I have a stuffing box because it came with the boat.
Was offered a free dripless but knocked it back.
Stuffing box is no problem for me

gary

Dripless seal for the same reason as Gary, it came with the boat and I see to reason to change

Volvo dripless on my yacht, that's what it came with. I had a stuffing box on my fishing vessel and they are good on this type of vessel where the vessel is in constant use. Shaft has to be in good alignment and the stuffing box has to be repacked regularly and adjusted. Finding the right packing material is not always easy. With a yacht with small shaft sizes you may have to rely on plumbing packing etc. For a yacht it's more of a choice of what dripless seal!

Had stuffing boxes on my flybridge cruiser ( l know, l know, a stink boat lol )
After repowering it was recommended l change to dripless...so l did,

Apart from initial adjustments haven't had any problems with them in the 6 yrs since,

I did it about five years ago on my Santana 28. Battling to remember cost but not that expensive from memory. Really glad I did it.
Not too difficult to fit if access is OK. It coincided with a haul out so I got the pros to fit it.

As Yara has mentioned, this is not so straight forward.
If all goes well (prop shaft disconnects from the coupling easily, . the coupling comes off the shaft easily, The shaft is in good condition, The shaft can be moved far enough back to allow the fitting, the old stuffing box can be removed and the area ground away easily, ) you will be up for between $1000 and $1300 .
That is my ball park guess. In the perfect situation. Which any sailor knows is rare.

If any of the above cause trouble (as in time taken or replacement needed) the cash register will tick over in multiples of hundreds.

The only way you can get a basic quote and I mean basic, is to contact a supplier and then the shipyard that the supplier recommends.
When you have sat yourself down after the quote, read Woko's post again.
I have a dry bilge with a well adjusted stuffing box. Stuffing at about $20 changed every 5 years.
A sponge under the stuffing box and another held under the gearbox with my ever useful lump of wood sees a dry bilge.

I wait to see what others think of my ball park figure.

gary

Datawiz said..

Futurecruiser said..
I have a steel boat and like to keep a dry bilge so use one of these and it has been good. You can also keep a spare seal on the shaft so if it fails you can replace the old seal without pulling off the shaft. I didn't enjoy the feeling when the dodgy old thing I had before this started leaking pretty hard so it's good having something reliable there...

www.tidesmarine.com/shaftseals/sureseal_overview.php

I hated the old stuffing box that I had to adjust to leak otherwise it would overheat - so I always had a wet bilge.
Changed over to a PSS Seal a couple of years ago - no leaks, no alignment necessary, inspect it regularly but never had to do anything.

Only worry is how I would handle a catastrophic failure of the seal.
Can't get my head around your 'spare seal on the shaft' , Future - maybe explain a bit more.

Anyone else have any thoughts on this?
regards to all
allan

The sureseals have a split seal driving arrangement that clamps around the shaft for driving the seal into the seal housing.
When you have the prop shaft out of the coupling to change the seal, you slide onto the shaft two new seals. You then clamp the the driver between the seals and drive the first one into the housing and retain it with a circlip. You then remove the seal driver and place it around the spare seal and clamp it up. The spare seal now lives inside the driver on the shaft which protects it.
To use the spare seal, you simply remove the driver, place it in front of the spare seal,, remove the circlip and dig out the old seal from the housing, cut it from the shaft with side cutters then using the driver , drive the spare seal into the housing., Dead simple really.
One problem I have encounted with these and the use of a double lip seal is the housing has a close fit intrigal bearing that maintains the concentricity of the seal and the shaft. As the bearing wears, the seal housing may start to move out of concentricity which can open up one side of the seal lip and start it leaking. More modern versions of this arrangement have replacement bushes/bearings.
When fitting, be sure to have minimal alinement error and if you have a water feed, be sure to have no side loading from the feed hose.

Jolene said..

Datawiz said..

Futurecruiser said..
I have a steel boat and like to keep a dry bilge so use one of these and it has been good. You can also keep a spare seal on the shaft so if it fails you can replace the old seal without pulling off the shaft. I didn't enjoy the feeling when the dodgy old thing I had before this started leaking pretty hard so it's good having something reliable there...

www.tidesmarine.com/shaftseals/sureseal_overview.php

I hated the old stuffing box that I had to adjust to leak otherwise it would overheat - so I always had a wet bilge.
Changed over to a PSS Seal a couple of years ago - no leaks, no alignment necessary, inspect it regularly but never had to do anything.

Only worry is how I would handle a catastrophic failure of the seal.
Can't get my head around your 'spare seal on the shaft' , Future - maybe explain a bit more.

Anyone else have any thoughts on this?
regards to all
allan

The sureseals have a split seal driving arrangement that clamps around the shaft for driving the seal into the seal housing.
When you have the prop shaft out of the coupling to change the seal, you slide onto the shaft two new seals. You then clamp the the driver between the seals and drive the first one into the housing and retain it with a circlip. You then remove the seal driver and place it around the spare seal and clamp it up. The spare seal now lives inside the driver on the shaft which protects it.
To use the spare seal, you simply remove the driver, place it in front of the spare seal,, remove the circlip and dig out the old seal from the housing, cut it from the shaft with side cutters then using the driver , drive the spare seal into the housing., Dead simple really.
One problem I have encounted with these and the use of a double lip seal is the housing has a close fit intrigal bearing that maintains the concentricity of the seal and the shaft. As the bearing wears, the seal housing may start to move out of concentricity which can open up one side of the seal lip and start it leaking. More modern versions of this arrangement have replacement bushes/bearings.
When fitting, be sure to have minimal alinement error and if you have a water feed, be sure to have no side loading from the feed hose.

Thanks for that Jolene. I have a PSS seal, but they probably have a similar arrangement.
I'll check it out.
regards,
allan

cisco said..
I reckon stuffing box type stern glands are the go.
They are adjustable and repackable. At a pinch I reckon they would seal with a bit of Oakum & Hemp stuffed into one.

Teflon is the go. Just don't use any graphite filled packing, it will wear a stainless shaft down fast! Grease nipple and pump grease into the teflon will stop annoying drips. Eventually fills the tube so the water does not get up there but that's OK. I had a grease gun fixed in place next to the battery box with about 10 feet of plastic hose to the grease nipple. Each day when I shut down the engine and turned off the batteries I would pump the grease gun.
Stuffing boxes are fine as long as they are not overtightened and get hot.

cisco said..
I reckon stuffing box type stern glands are the go.
They are adjustable and repackable. At a pinch I reckon they would seal with a bit of Oakum & Hemp stuffed into one.

That's okay if access is good but why not move with the times. Stuffing boxes are old tech, move with the times and go with a PSS seal of some sort. Perfect for small yacht shafts.

Thanks so much for everyone's very helpful replies. Has helped enormously to make a decision.

The previous owner of the boat was fastidious in all matters but, nevertheless, the drip-dripping is definitely increasing. It's not a case of the dripping being annoying...I need to do my best to avoid a catastrophic fail!

Access for adjustment is pretty much non-existent so I guess I'll be updating to a dripless seal very soon.

Now to find an HONEST mechanic .
Any recommendations for the Scarborough/north side of Brisbane