Ruddercraft Lower Pintle Failure

[Rltgold]

If anyone is interested in going in on having better pintle fabricated let me know. I am currently working on researching pricing.

 

[Gene Neill]

Hello all Catalina 22 owners. My name is Jason and I am the owner of Rudder Craft. I am also a proud sailor of a Catalina 22. I sail my Catalina 22 as often as the schedule and weather allows. I rarely visit forums but a nice customer of ours recently brought this thread to my attention, so I wanted to respond to the pintle concern. It is true that we occasionally have a pintle fail. However to put things into prospective we have approx 4,000 kickup rudders that are being used every season with more added every year. On average we have 2-3 pintles fail each year. This puts the failure rate at about .0005 or .05%. Of course we would prefer the failure to be zero and strive to meet that goal but perfection is not obtainable for anyone. The warranties we offer on our products are far superior to any other product from any company that is in the marine industry. Here at Rudder Craft we strive to offer the best compromise between quality, performance, longevity and value pricing. Just like with any and all products that we all use there is always a compromise. While I am certain that Ford Motor Company could make cars that breakdown less, what would the cost be? Maybe your new car would cost $50K instead of $40K? We do our best to continue to improve products while still keeping pricing at a reasonable level. By us providing a good product and a good price we are able to serve the sailing community and help to keep it moving forward. 99% of our customers are very happy with our products. 100% satisfaction is of course the goal but that will never be achievable by us or by anyone.

Sorry man. That doesn't help. I actually felt better about Ruddercraft BEFORE reading this. All I'm hearing is, you're okay with 2-3 pintles breaking each year. "Nobody's perfect" and "it's a small percentage" doesn't cut it with me.

The comparison to automobiles breaking down doesn't work, either. This is a RUDDER, not a motor. Do I need to explain to you how critical a rudder is? Ford doesn't have 2-3 steering wheels falling off every year, and they make one hell of a lot more cars than you make rudders.

I also didn't hear you say a thing about the design flaw having been eliminated. Which should have been the very first thing to come out of your mouth ... right after an apology, which I also didn't hear.

I just don't get the feeling you care.

 

[Rltgold]

I agree with you!

 

[morbidfollower]

Hello all Catalina 22 owners. My name is Jason and I am the owner of Rudder Craft. I am also a proud sailor of a Catalina 22. I sail my Catalina 22 as often as the schedule and weather allows. I rarely visit forums but a nice customer of ours recently brought this thread to my attention, so I wanted to respond to the pintle concern. It is true that we occasionally have a pintle fail. However to put things into prospective we have approx 4,000 kickup rudders that are being used every season with more added every year. On average we have 2-3 pintles fail each year. This puts the failure rate at about .0005 or .05%. Of course we would prefer the failure to be zero and strive to meet that goal but perfection is not obtainable for anyone. The warranties we offer on our products are far superior to any other product from any company that is in the marine industry. Here at Rudder Craft we strive to offer the best compromise between quality, performance, longevity and value pricing. Just like with any and all products that we all use there is always a compromise. While I am certain that Ford Motor Company could make cars that breakdown less, what would the cost be? Maybe your new car would cost $50K instead of $40K? We do our best to continue to improve products while still keeping pricing at a reasonable level. By us providing a good product and a good price we are able to serve the sailing community and help to keep it moving forward. 99% of our customers are very happy with our products. 100% satisfaction is of course the goal but that will never be achievable by us or by anyone.

While I appreciate you taking the time to visit the forum and respond, I feel like 2-3 failures a year is something that should be looked into. Not making a design change to correct the problem and continuing to just deal with failures is not a very good business model imo. Clearly whoever is welding your rudders should be doing a better job if the welds aren't strong enough to handle the loads experienced. Your product is anything but cheaply priced and I have been thoroughly pleased with mine so far, but its not really something I want to be worrying about. If I could hit the lottery 2-3 times out of every 4000 played I'd probably be off this forum and over at the mega yacht site. My rudder breaking can equal either an inconvenient day or a disaster. Please address this issue.

 

[Rltgold]

Gene, I totally agree with you. I was hoping for a much better outcome talking with him. His bottom line is ,He already has the parts. He not going to change anything. It would not be cost effective for him to make them better.
I will be inspecting mine every time my boat comes out of the water.
I asked them to find out how much more an upgraded design would cost. We'll see if I ever even hear back about that???
I am looking around for other manufactures for pricing.

 

[pclarksurf]

And a missed opportunity I might add-- @Gene Neill has clearly improved on the original design in a very tangible way. No doubt he would share his insight with anyone (vendor or otherwise). Why not take some real world expertise and improve what is arguably already a good (could be better) design.

Take the opportunity for continuous improvement and actually sell more widgets.

 

[Rltgold]

I have a question for everyone here.
If it costs $50.00 per Pintle to buy and ship one that we know has a design flaw in it;
What price would you be willing to pay for one that is a new design?
I am currently redesigning one and will be sending it out to be bid on for fabrication. It will also need to be sent to a engineer to have the design checked.

 

[Jacktar]

Send a bid to ruddercraft!

 

[pcharn01]

Anyone know the purpose for this hole?

 

[pcharn01]

While you Ruddercraft guys are doing your off season inspections. Check the welds on the bottom on the vertical stainless tube below the lower pintle… this is what I found. Prob nothing, but I’m inspecting everything with this system.

 

[LakeShark]

While you Ruddercraft guys are doing your off season inspections. Check the welds on the bottom on the vertical stainless tube below the lower pintle… this is what I found. Prob nothing, but I’m inspecting everything with this system.

Might be time to call for a warrantee replacement.

 

[pcharn01]

I spoke with RC, they recommend re-welding the cracked area. Not under warranty because I’m not the original owner. I could buy a replacement part or have it welded. I have the resources to weld it so I’m going that route.

I’m also working on redesign of pintle and gudgeon. Have mocked up in wood… next trip to the boat will check fits and clearances.