however, replaced a few hoses and upgraded some of the ball valves to stainless steel to help prevent future corrosion.  Finally, we changed the fluid and filters.

This was a big job from start to finish but our talented hydraulic technicians, supported by our in-house machine shop, were more than capable of tackling every hydraulic system from bow to stern and everything in between.

Need Running Gear and Hydraulic Work Done on your Yacht – Work with Us

A 106’ Westport yacht was recently hauled at Lauderdale Marine Center for a variety routine maintenance projects including shaft work, bearing replacements and an overhaul on several hydraulic systems. To streamline the process and help the captain and crew better manage the project, they contracted with both High Seas Yacht Service for the running gear portion and High Seas Hydraulics to handle the hydraulics work.

Our running gear mechanics inspected the shafts to ensure they were straight and aligned and replaced the bearings and seals. Normal wear and tear associated with running the vessel and prolonged exposure to salt water makes this task a necessary evil for properly maintaining the boat. As seen in the adjacent photo, there was a visible gap where the cutlass bearing adjoined to the shaft.

We were also commissioned to replace the seals on the lower stabilizer fins. ABT Trac, one of the more popular brands, recommends changing the lower stabilizer fin seals every couple of years but at least every six years depending on use. The components on the stabilizer are constantly working except is absolute calm seas, so the wear and tear can be considerable. After dropping the fins, we proceeded to change out the old lower stabilizer fin seals with new ones, check the hoses and cylinders, then reassembling the units.

In addition to the routine maintenance on the stabilizer systems, we flushed the entire hydraulic system using the simple drain, filter, fill approach commonly referred to in our shop as a DFF. This type of flush is more of an “oil change” and is part of routine maintenance. It is not appropriate where a more serious condition such as water, metal particles or other contaminants are found in the oil. The process calls for draining the hydraulic tank, changing out the filters and refilling the tank with hydraulic fluid.

To round out the work on this Westport, we did an overhaul on the bow thruster, single Maxwell windlass, the boat’s heat exchangers and the hydraulic steering system which was slow to respond.

From running gear to hydraulics, our teams at High Seas Yacht Service and High Seas Hydraulics, make easy work of maintaining the systems that make your vessel safe and operating smoothly.

Refurbishing a Hydraulic Steering System on a 135 foot Broward Yacht

 

As part of the refit of the 135 foot Broward, the new owner wanted a complete overhaul done on the hydraulic steering system. We started by removing the steering cylinders for tear down and reseal before sending them out to be painted.

We next disassembled and removed the hydraulic power unit (HPU). The HPU consists mainly of a pair of motors, a reservoir tank and a hydraulic pump. These units can generate a tremendous amount of power to drive most any kind of hydraulic ram. Hydraulic Power Units are based on Pascal’s law of physics, drawing their power from ratios of area and pressure. In this case, the HPU takes the commands from the helm to push the hydraulic rods in the right direction to steer the yacht. A failure of the hydraulic steering system at sea or just about anywhere could prove to be catastrophic.

Once the unit was out of the boat, we cleaned the tank, check the values, sent the electronic motors out for testing and tested all of the pumps to ensure they were in good working order. We also made all new hoses for the unit in our hydraulics shop.

Once all parts were examined for quality control purposes, we reassemble the HPU and installed it back in the boat. A completely refurbished hydraulic steering system to like-new specifications will help to provide peace of mind that this yacht and her crew can safely navigate through any waters.

 

 

 

 

Whether you need hydraulic repairs, running gear work or shafts straightened – High Seas Family of Companies is here to serve

It’s not unusual for mega yachts to haul out at Lauderdale Marine Center requiring extensive work on multiple parts of the boat. That was the case for a 135 foot Broward yacht when she came into the yard. The Captain of the yacht approached High Seas with a laundry list of requirements that included hydraulics and running gear jobs. High Seas is unique in the sense that we have the expertise to work on both areas, providing a central point of contact that can help to design the most efficient work flow through coordinated schedules.

For this yacht, we were hired to:

  • Perform a full NAIAD 505 service with shafts out and new bearings
  • Do a full rebuild on the Hydraulic Steering System including removing the HPU and replacing hoses
  • Reinstall PTOs on new generators with new hoses
  • Refurbish the steering cylinders
  • Remove rudders for a bearing inspection and repack stuffing boxes
  • Remove shafts for new bearings, packing and alignment
  • Complete removal and rebuild of Maxwell 11000 windlasses

In coming posts, we will walk through the steps we took to make this yacht ship shape again.

Don’t Overlook your Hydraulic Steering System – Routine Maintenance is Imperative even if there is no sign of problems

We were recently contracted to perform routine maintenance or general service on the hydraulic steering system on a 121 foot Heesen yacht. It is recommended that this type of service be performed every 5 to 7 years to ensure the yacht continues to run at peak performance. A steering failure can be extremely inconvenient.

Hydraulic steering system tank

Hydraulic steering system tank

As part of the process, we drained and flushed the hydraulic tanks containing the steering fluid, removed and rebuilt the steering cylinders and replaced the old hoses with newly fabricated ones that were made on site in our shop.

Part of the general refit on this yacht included installing new hard hydraulic lines. To ensure that the lines were clean prior to filling the tanks with fresh hydraulic steering fluid, air is blown through the lines starting at the tank and ending where the hoses meet the cylinders.flushing the hydraulic lines v2

While the yacht was in for service, it also required work on the rudder system and for that we turned to our sister company High Seas Yacht Service. The technicians at Yacht Service removed the rudders and replaced the bearings and seals before re-installing the units.

Having a Hydraulic shop and experts in running gear under one roof, can often time save the owners, captains or engineers’ time and money.

Muir Windlass – repairing the Wildcat – Gypsy – Chainwheel

Repairing the Muir Wildcat Gypsy Chainwheel

Removing the galled Muir gypsy

Another good customer with an 87′ Oceanfast had a unique problem with his Muir anchor windlass. Many years ago there was a mismatch between the metric sized chain and the imperial sized gypsy chainwheel (also known as a Wildcat in North America).   The solution at the time, due to time constraints, was replacing the gypsy with an after-market gypsy (not Muir) that fit the existing chain. Unfortunately, the stainless steel gypsy was machined to fit the stainless steel Muir anchor windlass shaft without a bushing.

Within a short period of time the gypsy galled and seized to the shaft.  We were able to pull the seized unit using hydraulics and pullers from our running gear shop.

Machined and pressed  bronze bushing for Muir Windlass

Muir Windlass gypsy in the machine shop for bronze bushing installation

The final repair was an easy solution for our machine shop, Straight Line Marine, to machine and press in a bronze bushing. Good-to-go.

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