Support-Literally

What Pete said.
I like to put them flush to the front and rear leaving the gap in the center.

I've been working like mad, trying to get the boat ready for vacation. I thought I should check in with my progress. I separated the shaft coupling, and then removed the coupling from the shaft. I could tell I had some wobble in the shaft, but couldn't tell exactly where it was. Mostly because of the play if the strut bushings.

So, I got the shaft out, and took it into a repair shop today. Well, repair shop is an understatement. It turned out to be the SF Bay areas leading repair yard. I saw 2-blade sailboat props that were 8" in diameter up to a tug boat that was getting a prop refit, and the things had to be 6' in diameter, if not more. It was pretty impressive.. The machinist was about the nicest guy you could hope for and he takes the shaft and puts it on a lathe (called a Steady Rest) and marks where it's bent. It turns out the the bend starts at the front of the strut, though the tail. It was .005 out at the center of the strut, and .011 out at the tail. The price will be $150 max, and if he can't straighten it, there won't be a charge.
When it comes back, I'll go through the process of making sure it's aligned with the log and the engine.. I've got new bushings coming from Skidim soon.

I have a question about the strut bushings. I have a 2-piece bushing in there now, and that's what's coming in the mail. The aft end of one half is flush with the strut. There's about a 1" gap between the two pieces of bushing, but the forward piece is recessed about a half inch into the strut. Is this correct? I guess that with the recess of the front half, it would collect water to lubricate the bushings.. If I make it flush with the forward end of the strut, the set screw just catches the bushing by 1/4"

Thanks,
Don

I remember watching that video a while back closer to when it was recorded. Because all of those points are adjustable, I remember at the time wondering "where do you start" or what"s the reference point? After checking for a bent shaft, do you generally start with the strut and the log as the starting point?   I guess I'd rather not un-bed the strut if it didn't need it.

Thanks guys

8x8 is 4x more than plenty.

Thanks. That helps, and makes sense.

Do you think an 8" square piece of plywood at the back corners will be sufficient?

On another topic, you made a comment recently on another post about aligning the prop shaft. Is there a write-up someplace on the forum that you could direct me to?

I need to do some repairs to my trailer, and would like to have better access to the hull for polishing. I'm looking for some suggestions to either use boat stands, or build a cradle of sorts.

If I build a cradle, I'd just duplicate the locations of the trailer bunks. I'm thinking of a support at the stern and another up by the seats, and run a pair of 4 x 6's on their sides between them.

What about if I used stands? I thought I could put a pair at the stern under the stringers, and maybe another pair under the stringers at the front engine mounts.

What do you think?

Don