26M trailering: hold rudders up and lock steering?

[Idiotfool]

I didn't realize I should lock up my rudders until my second outing with my Mac. I used some nuts and bolts, but the bolts were too long and the rudders moved back and forth and gouged the gelcoat a bit.

Recently, I bought some cotterless clevis pins from Lowe's, but they rusted out and seized in the hole after two months outside, in the trailer, never even being exposed to the marine environment.

What do others do or use to ensure the rudders don't fall while trailering? Do you lock your steering somehow to keep the rudders from moving?

Thanks!

[kingtoros]

To keep them up I use the raising rope tied off on the cleat. The engine has ears or feet that drop down when fully raised to prevent the port/starboard motion I think you're talking about.

[NiceAft]

I use stainless steel bolts and locknuts to lock up the rudder.

They are just long enough to transit the thickness of the rudder. I then secure the raising ropes to the cleat; just as a backup.

[Be Free]

I didn't realize I should lock up my rudders until my second outing with my Mac. I used some nuts and bolts, but the bolts were too long and the rudders moved back and forth and gouged the gelcoat a bit.

Recently, I bought some cotterless clevis pins from Lowe's, but they rusted out and seized in the hole after two months outside, in the trailer, never even being exposed to the marine environment.

What do others do or use to ensure the rudders don't fall while trailering? Do you lock your steering somehow to keep the rudders from moving?

Thanks!

I have a small hole in the corner of each rudder that I run a rope through when they are raised. A rope run around the rudders when they are raised would work almost as well.

If the engine is raised and then turned all the way to one side it is unlikely to move while trailering.

[Jimmyt]

I didn't realize I should lock up my rudders until my second outing with my Mac. I used some nuts and bolts, but the bolts were too long and the rudders moved back and forth and gouged the gelcoat a bit.

Recently, I bought some cotterless clevis pins from Lowe's, but they rusted out and seized in the hole after two months outside, in the trailer, never even being exposed to the marine environment.

What do others do or use to ensure the rudders don't fall while trailering? Do you lock your steering somehow to keep the rudders from moving?

Thanks!

I use red safety lines on the rudders and ladder. I also use the rudder uphaul lines for redundancy. I use a bungee on the steering wheel to keep the steering straight.

[Idiotfool]

Thanks, all!

I think I'll follow your simple solution, JimmyT. I came across it after I posted and I like that you can easily remove the security lines even under way if you forgot.

[Idiotfool]

I changed my rudder lines today and repurposed an original to be a safety line. Two large bowline loops slipped around the mast carrier and looped over the ladder and I'm good to go, now. There's enough play that I can slip the loops off, but only just. Seems unlikely that these would come undone while trailering.



I may swap over to a snap clip at some point and tighter loops, but this seems good enough, for now, and I won't have to get wet if I forgot to undo my safeties before motoring out.

[Jimmyt]

I changed my rudder lines today and repurposed an original to be a safety line. Two large bowline loops slipped around the mast carrier and looped over the ladder and I'm good to go, now. There's enough play that I can slip the loops off, but only just. Seems unlikely that these would come undone while trailering.



I may swap over to a snap clip at some point and tighter loops, but this seems good enough, for now, and I won't have to get wet if I forgot to undo my safeties before motoring out.

I'm assuming that your rudder uphaul lines are tight and made fast also, such that your safety loops are redundant.

My safety lines are basically a slip knot arrangement made by passing the free end of the line through a loop at the other end. This gives a firm grip on the rudder that can be undone from the transom.

I don't think yours will come off if all of your lines are under tension. I just feel better that mine are tight on my rudders. Your boat, your rules.

[Idiotfool]

Yes, this arrangement is just redundant back-up since the main rudder lift lines are made fast. I'm still going to test this at speed with additional redundant security measures but, for now, the tests I've done shows that this arrangement holds the rudders well when I loosen the lift lines.

[OverEasy]

Hi!

Didn’t realize that the Mac26M rudders stuck out so far in the up position!

On our Mac26X the udders come up almost vertically!
The Mac26X rudders also a ‘safety bolt hole’ that aligns with the hinge bracket but give the rudders are plastic and weigh a bit we’ve decided not to temp the leverage gods using them.
The out haul lines leverage is also a bit awkward for road travel so we use a pair of bungee straps wrapped around the rudder blade when up to tension them and are run back to the out haul cleats. They work like a pair of champ! Easy and no hassle to remove once on the water! The bungee straps are easy to store and have found other uses when underway securing odds-n-bobs.

Id like to figure out a way to get better out haul leverage as the rudders seem to be a bit stiff on release to raise them up when in the water…. Any ideas anyone?

