I've been wondering about modifying the rudder on my 2006 Expo 14.2 to make it easier to lift up as I'm coming to a dock, and making it more likely to stay up and wondered if anyone has done any mods in this area?
The problem I find is I have to reach over the back of the boat, undo the wing nut a lot more than I expect, pull the rudder up with my other hand and re-tighten the wing nut to stop it falling down. And all of this while the boat is under way if I'm unsure of the depth of the water by t he dock.
One of the things I'm thinking of is drilling an extra set of holes in the aluminum brackets for the ball ident (?) so that it helps hold the rudder horizontal.
The thing that's puzzling me at present is the wing nut. I'm fearful of loosening this too far in case it drops in the water, but there isn't enough length of thread on the bolt to add an extra anti-vibration nut outside the wing nut which was my first thought. I'm wondering about replacing the bolt with a longer one, but it has a crude anti-rotation pin welded(?) to it and I don't have access to a welder.
The other idea I have is to totally rebuild the rudder and mountings so it's like the Hobiecat design where you can pull the tiller forwards to lift the rudder and latch it up, though that's a much bigger change.
Does anyone have any experience of doing this?
Thanks,
Bernard
The problem I find is I have to reach over the back of the boat, undo the wing nut a lot more than I expect, pull the rudder up with my other hand and re-tighten the wing nut to stop it falling down. And all of this while the boat is under way if I'm unsure of the depth of the water by t he dock.
One of the things I'm thinking of is drilling an extra set of holes in the aluminum brackets for the ball ident (?) so that it helps hold the rudder horizontal.
The thing that's puzzling me at present is the wing nut. I'm fearful of loosening this too far in case it drops in the water, but there isn't enough length of thread on the bolt to add an extra anti-vibration nut outside the wing nut which was my first thought. I'm wondering about replacing the bolt with a longer one, but it has a crude anti-rotation pin welded(?) to it and I don't have access to a welder.
The other idea I have is to totally rebuild the rudder and mountings so it's like the Hobiecat design where you can pull the tiller forwards to lift the rudder and latch it up, though that's a much bigger change.
Does anyone have any experience of doing this?
Thanks,
Bernard