Trailer with rudders on?

Is it advisable to take the rudders off when trailering?

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1981 H16.
1993 Macgregor 26S

For long distances, definitely. For shot distances on rough roads, probably.

Brian C

I'm 20 minutes from the beach. I've been trailoring my 16 on paved streets for 3 years. So, far, so good. I might add that I replaced all the bearings bushings and cams shortly after I started using it.

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Happy Sailing,

David

We talked about this quite a bit in another thread a while back, but there was one thing I never understood. Those of you who take your rudders off, do you remove the bolts and tie everything down, or do you remove the pins and take off the whole mess.

It seems to me there are issues with both. I have decided to accept the wear and tear, but then again, I don't have new boat and might feel different if I did...or raced. Assuming I just remove the rudders, that leaves the rudder castings & crossbar complete unattached (not to mention spacers if you have em), which means you need to tie that down, or better yet remove that as well. Option 2 means you have to find a place to store that bulky, and somewhat heavy piece of gear.

Which way do those of you who remove the rudders go?

Yeah, I figure that for short distances I'll lash the rudders in place and then remove them on the long hauls. The only regret I have so far on the trailer is that I had to replace the rims/tires before I brought it home when I bought it. In my haste I didn't realize that I could have bought 4.80-12 or 5.30-12 instead of the original 4.80-8's. I'm sort of leary about going any distance with those little wheels. Especially since the highways in this part of the country play out a never ending eposode of "Mad Max", doing only 55 or 60 here can be a recipe for some serious damage...unless you're in one of our wonderful standstills in which the soccer mom on the cell phone rear ends you (Nothing can be done about that though). That's why my Harley is 14 years old and only has 23,000 miles on it!

I hate to do it but after spending $95 on two 4.80-8's I guess I'm gonna have to get three 12 inch rims, probably go with the 5.30's since they're the same price. I'd try to return them but I lost the receipt and the stickers are messed up from the 4 miles they were towed. Maybe I can recoup some of the loss eBaying them off.

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1981 H16.
1993 Macgregor 26S

Because I tow not less then 45 minutes to the closest lake and up to 2.5 hours to the bigger ones, I remove the rudders.

Pull the pins and fold them up, they will lay across the back of the tramp pointing forward. Use couple of good strong bungies to hold them in place.

It only add about 5 minutes to setup and tear down.

Sam

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Sail Like you Have a Pair
Bluish gray 73 - 83 H16
Super Nice Yellow 84 H18

Doc Thirst,

Pull the pins and remove the whole shebang, but before you do this remove the bolt/spacer/spring/nut at one side of the tiller crossbar. With the rudders down (provided enough ground clearance) you can swing the upper arms straight up (carefully fold the crossbar down parallel to one upper arm) remove bottom cotter pin from rudder hinge pin, pull pin straight up and both sides are removed somewhat intact. You can lay them diagonally across your trampoline and lash them down for transport. Careful not to put too much pressure on the cross arm still connected, don't want to bend or break the spacer, bar or arm. Don't tie your sails/boom on top of them for the same reason. Make sure you have spare parts if you drop something. Re-assembling, tighten the crossarm bolt just snug, give the joint a chance to work.

This is where and why the M20 connectors pay for themselves in the time and effort. The slop removed from the crossarm is impressive and, removed more often, your castings will be tighter longer.

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HCANA Class Member

Another reason I pull off the rudders each time I trailer it is that most of the places I go seem to have really poor quality ramps with no room for backing. (ridiculous 90 degree corners with trees overhead that hit the mast except for in very limited spaces).

It just makes it easier to navigate around without an extra couple feet sticking out the back.

But I just pull up the crossbar, hold it gently on my shoulder, and pull out each of the pins one by one. Then I just swing the arms together, and throw it in the cat box. It's also a suprisingly huge difference in walking around the cat when rigging if they are not on there.

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Peter Scranton
'14 Tandem Island "Awesome"
'03 Windrider Rave "Menage a Trois"

Thanks guys, great info.

Swampcreek: I've trailered H-16s on 8 inch tires long distance (200-400 miles each way) several times per year since about 1996. This includes mostly interstate travel at 70-80 mph. Never had a single problem with the small tires. As with any tires, check inflation regularly. I run mine around 45- 50 psi, well under the maximum pressure (which is for maximum load). Otherwise, with the light load, they wear out prematurely down the middle.

I do think 12 inch tires would be better, and I've always planned to switch when I had two that were ready to be replaced.....hasn't happened yet. I certainly wouldn't drop the cash on 12 inchers if I had brand new 8 inchers.......spend it on something for the boat instead!

BTW....Long distance I've always taken the rudders off. (Have the Hobie 20 tiller connectors now, so it's a breeze.) Short distance, I leave 'em on and bungie the crossbar so they don't drop.

Jerome Vaughan
Hobie 16
Clinton, Mi'sippi

Thanks for the assurance Jerome. Since the powerboat motor decided to mix her crankcase oil with seawater yesterday , it looks like our upcoming vacation will be exclusively catt'n around. Those small tires made me pretty nervous, I was going to replace them right away. I'll just put the word out around here and let the 12" rims find me, it'll take awhile but they're around.

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1981 H16.
1993 Macgregor 26S