1988 Hunter 23' kick-up rudder

flynhi4u · Apr 20, 2016

Steve,
I doubt you stretched the bolts as the stern is much weaker than the bolts. Some PO had drilled our rudder and pinned it because they were not smart enough to fix it right. They defeated the kick up function with the pin. Then they hit something which cracked the stern laterally between the bolt holes and past each hole about a 1 1/2".
You might want to remove the pintle and check it out. Sorry, but can't help you with info on the gas strut.

Sam

Crazy Dave Condon · Apr 20, 2016

STeve;

Please post a photo to refresh my memory. As flynhi4u said, you do not want a fixed rudder for the very reason he mentioned plus he is working on his boat and looks to be doing a super duper job on that so he knows what he is talking about.

There use to be a break away cam cleat that some used but have not heard anything in a long time if good or not. There is something to mention but please take a photo or two of the rudder and rudder housing.

flynhi4u · Apr 20, 2016

Thanks for the kind words Dave. I am not sure I know what I doing but on a boat like ours it is not rocket science. I thought I had a pic of the damage that the PO had hidden on our boat. Amazing what a couple of coats of Pittsburgh exterior latex will hide.

Hopefully your stern does not look like this Steve. I was going off memory this morning when I said our crack was between the bolt holes. It was actually right below the pintle mount as that is where the load was placed. It was a fairly easy fix and I re enforced the stern from the inside when I had it all apart.
Maybe with a little luck yours wont be this bad. I think I would still remove that mount and find the exact cause of the leak and make the needed repairs.
As far as your rudder goes our friends just priced a new one at about 900 for their 23. I think we can rebuild theirs and return it to new or better than new working order for much less.
As far as our rudder goes, the hole is still there for the pin but I will never use it. I took my time and figured out how the hold down line was supposed to work and then repaired and modified as necessary to make it work properly. I put it to it's first test right after launching last season as we were using a different ramp and I did not realize how shallow it was by the dock. I dinged the tip of our freshly pained rudder on some submerged riprap. The rudder kicked up and barely left a mark on the paint.
Good luck and let us know how you come out.

Sam

Dennis Kitchen · Apr 20, 2016

Try here. Expensive but I've heard good reviews and its just what you want.

https://ruddercraft.com/index.php?route=product/product&path=164_41&product_id=269

flynhi4u · Apr 20, 2016

Steve, from the pics you posted I can't see any means for the rudder to be able to kick up. That line when cleated off would essentially lock it down tight. By the time a good piece of line failed damage would have already been done.
Our setup is similiar but instead of a solid piece of line there is a section of bungee line at the end of the line. When we tension the line it pulls the bungee tight and holds the blade down but still allows it to Stretch the bungee enough to allow the blade to kick up.
I will contact our friends with the H23 and get info from them about theirs and get back with you.

Sam

flynhi4u · Apr 20, 2016

As far as the pintle ours is basically the same but our pintles are actually the heavy duty pintles made out of channel instead of angle. Overkill for our boat but that is what they used. If you remove that pintle you may find a hairline crack on the stern under the bracket or around the bolt holes.

Sam

Dave Groshong · Apr 20, 2016

The RudderCraft rudder is pricey, but well worth it if you intend to keep the boat:

http://shop.hunterowners.com/cu/detail-tmpl.php?50174

Crazy Dave Condon · Apr 21, 2016

Steve
Good morning sir. First, look inside the rear storage compartment and look at the lower gudgeon area to see if there are any cracks in it. If not, you may have stressed the gel coat only which is the white paint over top of the hull which we are looking at the stern. If no cracks are seen within the rear storage locker, then it is a matter of putting a v shape with a dremel in the gel and see if the crack goes into the glass. If not a two part epoxy and quick spray paint of white gel or Krylon white plastic paint. I would use 5200 sealant as this is below the water line. I would be cautious adding a backing plate if there is one inside the rear locker.

Where the rudder blade rotates inside the rudder housing, the head of the rudder needs to be checked where the hold down line is. Also is there any rubber pieces glued to the inside of the rudder housing where the rudder rotates. Send me a private email with location and phone number as this is going to be lengthy as I have a lot of questions. then I will report back to the forum what I suggest. I was a former dealer and top dealer for selling the 23. So I am asking questions to be able to give you some good suggestions.

Paladin27 · Apr 22, 2016

There's a lot of good info in this thread already, but I thought I'd add my two cents. My kick up rudder cam cleat had lost most of the teeth (it looked just like the one Steve posted) and due to that, it would kick out everytime I went out in any conditions over 2-3ft. It was aggravating. I ALMOST did what everybvody here is trashing on and put a second bolt through the rudder... but luckily somebody suggested the CLAMCLEAT Auto-release rudder cleat. I took my rudder apart to clean everything up and had it powder coated white and then mounted the CL257 in place of the old cam cleat and it has worked MUCH better the past 5 seasons on Lake Michigan. It has an adjustment screw so you can fine tune how much force is required to kick out the rudder. I have mine set pretty stiff most of the time, but it still does kick out if you really slam the rudder (like grounding).

Here's the CL257 details:
http://www.clamcleat.com/cleats/cleat_details.asp?theid2=78
West Marine has it for $27.99, http://www.westmarine.com/buy/clamcleat--auto-release-rudder-cleat--1158443

Here's what it looks like on my 1987 Hunter 23

flynhi4u · Apr 22, 2016

That is a sweet cleat. I will have to share that with our friends as they need that too. Thanks for sharing that with us.

Sam

flynhi4u · Apr 22, 2016

I am thinking that type of cleat would allow me to do away with the bungee inside our rudder. I may have to get one for us too.

Sam

Paladin27 · Apr 26, 2016

steve_reeves said:
Do you like the swim ladder where you mounted it? If so what make and model did you choose?

Actually, since that photo, I've changed to a different ladder because I hated how that ladder was a pain to take on and off and it stuck way up in the air. So I got a folding ladder instead. The downside to this new ladder is that it isn't as solid as the old one was and for people who are... hefty in size, it bends. I'd say it's good to up to about 200 lbs. Above that and you are probably going to bend the stops. BUT, it's awesome to have it collapse and fold. Plus it's easy to grab from in the water and fold down if you ever fell out. As far as location, this is really about the only location I could find that was suitable, it works. We use it frequently in July and August to anchor and go swimming.

This is the ladder I got on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Stainless-Ste...&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o05_s00

1988 Hunter 23' kick-up rudder

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