Rudder ropes

[chadwiseman]

My two rudders have a rope to raise and lower them. When lowered how does one secure the rope as I’m always nervous leaving it loose around the motor prop? I use to tie it on to the cleat but I’m realizing now it could result in rudder damage if I strike anything

[pitchpolehobie]

26x here. My PO used 1 continuous rope that he ran thru a cleat for each rudder. That way the lengtg of rope is never long enough to get near the prop and it seems tidy. Unfortunately I cant get a pic for a few days but i will try asap.

[leefrankpierce]

Can not find a pict that shows it either, but the 1 rope through the cleat is what I do.

[45Plus+]

Is this an "X" specific thing? My M has a rope loop which I always assumed was to hold the rudders up and down. Now you got me thinking about hitting something with the rudders tightly secured in the down position. Mind you, one can't have them floating up either if not tied down. I will be interested in reading posts on this.

[Starscream]

My two rudders have a rope to raise and lower them. When lowered how does one secure the rope as I’m always nervous leaving it loose around the motor prop? I use to tie it on to the cleat but I’m realizing now it could result in rudder damage if I strike anything

The rudders each have two holes in them, with a continuous loop-line running up THROUGH the base-legs of the stern cleat and the other one down and then back up through stern-mounted fairleads. One side of the loop-line is used as an uphaul, and the other a downhaul to make sure the rudders are all the way down. You have to run them as I show in the photo below. If the rudder lines are the right length, then when the rudders are down, you can simply loop them three or four times around the stern-cleats but without tying them off. Three or four loops will keep the rudders full down, even through weeds, but will allow the rudders to kick up if they hit bottom.



It IS important at the stern-cleat to thread the line through the base-posts of the cleat; if it isn't run through there then the loop can drop down in the water and get caught in the prop.

Let me know if you need more info and I'll grab a video or better photos tomorrow.

[Starscream]

Oh yeah, I already made a video about this:

https://1drv.ms/v/s!Ag0w1ybOLvphk4kDECb ... g?e=YaTZhJ

[chadwiseman]

Thanks seems like I tie them off like others but i don’t understand how they’ll kick up if they are tied off to a cleat.

[dlandersson]

Ditto

26x here. My PO used 1 continuous rope that he ran thru a cleat for each rudder. That way the lengtg of rope is never long enough to get near the prop and it seems tidy. Unfortunately I cant get a pic for a few days but i will try asap.

[pitchpolehobie]

Thanks seems like I tie them off like others but i don’t understand how they’ll kick up if they are tied off to a cleat.

With this setup they wont kick up. If i am mototing near questionable or shallow water I undo the cleathitch and do not secure the rudders down. The issue with that is that if they arent snug in their bracket they lift back begin to introduce tons of drag and severely affect the steering. I believe some have made plastic or wooden dowels to assist with kickup in the event of a grounding which would be an alternative to my method.

[Starscream]

Thanks seems like I tie them off like others but i don’t understand how they’ll kick up if they are tied off to a cleat.

The way I do it in the video, they aren't cleated with cleat knots, they are just wrapped around the cleats with a few loops. When the rudders ground, the loops will unwind and allow the rudders to kick up. I've done it a few times, it works really well. The loops give enough friction to keep the rudders full-down against the flow of water and weeds, but hitting anything solid will force the loops to unwind. It's still a hard hit, but the rudders don't break and neither do the lines.

Make sure you press play on the video link I posted. In the video, the rudders START in the up position, fully cleated off, but you'll see the rudders come down and how I loop the lines around the cleat.

[pitchpolehobie]

Very handy i will try that around shallows.

[Dougiestyle]

I like it. Thou shall be done. Thanks

[March]

The cleats are sort of T-shaped, right? There's enough room under the upper part of the T which sits on two "legs," with a little gap between them to thread the rudder ropes through it and let the loop loose. Works pretty well!

[DaveC426913]

Someone a long time back made a mod with auto-releasing cleats. They would stay cleated under normal pressure but with a strong enough kick the cleats would release. I can't remember who or what the cleat was called but I'm pretty sure it was store-bought, not custom.

Ah yes. They're called "auto-release cleats".
https://duckworks.com/auto-release-clamcleats/