On the advice of our very nice PO we raise our engine, flip the support brace down and lower the engine to engage the support to relieve the strain on the hydraulics. This gives us an engine balanced over the transom and great ground clearance. We bag the prop and hang red streamer flags on it to keep the tailgaters at bay. We also center the engine and tie off the steering wheel to the pedestal to keep the engine balanced on its mount and avoid side loading of the hinge pivot assembly whilebounce down the road.

We’d be really miffed if we crack a rudder due to the strain caused by the ‘safety pin’!
We’d also be miffed if we ever forgot to remove said ‘safety pin’ after launching!!
Talk about self inflicted injury.. .. The bull sharks down south would just love for me to do that! )

Best Regards,
Over Easy

[Tomfoolery]

On the advice of our very nice PO we raise our engine, flip the support brace down and lower the engine to engage the support to relieve the strain on the hydraulics. This gives us an engine balanced over the transom and great ground clearance. We bag the prop and hang red streamer flags on it to keep the tailgaters at bay. We also center the engine and tie off the steering wheel to the pedestal to keep the engine balanced on its mount and avoid side loading of the hinge pivot assembly whilebounce down the road.

I use a dock line to wrap around the rudders, which are almost straight up, tied to the dock cleat on each side. I need that line for launching anyway, so once it's removed, it's prepped on the dock-side cleat and ready for deployment. Same with the dock line for the bow, which I use to support the mast from side-to-side sway using the genoa fairleads and the winches, with the loop over one winch, and the bitter end taking a turn around the other then cam cleated next to that winch.

As to the engine, since it's nearly balanced when all the way up, I flip down the lock but I don't sit the engine on it. The load on that little cylinder is tiny compared to what it experiences when trimming the OB against the thrust of the prop at the bottom of that long leg. And yes, I actually analyzed it - I know, I know, but it's what I do for a living, so it's a Busman's Holiday of sorts.

It has a relief valve which will prevent overpressure, but actual pressure while trailering is puny, in part because of the near balanced state of the OB, and also because of the mechanical advantage with the OB all the way up. That 'advantage' is actually a severe disadvantage with it all the way down, but trimmed up slightly. It's designed to handle it.

I stick a light board on the lower leg of the OB for travel on the highway, too. Puts those Harbor Freight LED trailer lights right in the tailgater's face, and makes my stop/turn/tail lights far more visible to truckers who may not see the trailer lights tucked so far forward under the boat. They also have side marker lights, so I don't have an issue with such a long overhang beyond the trailer's side markers. I even added a white backup light, which is helpful in dark marinas at night.

[OverEasy]

Hi Tomfoolery!

What an interestingly good idea …Trailer lights AND a trailer light bar!

Our Sea Lion trailer lights are a bit forward of the stern when Over Easy is on it.
The idea of the auxiliary/additional lights is intriguing….
Wonder if it would be possible to actually incorporate them to the stern of the boat???

We’ve been toying with running a heavy gauge 12 VDC boat battery charging line from the van to the boat.
Would make the electrical input on the stern anyway so putting on those new bright small diameter LED trailer lights wouldn’t be potentially much more work … could add a removable red center running/brake light to the lower unit or prop of the engine as well.

Your addition of back-up lights is a good one but the current trailer connection doesn’t appear to support that function as it is.
Guess we could always consider putting the back-up lights on a manual selected switch in the van would have to remember to turn it off though.

Thanks for sharing a great idea!

Best Regards
Over Easy

[Tomfoolery]

I brought a 5-wire cable to the rear with 5-flat receptacle on the end, zip tied to the goal post on the driver's side. The light bar just plugs into that, so the cable is short.

[OverEasy]

Hi Tomfoolery!

What a slick mod!
Clean, simple and highly effective!
That is so nice.




(The added bonus is it looks like a face staring back at the following traffic! Glaring eyes and cheeks when the brakes are tapped! Sweet!)


We can see a derivative design in our future!
Too nice not to.
We’ll make sure that you get the credit if anyone asks!

Best Regards
Over Easy

[Tomfoolery]

Hi Tomfoolery!

What a slick mod!
Clean, simple and highly effective!
That is so nice.




(The added bonus is it looks like a face staring back at the following traffic! Glaring eyes and cheeks when the brakes are tapped! Sweet!)


We can see a derivative design in our future!
Too nice not to.
We’ll make sure that you get the credit if anyone asks!

Best Regards
Over Easy

Those are all running lights; no brake lights, though they're in the same units, two on each side. And yeah, I had no idea until I took the pic and looked at it. Reminds me a little of "Kilroy was here", but I'm guessing it's fun for kids following at a distance.