Cotter Pins and Rudder Hinge Pin, H16
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Posted: Jul 14, 2016 - 07:29 PM
Agreed.
I hate sloppy rudders. I have plastic, spring loaded zero-clearance bushings at all pivot points on my rudder system, and it is still as tight as when I put them on 30 years ago. Mostly because I always taken the rudders off, even on trips to local lakes. I have at least 20K miles of towing the cat, and the damage from not removing the rudder system would be unthinkable.
Aluminum pintle rods may seem to be sacrificial, but if you hit something hard enough to bend the aluminum, your transoms will need repairing too.
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Sheet In!
Bob
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Prindle 18-2 #244 "Wakizashi"
Prindle 16 #3690 "Pegasus" Sold (sigh)
AZ Multihull Fleet 42 member
(Way) Past Commodore of Prindle Fleet 14
Arizona, USA
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Posted: Jul 15, 2016 - 09:01 AM
Exactly my thinking. The rudders on my boat are in great shape and I don't want to take any chances of them getting knocked around while traveling to the lake, 30 minutes away, or to the beach, 4 hours away. The previous owner said he never removed the rudders and even hauled the boat 7 hours to the beach once a year. Thankfully, he did use extra care securing the rudder system with lots of bungee cords each time he moved the boat anywhere. I just feel better removing them for travels.
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Marty
1984 Hobie 16 Redline Yellow Nationals, "Yellow Fever"
Opelika, Al / Lake Martin
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Posted: Jul 15, 2016 - 10:23 AM
what is a spring loaded zero-clearance bushing?
any pics? -
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Posted: Jul 15, 2016 - 11:59 AM
martyr: A little late to the party here, but FWIW I've been using homemade Al pins from HD for 20 years, and never had a problem. The only pins I've broken were fiberglass of unknown age. Thought it would be a good idea in the surf, but the one busted a half mile offshore in the Gulf in mildish conditions. Thank goodness the other didn't break! I travel with the rudders off, too.....just make sure they're oriented properly when you put 'em back on!
If you're ever over here toward central MS, give me a shout.....I'm in the book.
Any plans to take your boat to the Gulf? (We do a lot of racing out of Ocean Springs MS.)
Edited by rattlenhum on Jul 15, 2016 - 12:03 PM.
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Jerome Vaughan
Hobie 16
Clinton, Mississippi
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Posted: Jul 15, 2016 - 01:10 PM
I think the take away regarding using material from Home Depot should be that all aluminum is not created equally and when you buy a piece of round stock from HD, you have no idea what you are purchasing. If you want to make your own pins, that's fine, but at least buy stock from a reputable supplier where you know what grade of aluminum you're purchasing (like 6061-T6). The stuff from HD is almost certainly the cheapest, lowest grade architectural alloy you can buy and stuff bought 20 years ago has absolutely no bearing on what they sell today.
Regarding removing the rudders, it is really a personal preference thing IMO. On my H18, I have left the rudders on for trailering for the past 30 years and not had an issue. Yes, the rudders do occasionally require maintenance, but that will be required whether you remove them or not. The rudders are moving parts operating in a salty, sandy, corrosive and high-load environment - they will need servicing from time to time. I strap them down solidly (using tie-down belts, not bungee) and they don't move. The trailering loads are much less than the sailing loads.
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Posted: Jul 15, 2016 - 01:24 PM
+1
+1
+1
maybe but i (personally) want to reduce wear anywhere i can
ymmv -
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Posted: Jul 15, 2016 - 04:45 PM
Jerome, to answer your question. I get down to Destin once or twice a year and would definitely be sailing in the bay and gulf. Will be sailing in Lake Martin primarily. My family has a place on the lake with good open water. There are several other lakes in my area that I plan on trying out also.
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Marty
1984 Hobie 16 Redline Yellow Nationals, "Yellow Fever"
Opelika, Al / Lake Martin
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Posted: Jul 15, 2016 - 05:22 PM
I think if you have a nice no slop upgraded rudder system, taking it off makes sense. I think for the original poster who has an early 80's H16 trying to get back on the water, it is just an added headache, the fewer things you have to do at the ramp or the beach, the better. I say get it down to just mast up, sails up and go. I will say you need a good system to secure it though, very easy to bend tiller crossbars ect. -
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Posted: Jul 15, 2016 - 05:38 PM
Original poster here. Lol. Understand that this boat is a 1984 model but it has been used very sparingly and is in very new condition, just wanting to keep her that way for sure.
Here's another option, what about just removing the rudder blades instead of the whole system. That would make for faster set up.
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Marty
1984 Hobie 16 Redline Yellow Nationals, "Yellow Fever"
Opelika, Al / Lake Martin
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Posted: Jul 16, 2016 - 05:35 PM
Pulling the two rudder pins to remove the whole assembly is pretty easy, but I'll admit that wrestling and storing the whole thing for travel can be daunting. I should probably clarify that, when I'm trailering my daughter's older H14T the ~20 miles to/from our club, I don't remove the rudders, but would for long distance. On my newer H16 with the H20 style tiller connectors, it's so easy to remove/store the assembly that I do it every time. I hope you understood my comment about the orientation above....it is possible to put the assembly back on backwards, resulting in serious toe-out.
P.S. Check your PMs....I sent you some other info that may help you get where you want to be with your new toy!
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Jerome Vaughan
Hobie 16
Clinton, Mississippi
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