I just got my boat back from the shop with all new standing rigging and some gel coat work! I'm very close to getting it on the water and excited that there was so little work to do.

As for my problem, I am planning to store it in a garage (I have a cabin up in the mountains and this is to be a frequent lake boat) and when I checked out the garage this weekend it is too long with the rudders attached, but it will fit if I take them off. I had heard it was a good idea to take them off when trailering the boat anyways so it looks like that will be part of my standard setup.

The question is, how to make this easier. The rudder is attached with two bolts and nylock-nuts. Should I switch out to a clevis pin or is that a bad idea? Is there a better or more common approach?
Thanks




edited by: svanlare, Apr 19, 2009 - 09:19 PM

There are quick release designs that use a pair of pins (as most setups) and a sprung steel clip that holds the rudder in place. To release, you hold the steel clip in and lift the rudder. It takes a couple of seconds per side + the time to remove the tiller bar. Mine takes about 1 minute for the whole teardown.

on the hobie 18 the tiller crossbar is attached with nuts to the upper castings. you can take the entire assembly off (2 rudders, uppercastings, crossbar, tiller) but it can get a litte hairy to work with.

you may want to purchase a easy on off system from murry's (H-20 STYLE TILLER CONNECTOR & ADJUSTER KIT) this makes removal of the crossbar very easy and a nice little upgrade.

http://www.murrays.com/archive/32-33.pdf

On the Hobie 18 (Thanks for filling out your profile!)

You can remove the rudders, upper castings, and crossbar all together by removing one bolt on each side. Leave the lower castings attached to the hulls. It's the easiest way to remove the rudders, dealing with the rudder pins each time can be a hassle.

But handling all that stuff attached to the crossbar isn't much fun either, so upgrading to the Hobie 20 style connectors allows you to easily break it down to three easier to handle pieces.

I did the Hobie 20 connector upgrade last year on my H18 and it's great, besides making the boat easier to break down, your rudders can now be setup square and stay that way. It's one of those things that seems like an expensive option until you have it, then wonder how you ever did without.

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Damon Linkous
1992 Hobie 18
Memphis, TN

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Thanks. Lets see if I got the options right...

Rich,
For the steel clip, is it something like this? http://www.thefind.com/sports/info-clevis-clip Then replacing the nut/bolts with a pin and this spring.

Andrew,
I had found Murray's site but not the PDF parts, so the link was a big help. On the convience page http://www.murrays.com/archive/30.pdf they mention the "Spring Clip - Rudder Pin Retainer". That would replace the cotter pin on the rudder pin, and I assume that the casting would stay attached to the rudder but the whole assembly would then come off (rudder, casting, tiller tube). Then the H-20 connector would allow the tiller crossbar to be easily separated breaking everything down to three parts.

I had found Murray's site but not the PDF parts, so the link was a big help. - YOUR WELCOME

the "Spring Clip - Rudder Pin Retainer". That would replace the cotter pin on the rudder pin, and I assume - I HAVE NO IDEA ABOUT THIS CLIP, BUT REMOVING A RING DING IS PRETTY EASY>> CAN"T SEE WHY YOU NEED A QUICK CLIP HERE

Then the H-20 connector would allow the tiller crossbar to be easily separated breaking everything down to three parts.
- YES YOU CAN REMOVE (AND ADJUST) THE CROSSBAR FROM THE UPPER CASTINGS ON EACH SIDE

I looked tonight at the rudders, and the rudder pins are the way to go. Swap out a cotter pin for a ring ding and we are set.
Thanks again.