So I got some new stainless pins from Murray's, and am having a real hard time removing the original aluminum ones.
I tried lubing, banging, twisting, pulling, but they just won't budge. If I would have known, I probably would have just left them alone until I had to change them. As it stands now, I've done a number on one of them and need to change it out.

Any tips on removing stuck pins without damaging or removing the gudgeons?

pb blaster penetrating lubricant, vice grips and a hammer. move the rudders back and forth while pulling. sometimes there is a sweet spot where they move some. if no go then take this oportunity to remove and reseal the gudgeons

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bill harris
hattiesburg, mississippi
prindle 16- "BLUE RIBBON"
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Hmmm! the rudder pins should not be that dificult to remove, as above, use penetrating lubricant, let sit overnight, clamp vicegrips to pin and rotate, see if that frees pin, if pin rotates, clamp vicegrips as tight as possible to pin and as you rotate pin, tap vicegrips with hammer. Remember, old pins are aluminum, if you hit pin head with hammer you can deform pin, make matters worse. If/when you free the pin so that it rotates, use a bolt with slightly smaller diameter as pin as a punch to remove pin. You could also try using hacksaw to cut pin between gudgeons and work on one gudgeon at a time, just remeber to leave enough pin to clamp vicegrips. If all your efforts fail, remove gudgeons, cut pin and drill pin out.

Keep us posted.

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TurboHobo
H14T
H16
P18
G-Cat 5.0
P16
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flaco,

You've done the right thing replacing your old pins, I once had a worn aluminum pin snap while sailing and nearly lost (expensive) rudder and castings.

At this point I would (and have) cut the pins into pieces with a hacksaw and remove the pieces.

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Damon Linkous
1992 Hobie 18
Memphis, TN

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Agree, vicegrips and hammer. The alum bends easy and deforms, hence the difficulty. Like the new forum look!

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H18, H17, P19, Glastron GT-150 (Bond jump boat)
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I think I used every one of your tips and eventually got em out. I had to cut one and used the vicegrips/hammer treatment. The second worked out on its own with some lube. That pb blaster works way better than wd40. Thanks a lot for the advice.