I have a 272LE which I bought last spring, with two minor problems. One is a leaky hatch seal, which, I guess, one of these days I'll have to replace. The other is slop in the pintles and gudgeons that, until I discovered on my first cruise last spring, nearly drove me crazy. At anchor, whenever the boat slightly rolled from another boat's wake, or just a little bit of wind, I'd hear a soft rythmic "bang, bang." I was sure there was a flashlight or comething round (can of peas?) rolling in the bilge or in a cabinet causing this. Finally, at anchor while napping in the cockpit a few days later, I heard it coming from the stern, and realized it was the stern-hung rudder, and caused by wear which had eroded a bit of a slot in the pintles and elongated the holes in the gudgeons. I figured that when I was at anchor, a shock cord around the rudder and fastened hard against one of the pulpit posts would keep the rudder tightly in place and keep the noise from waking me. Now, whenever I leave the boat that is how I leave it, to keep the situation from getting worse. But I am wonderining about a better fix. Has anyone replced the fittings? If so, where did you find them? Cost? What about boring out the gudgeons and inserting some kind of sleeve to make a tighter fit between the parts? Any experience would be appreciated.
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272 Pintles
Lou, I got a replacement set of both for my 272 from Rudy last summer as Bob Todd has suggested to you. Look at the bolt pattern on the rudder pintles (how many holes in the top row and how many in the bottom row)and have this info handy when you order. When I got my pintles, they appeared to be drilled upside down. When I called Rudy, it seemed the factory had drilled the first twenty something rudders wrong and therefore the standard pintle didn't work. He placed a special order and got me oddball drilled replacement. I'm mounting my set before launch this year. How are you going to get to the gudgeon bolt nuts on the inside of the lower transom mounted one? If I can't get to this one, I am also thinking about trying to sleeve it. If you come up with something that works, please share the solution. Best, Frank
Lou, I got a replacement set of both for my 272 from Rudy last summer as Bob Todd has suggested to you. Look at the bolt pattern on the rudder pintles (how many holes in the top row and how many in the bottom row)and have this info handy when you order. When I got my pintles, they appeared to be drilled upside down. When I called Rudy, it seemed the factory had drilled the first twenty something rudders wrong and therefore the standard pintle didn't work. He placed a special order and got me oddball drilled replacement. I'm mounting my set before launch this year. How are you going to get to the gudgeon bolt nuts on the inside of the lower transom mounted one? If I can't get to this one, I am also thinking about trying to sleeve it. If you come up with something that works, please share the solution. Best, Frank
Thanks for the replies
Frank and Bob, Thanks so much for your advice. I'll look into the hardware from Rudy. I haven't crawled back that far into the cave, Frank. Is the inside of the lower gudgeon attachment point not accessible? The other thought I had was just spreading the distance between the pintles a little bit (moving the upper pintle up on the rudder 1/4 inch or so, so that it bears at a different spot on the gudgeon. This won't take care of the gudgeon wear, but will at least have a full diameter of the pintle take up more of the hole. Thoughts? It would mean having to fill the old holes in the rudder with epoxy.
Frank and Bob, Thanks so much for your advice. I'll look into the hardware from Rudy. I haven't crawled back that far into the cave, Frank. Is the inside of the lower gudgeon attachment point not accessible? The other thought I had was just spreading the distance between the pintles a little bit (moving the upper pintle up on the rudder 1/4 inch or so, so that it bears at a different spot on the gudgeon. This won't take care of the gudgeon wear, but will at least have a full diameter of the pintle take up more of the hole. Thoughts? It would mean having to fill the old holes in the rudder with epoxy.
Pintles
I've replaced the pintles on my 26- had the lower one sheared off when a 12'-14' foot wave ripped my rudder of last year. Easy, inexpensive replacement to make- took less than an hour- just a couple of bolts. The gudgeons, though, may be considerably more difficult. Word of advice- bring the rudder up onto land- those nuts are just the right size to breeze through your scupper- kerplunk! Little bastards.
I've replaced the pintles on my 26- had the lower one sheared off when a 12'-14' foot wave ripped my rudder of last year. Easy, inexpensive replacement to make- took less than an hour- just a couple of bolts. The gudgeons, though, may be considerably more difficult. Word of advice- bring the rudder up onto land- those nuts are just the right size to breeze through your scupper- kerplunk! Little bastards.
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