Thanks Howard and Bill for your info on rudders. Howard, I especially enjoyed the web site and learned much. Now to tackle the job. This group is great. Pam Port Townsend On Sep 3, 2012, at 12:54 PM, Howard Audsley wrote:
Pam:
This might help.
http://m17-375.webs.com/rudderandtiller.htm
The main thing I found was the need to have all the gudgeons lined up before you install it on the boat. I put the rudder pin in before I drilled the second hole for each one. That way they should line up. I was also surprised to find the hole patterns on each one is not identical so if you move them around to different locations, they may go out of alignment. Best to mark each one, Top, Middle Bottom and port or starboard, so they go back exactly the same way each time.
I install the rudder when the boat is still on the trailer, just prior to launching it. Raise it up as high as it will go and it should not ground on the ramp during launch or retrieval. I do not trailer the boat with the rudder installed.
Howard
On Sep 3, 2012, at 11:00 AM, pam and dana wrote:
I'm looking for information about the shape of an M17 rudder. The one that came with our boat did not include a rod so it could slide up and down, so we had one fabricated. Then I find that the gudgeons on the rudder (minus their pintils) are not aligned to receive this rod. If you don't use a rod, how do you install the rudder once in the water? We can't reach far enough to pin it in.
Thanks, Pam Port Townsend