New Outback rudder really tight

I just purchased a 2017 Outback after owning a 2013 Outback for years. Am concerned at how tight the rudder controls are in comparison. It requires considerable force to move the rudder in any direction when compared to the older Outback. In addition, the "Down" pulley doesn't seem to swing the rudder all the way down into place. Is this a "new" issue and I should expect it to "wear in"? Or is something inhibiting the rudder pulley system?

Really enjoyed the Mirage 180 as a side note.

Have you tried backing off the hub nut a tad on the rear twist and stow drum?

Loosen the rudder lines, buy a can of good quality silicone spray and spray everything that moves. My 2015 Outback was hard to steer until I loosened the lines, a lot. When I received my kayak the lines were guitar string tight.

Now I check the lines on every Hobie I walk by and they are all way too tight. Many times you see where the lines are cutting into the sleeve. It seems the dealers are setting the lines up too tight from the crate.

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Duncan

Sounds like your steering lines are too tight. You know the whole boat grows and shrinks about an inch or so between cold weather and warm weather, (your rudder lines don't). If you rig the rudder lines in cold weather, they will be way too tight when it gets warmer, or visa versa, if you adjust them when it's hot, they become way too loose when it's cold.
I don't advise spraying any kind of lubricant on any plastic on your boat, (or anything else plastic for that matter). First off the lubricants attract sand and grit, and second most lubricants attack plastics. Many of the parts that rub against each other on your boat are made from Acetal plastic, which is water loving and self lubricating. It's best to just flush with clean fresh water and let dry. If the rudder is clean but still difficult to swing up and down, there is a nut in the center you can loosen to allow some play, ( a little sloppy is ok). I know on mine (we are in salt water a lot), there is a white gummy film on everything (from the salt), that needs to be taken apart and cleaned periodically, if you don't rinse everything off really well. Usually when I come home I squirt the rudder and all the plastic really hard with the water hose. We have a lot of fine sand down here in Florida, that gets into everything, especially the round hatch seals, the round hatch seals are the exception on lubricants, they need to be kept free of sand and grit, and a light lubrication (I use either silicone spray or Armour-all on the hatch seals), I'm sure others have good solutions as well.
Hope this help
FE

I have the same issue on my rudder up & down controls on my brand new Outback, steering is fine, just getting rudder up or down takes quite a bit of effort compared to my old Hobie...especially getting it up, almost doesn't work (please spare the Viagra jokes ) I have the new Camo series with the larger rudder, I don't know if that has something to do with it? Any suggestions?

DonD.....If you installed the sailing rudder on your Outback, based on my own experience, it does take more "pull" to deploy and raise the rudder due to its additional weight Vs the standard rudder.

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Dr.SteelheadCatcher
Warrenton, OR

Pretty sure that will be the "hub nut" on the twist and store drum at the back. Sometimes if too tight it can hold the rudder too firmly in the locating notch at the back in the deployed position, slackening the nut will help it release more readily.

Turning the rudder while lifting can give it some momentum as well.

Larger rudder is harder, especially if anchored in tide flow. I always lift it when anchored in tide otherwise it prevents you sitting straight as the tide will defect it to one side.

So much advice! Here's my 2 cents worth....

If you're backing off the hub nut, you only need a schosh -- more than 1/8 turn is too much. It shouldn't allow wobbling.

If you want to reduce friction, use silicone spray. It leaves no sticky residue and you can lube to your heart's content -- lines and all. It will not attract dirt and grit. I've been using it on the rudder assembly for years!

Don't mess with your up/down rudder lines -- leave the factory slack. Left and right lines should have no slack when your rudder is down, locked and centered. I prefer some tension in the lines as it keeps the rudder control from drifting. Any slack in your L/R lines will allow your rudder to drift, causing you to constantly be correcting.

If lifting the large rudder is a concern, work the rudder left and right as you raise it for an easier lift. Likewise, when hauling it down, left and right rudder with tension on the line, while moving, will snap it in place firmly.

So silicone lube to get it up easier?

I just took my 17 Outback out for the 1st time yesterday and the rudder was noticeably more difficult to move than my old 04 Outback. I muck prefer the new one as I'm not having to constantly make corrections.

Thanks for all the input. I thought I had fixed the issue with a little Armour All. A couple of sprays and a clean rag seemed to do it. However, out today the rudder got stiffer and stiffer as the day progressed. Finally, I called it quits and came in. I will try spraying the rudder assembly and all the accessible lines with Silicone. The Armour All did fix the twist and stow rudder mechanism. It now operates as I would expect it to.

I will post the results of the Silicone treatment.

Upon lifting and lowering or steering?

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Matt Miller
Former - Director of Parts and Accessory Sales
Warranty and Technical Support
Hobie Cat USA
(Retired 11/7/2022)

Steering only. It got so bad, I was concerned that the lines might snap. This is near the end of a 3 hour stint.

The silicone lubricant has helped quite a bit. There is no binding at the rudder assembly. It moves freely left or right and deploys and stows smoothly.

However, I noticed that the steering line on the right side, as you face the bow, has dug into the grommet to a point where it will be hitting the hull in no time. It looks as if the hole on this side was drilled too far to the right when compared to the left side. Any suggestions? Is there a grommet that has a slight turn to the left or will I need to remove this one and drill another hole to the left of the current one?

When I tested the steering from the controls, it is still tight but no where nearly as bad as it was yesterday. Seems I might have something binding the line somewhere. Is there a schematic that shows the actual rigging so I can troubleshoot this?

Using a mirror, you can look inside through the hatches to see if there is something obvious. You'll see that those "grommets" are the ends of tubes that enclose the lines once inside the stern (shown in pic. below.


Notice the routing around the rear hatch (they route on both sides) and the retaining brackets (you can slip them in and out).

If you locate the worn tube, you can try to push it out the stern about an inch and rotate it so the worn side is now on the opposite side. Give a generous shot of silicone spray where the line enters the tube and see if that helps.

Thanks Roadrunner! I will follow your advice and give this a shot. What worries me though is this Outback is only two months old and only has 4 fishing trips. None of these problems with the 2013 version. Hate to think what four years is going to be like.