Stuffing Box Question

T

tuggertoy

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 18, 2009
Messages
176
Fluid Motion Model
C-24 C (Sterndrive)
Vessel Name
Tugger Toy (2006)
Does anyone know what size packing a 2006 R-21 would need for the stuffing box? We would like to order some, but not sure of the diameter needed. Thanks in advance.

Moria
 
I'll reiterate this question some 4 years later although mine would be in reference to a 2002 R-21.
 
Moria, the stuffing box on my '09 R25 uses 3 rungs of .250" flax. I am guessing the stuffing box and prop shaft on an R21 is different; therefore, would require a different size. However, it may also be the same.
I would suggest talking with or e-mail a note to Andrew or Kenny asking the question. I asked this identical question a couple of year's ago and Andrew put in in direct contact with supplier of stuffing box who answered my question. Start to finish job took me about 45 minutes. Fabricated my own tool for extracting the old flax.
 
Ranger tugs buys stuffing boxes and other items from Marine Hardware. Here's a link to their catalogs that provide the specifications you are looking for;

http://marinehardware.com/productcatalog.html

I don't know the shaft diameter on an R-21, but you should be able to measure it and find the corresponding product in the stuffing box section of the catalog.

Rich
 
Favunclerich":1kp5539a said:
I don't know the shaft diameter on an R-21, but you should be able to measure it and find the corresponding product in the stuffing box section of the catalog.

Rich
Click to expand...

The R21EC uses a shaft with a 1" diameter.

Let us know what you find...

/david
 
Hi Ard,

My wife was the one who originally posted this question back in 2009 in regards to our 2006 R-21 Classic which we had just purchased from her first owner that summer. I subsequently got the information I needed directly from Andrew Custis at Ranger Tugs so I can give you the complete answer.

Your tug should use 1/4" packing as I believe they all had a 1" shaft diameter. I did a lot of research at the time and considered a lot of the products that are available for packing but settled on the Kevlar/PTFE product that was originally installed in the stuffing box at the factory. As mentioned by Rich the packing product that you want to use is available at Marine Hardware. Your stuffing box should indeed utilize 3 rungs of packing but you will know for sure when you remove what is installed presently. The product description can be viewed at http://www.marinehardware.com. Just click on the tab for the Running Gear Catalog and scroll to page 21. The product number is BPKGO.250-2 and comes in 2 foot lengths or a 1 pound spool which is 21 feet. I ordered the 2 foot length which was about $29.00 at the time, I don't want to think about how expensive a 1 pound spool must be. The 2 foot length is more than enough to restuff the box at least twice if you don't screw up too many times cutting the rings. I only screwed up one ring until I figured it out. When you call Marine Hardware ask for Don Starbuck. He can probably tell you more than you will ever need to know about the products he supplies to Ranger for use in the building of our tugs and the information he provided to me on packing material was invaluable.

If you have any other questions feel free to PM me and I will be happy to answer them either by PM or by phone if necessary.

Eric
Tugger Toy
2006 R-21 Classic
 
Thanks for the replies and bringing this thread to a conclusion. After digging deeper I found the same answer buried in the C-Brats archive. Currently the 1/4" square PTFE flax in 5' lengths can be purchased through Amazon for around $10, as well as a wrench for $13. I think I'm set.
 
Here's the bigger question; what are the symptoms that are causing you to replace the stuffing box packing? How many hours are there on your boat?

I have a 2008 R-25 with about 1200 hours and am still using the original packing. My understanding is that one drip every 5-10 seconds is OK when running, but it should be dry when the engine stops. The original packing performed flawlessly until about 700 hours when the shaft started to drip, even when the engine was not running. I loosened the aft lock nut (difficult the first time, but easy since), tightened the forward packing nut just a squeeze and everything was good again for 100-200 hours. Since then, I've re-tightened it three or four more times, but that is only a five minute job. So long as this continues to fix the problem, my thought is that the flax packing does not require replacement, but I'm open to other ideas.

Perhaps others are replacing the packing because the adjustment no longer works? Or works for only a very short time? I'd like to hear your experiences.
 
Hi Rich,

To answer your question I changed the packing on my 2006 R-21 Classic as a matter of routine maintenance when I first bought the tug. We bought her used in 2009 at the end of the season and she only had about 200 hours on her. I had issues with water leaking past the packing while at anchor and had made the adjustment you spoke of to snug things up and that took care of the problem at that time.

I am one of those people that feel the need to know exactly where things stand and I felt the only way to be comfortable with the stuffing box and it's packing was to re-do the packing myself and then keep tabs on it season after season. When I did my research on the packing I looked at standard Flax/PTFE packing, Gore GFO/Graphite Packing and the Kevlar/PTFE packing that was already in service on the tug. After a lot of time on the interweb and then my subsequent phone conversation with Don Starbuck at Marine Hardware, I decided to spend my money on the Kevlar/PTFE packing sold at Marine Hardware. Don had direct knowledge of Ranger Tugs with over 2500 hours on them and still running the original Kevlar/PTFE packing in the stuffing box. That was good enough for me. As it turned out when I pulled the old packing out of the stuffing box there didn't appear to be anything wrong with it but once removed it can't really be reused so I changed it.

As long as you can adjust the drip rate to acceptable levels and there is no indication that the shaft is overheating, you should be good to go for another 1200 hours or so.

Eric
Tugger Toy
2006 R-21 Classic
 
This webpage (http://www.pbase.com/mainecruising/stuffing_box&page=1) has a pictorial showing how this guy changes his stuffing box packing. It appears like an excellent tutorial to me but I know very little about the procedure and have no experience to actually critique it.

Also, if you click on "all galleries" near the top of the page, then "Compass marine "how to" articles" you will find another tutorial on "re-bedding deck hardware" which I can say is very good. He shows how to use butyl tape which makes an excellent bedding compound. Just clik here (http://www.pbase.com/mainecruising/rebedding_hardware)

I have no association with this guy; just discovered him through a blog post on Active Captain which linked the butyl tape bedding compound article.

Fair Winds,

/david
 
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