This is my first year with my 81 Hunter 27, and on the third sail, I ran into a little problem. Within 5 seconds of the main halyard snapping, the steering went out. The chain had jumped the sprocket in the pedestal. After an expensive tow, I loosened the tension on the steering cable and got the chain back on. I noticed while loosening the cable tension that there is no post on top of the rudder disc, and no visible rudder stops. The rudder does stop moving about 1.2 revolutions in either direction from center. Is it possible its only stopping because the rudder itself is hitting the boat? Should there be some sort of rudder stops on the disc? I've seen pictures of discs with posts attached to the top that hit 2x4's or some other block. I have no such thing. Also, the tow wouldn't have been necessary with an emergency tiller. There wasn't one on the boat. Anybody know where I can find one? Thanks for any help Dave
H27 Rudder Stops, Emergency Tiller
- Thread starter ddear
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Yes there should be stops
Dave, there should be two stops on the disc. I observed mine recently (a 1980 Hunter 27) when I removed the access panel alongside the aft berth so I could replace the muffler. I have a folding emergency tiller on mine and will try to get a photo to post for you. But if you have wheel steering, as mine does, I'm not sure how useful the emergency tiller will be since the wheel and pedestal won't allow fully extending the emergency tiller.
Dave, there should be two stops on the disc. I observed mine recently (a 1980 Hunter 27) when I removed the access panel alongside the aft berth so I could replace the muffler. I have a folding emergency tiller on mine and will try to get a photo to post for you. But if you have wheel steering, as mine does, I'm not sure how useful the emergency tiller will be since the wheel and pedestal won't allow fully extending the emergency tiller.
Emergency Tiller
My emergency tiller is made of a 1 ft long galvanized metal pipe (just wide enough to fit in the emergency tiller hole) with two notches (each about an inch long for the cross bar that's inside the hole in your cockpit for the emergency tiller) cut in to one end and a 90 degree elbow joint screwed on the the threaded other end, to which a 10 inch long (to clear the wheel and pedestal) pipe is attached. Parts can be found at your local home center or plumbing supply store. The hard part will be finding someone to cut the notches in the bottom.
My emergency tiller is made of a 1 ft long galvanized metal pipe (just wide enough to fit in the emergency tiller hole) with two notches (each about an inch long for the cross bar that's inside the hole in your cockpit for the emergency tiller) cut in to one end and a 90 degree elbow joint screwed on the the threaded other end, to which a 10 inch long (to clear the wheel and pedestal) pipe is attached. Parts can be found at your local home center or plumbing supply store. The hard part will be finding someone to cut the notches in the bottom.
Why not a tiller?
This leads me to wonder if I shouldn't scratch the pedestal and buy a nice laminated tiller & bracket for the 76 I recently purchased. The newer boats may be different, but it sure looks like this was a marketing after thought on my boat. (Takes up a lot of cockpit space too)My old 25 is no problem in to handle with a tiller.
This leads me to wonder if I shouldn't scratch the pedestal and buy a nice laminated tiller & bracket for the 76 I recently purchased. The newer boats may be different, but it sure looks like this was a marketing after thought on my boat. (Takes up a lot of cockpit space too)My old 25 is no problem in to handle with a tiller.
Rudder Stops
Thanks. For the rudder stops, I can see (from looking in the Edson catalog) where the rudder stops should be attached to the disc, and I can buy replacements easily enough, but it doesn't look like they'll actually hit anything as the disc turns. It *would* hit the underside of the cockpit floor, but the wheel won't turn anywhere close to far enough to actually cause it to hit. I get just over 2 complete revolutions of the wheel from stop to stop (*something* is stopping it... hopefully the connection of chain to wire in the pedestal, and not the rudder hitting something on the underside). See the attached pic. The hole at the top of the pic is where the rudder stop post should be mounted. You can see in the lower left where it would hit the fiberglass, but it won't turn that far. Any ideas? I actually made an emergency tiller out of exhaust pipe bolted to a 2x4. Instead of notching, there are holes to put the bolt through inside the top of the rudder post, and I made it tall enough to clear the wheel. Thanks Again Dave
Thanks. For the rudder stops, I can see (from looking in the Edson catalog) where the rudder stops should be attached to the disc, and I can buy replacements easily enough, but it doesn't look like they'll actually hit anything as the disc turns. It *would* hit the underside of the cockpit floor, but the wheel won't turn anywhere close to far enough to actually cause it to hit. I get just over 2 complete revolutions of the wheel from stop to stop (*something* is stopping it... hopefully the connection of chain to wire in the pedestal, and not the rudder hitting something on the underside). See the attached pic. The hole at the top of the pic is where the rudder stop post should be mounted. You can see in the lower left where it would hit the fiberglass, but it won't turn that far. Any ideas? I actually made an emergency tiller out of exhaust pipe bolted to a 2x4. Instead of notching, there are holes to put the bolt through inside the top of the rudder post, and I made it tall enough to clear the wheel. Thanks Again Dave
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