Description

Finding an older style outside stuffing box or stern tube packing box is not easy.  This is especially true if you’re looking for authentic and original parts to restore an older “Downeast” style or Canadian work boat.

That’s why we still manufacture our original Flax Pack Series of bronze stern bearing housings. These cast bronze “stuffing boxes” feature a packing gland body that compresses rows of packing material inside the box to create a seal around the shaft while also acting as a shaft bearing.

Although we highly recommend you upgrade your boat’s running gear to modern stern bearing housing and self-aligning shaft seal system, we understand that some people just want to keep their boat as authentic and original as possible.

What Is an Outside Stuffing Box:

Originally, these packable stern bearings where intended to keep the entire envelope of water outside the boat.  Due to the large rise and fall of the tide in Downeast Maine and Canadian Maritimes, these boxes worked fine because mariners could adjust the packing gland (sometimes daily) to control excessive leaking into the bilge.

As time went on, boat builders began building what we now know as “wet keel” boats and “dry keel” boats where the water envelop is brought inside the boat to help assist with cooling and lubricating the shaft.

Are Outside Stuffing Boxes Safe:

We do not recommend outside stuffing boxes, but we still make them because so many boat owners trust them and want authentic replacement parts for their older wooden and fiberglass boats.

Give us a call today to discuss upgrading your older boat to a more modern (and safer) shaft bearing and sealing system and we’ll do our best convince you its the right thing to do.  If you still insist on buying one of our traditional packable stern bearing housings, we’ll be happy to oblige.