Repairing the rudder assembly

[rat of vengence]

Hi fellas, I have another novice question for you. I am replacing worn/brittle ropes on my Maricat 14, and have struck a problem. The rudder levers (Hyfield levers I think?) need the ropes replaced, but the bolt in the top of the lever that holds the rope (between the lever and a washer/cam type device) has frozen in the hole. I tried brute force, but the head of the bolt started turning without the other end moving; I think I was starting to shear the bolt.

 

How the heck do I get this bolt out? I would rather not try to drill it out if there are other options.

 

I did a search of the forum, and noticed in this thread http://www.catsailor.net/index.php?/topic/4993-rudder-setup/ that a fella replaced the Hyfield levers with ClamCleats. Does this work okay?

 

Any advice would be great

 

Dave

[knobblyoldjimbo]

Just hack off the hyfield and replace with a clam cleat (use one of the auto release versions to protect the blades if you hit the ground).  Single block on the downhaul will give you a 2:1 purchase to pull the rudders down.

[humungus2]

I can help with any parts. Email me maricat43@bigpond.com for a parts price list. Regards Mick

[korwich]

A photo is worth a thousand words.  I use a stainless steel runabout steering spring to allow some "give" in the rudder pull down while still keeping tension on the blades to hold them down.  Other guys have used rubber rings or the little rubber gungies that they sell to isolate exhaust system vibrations from the chassis of a car, to achieve the same thing.  I found an aluminum cleat works better than a plastic one as the plastic can wear out easier.

[korwich]

So yes what was in that previous post will work, (I should have really gone and had a look at it first).

 

Phil

[rat of vengence]

Thanks for the replies fellas, I came to the right place I gather the consensus is ditch the Hyfields. So they aren't worth bothering with?

Just hack off the hyfield and replace with a clam cleat (use one of the auto release versions to protect the blades if you hit the ground).  Single block on the downhaul will give you a 2:1 purchase to pull the rudders down.

Thanks mate. With the block did you mean something like what korwich has in the pictures he posted?

 

I can help with any parts. Email me maricat43@bigpond.com for a parts price list. Regards Mick

Sweet! I have done a bit of net searching, and can get a couple of clam cleats from the UK for $45, but would be interested in what you can do

 

A photo is worth a thousand words.  I use a stainless steel runabout steering spring to allow some "give" in the rudder pull down while still keeping tension on the blades to hold them down.  Other guys have used rubber rings or the little rubber gungies that they sell to isolate exhaust system vibrations from the chassis of a car, to achieve the same thing.  I found an aluminum cleat works better than a plastic one as the plastic can wear out easier.

Cheers mate, these pics make it clear for me.

 

Thanks again fellas.

 

Dave

[knobblyoldjimbo]

Camcleat CL257 is what works. It auto releases when you hit the bottom.

 

if you look at Phils pics you'll see the blade downhaul. this has a single block tied to it. You tie one end of another piece of line to the tiller, through the block,then onto the CL257.  2:1 gearing and auto release.

 

you also put a big bit of bungy through the tiller tube, over the blade and through the uphaul hole. 

 

Release the downhaul and the blade pops up.

 

There is a Maricat fitting that does the same thing. More coin though.

[korwich]

The other thing we have been doing is to move the position of the pulley that takes the pulldown rope as far back as we can to give a better line into the top of the rudder blade (so the rope is pulling backwards rather than pulling straight up, when the rudder is in the fully down, toe forwards position).  I even used a small rat tails file to lengthen the slot that the rope and pulley is in to enable me to put the pulley as far back as it could go.  You can see the cast-in indent where the hole for the pulley is supposed to be drilled and how it is forwards of where the bolt and pulley are now.  This mod just allows you to get more leverage to hold your rudder blades down in the right possie with less effort on your behalf.

 

Phil