Last weekend while manoeuvring my boat near a beech the rudder popped right off its mount. This was totally unexpected and a very unwelcome development.
Anyways the attaching (mounting) bracket got bent too far apart from all the use which in turn allowed the pivoting pin to just come right out of the bottom hole. I trailer my boat a lot so when the rear mast support fitting is used and attached to the rudder bracket it causes the bottom piece to bend due to mast weight and all the bouncing it takes while being trailered.
To prevent this problem from occurring again I took the rudder mount right off and had a friend of mine weld up some stainless steel reinforcements in the corners that will hopefully minimize bracket deformation in the future. See the attached picture.
Judging by the original bracket design I would say it is just a matter of time before that lower piece fails and it will probably be when you need it the most. So I thought I would share my little fix with you.
Cheers
Anyways the attaching (mounting) bracket got bent too far apart from all the use which in turn allowed the pivoting pin to just come right out of the bottom hole. I trailer my boat a lot so when the rear mast support fitting is used and attached to the rudder bracket it causes the bottom piece to bend due to mast weight and all the bouncing it takes while being trailered.
To prevent this problem from occurring again I took the rudder mount right off and had a friend of mine weld up some stainless steel reinforcements in the corners that will hopefully minimize bracket deformation in the future. See the attached picture.
Judging by the original bracket design I would say it is just a matter of time before that lower piece fails and it will probably be when you need it the most. So I thought I would share my little fix with you.
Cheers
