Trojan Boat Forum

Is it cost effective to have a bent rudder repaired/straightened or should I opt for a new one? Finally got my F-26 on a trailer this week but unfortunately I set the bunks about 1/2" too low and the rudder hit a low spot in my driveway and bent about 20 degrees. Funny because there was no rudder to ground contact coming up the ramp. Good lesson learned.

Thanks!

I would give it a try ,what have you got to lose ?

I just pulled my f308 from utah to new york on my trailor. i seemed to have bent a rutter as i bottomed out coming up the dirt road to my home. i dont have a solution for you but am interested in what you find out and what you decide to do. i was going to try and take the rutter off as i also need to reseal them and then send it out to be bent back. i believe mine are bronz because of all the green color on them. while im doing this im going to sentd one prop in to same place for straightening. good luck and i will be looking at your replys. gary ga

My port rudder is bent ( rudder shaft ) I will try to straighten it .
I think your rudder is bronze with a SS shaft. (mine is )


Gary glad to see the boats home . how did the tow go ?

I just went through this. Cant fix em, but I wish you luck none the less.

If you can get it out of the bearing assy, and if the shaft is bronze, you can straighten it in a hydraulic press. I did.

Thanks for the replies. Anyone happen to know the size of the
F-26 rudder/shaft if I do end up having to replace it? I'm going to price one out just to see what the going rate is.

I've got a schematic of the rudder assembly bracket, collar, etc from my F-26 owner's manual. I can email it to you (pdf). At least you'll know how it comes apart!

randyp wrote:I've got a schematic of the rudder assembly bracket, collar, etc from my F-26 owner's manual. I can email it to you (pdf). At least you'll know how it comes apart!

Thanks Randy I appreciate the info.

james_20_mil@hotmail.com

Anyone happen to know the size of the F-26 rudder/shaft?

Stock size is 1" dia. I upgraded to 1.25" dia a few years ago, and put on a larger rudder while I was at it.

One of my favorite tricks is to dig a hole in the ground under the boat (hopefully she is blocked up on gravel or grass, not sitting on pavement) to drop the rudder down far enough to remove the rudder shaft from the stuffing box. If you can't drop the rudder down below grade, you will have to jack the boat up pretty high to get the rudder out of the stuffing box.

Chuck [/quote]

Funny you mentioned digging a hole. I was thinking the same thing today while looking at the poor old rudder. I'm on a trailer and on relatively soft ground so the "hole trick" seems like my best bet. I priced out a new rudder today at $300 and was informed the rudder on my boat is bronze with a bronze shaft.

I'm having a heck of a time getting the rudder out. I was able to get all the hardware removed with no problem. I was actually able to get the rudder to drop about 5 inches now she's being stubborn. I saturated it with liquid wrench and I'm hoping that will do the trick tomorrow morning. Otherwise I'm going to have to put some heat on it.

Did you loosen/ remove the packing nut ? also check for burrs in the shaft . I would think twice about heat theres fumes in the bilge

Make a lever out of 2 2x4s and bolt them together around the rudder,make the sandwich very tight.After you have it together have someone stand on the lever for down pressure and walk the lever back and forth.I did this with very good results.

prowlersfish wrote:Did you loosen/ remove the packing nut ? also check for burrs in the shaft . I would think twice about heat theres fumes in the bilge

All the hardware is removed, just have 32 years of salt/corrosion build up on the shaft making it difficult to remove. If I end up applying heat I'll torch it from the outside. I'll have my gas free detector and ram fan set up just in case.