Equipment – The Scrumble Project

More Internet shopping recently has resulted in two boxes arriving yesterday. This has enabled Judy to give me the parts for a port engine drive-line for a Christmas gift. Of course to ensure she is not forgotten I am also able to give her a starboard engine drive-line kit.

We have spent years of studying everything we could about diesel V drive lines and working with Bob Oram on what is unique installation for the 44C. We put out requests for quotes to supply two complete packages from Australian manufactures/suppliers and then extended this to NZ firms. The package was open about most of the items to allow them to match up their brands and in-house production. There was a requirement for 2205 alloy @ 1.250 inch in the shaft and a request for prices on both feathering and fixed propellers.

This resulted in:

Two nil returns.
One very informative and detailed discussion with a qualified price on propellers and an offer of the best for the rest.
One very lightly described package with fixed props only.
One verbal from New Zealand.
One offer from Western Australia for bronze fixed 3 bladed props at AUD$3850.00 EACH!
One from an Australian prop manufacturer with 4 prop quotes; 3 blade fold, 2 blade fold, 3 blade feather, 3 blade fixed. at prices 25% higher than their own brand is in the US!

This all indicated that the complete package would cost between 50% and 100% of the cost of an engine and gearbox!!!

After being completely mystified by this I searched further a field and found, as suspected, the Europeans seemed more expensive than the local prices.

The US suppliers however seem to be divided three ways:

a complete disregard for exporting to anywhere else (or that there is any where else), or
a token acceptance of Canada as a trading partner (or another state of the Union), or
the complete inclusion by a small number of suppliers of all of the world with a very good cataloguing and online shopping system including detailed freight management.

I found a few drive-line suppliers in particular Deep Blue Yacht Supply who could, through a combination of the shopping basket or their detailed online quoting system, provide all the items we needed at a good price.
In fact the cost was, with the currency exchange, paying airfreight and Australian GST, still at least 30% less than locally, mostly with the same brands.

Here as a result of great service from Deep Blue Yacht Supply, are some photos of our Christmas gifts to each other.

Below – the Box, with most excellent Christmas wrapping.

Below – a shaft – gearbox coupling.

Below – the rear of the PSS shaft seal bellows that fit onto the shaft tube/log, which will be a composite tube.

Below – the fixed carbon seal face and forward end of the bellows for the PSS shaft seal.

Below – the forward, rotating stainless seal with internal ‘o’ rings. This fits on the shaft and is secured with grub screws.
See sets of videos describing the installation of the PSS shaft seal.