I own a 12’ Pro Angler 360 with a serial number which ends in 21, and which I bought in October 2021. A couple of weeks ago I was jigging in deep water, using the 360 drive to hold myself stationary over the bottom, when the 360 drive began to jam and make grinding noises. Then it got stuck, pointing at right angles to the keel. I later discovered that the belt in the 360 mechanism had broken. I was a mile and a half from my launch site, and couldn’t remove my 360 drive because it was positioned at a right angle to the drive hole. I removed my fish finder and rod holder from the H-Rails to make it easier to paddle, pushed one pedal forward to bring the fins up against the bottom of the kayak, and paddled back to my launch site. When I got to shore, I climbed out of the kayak in a couple feet of water, reached under the kayak and rotated the drive so it was pointing straight forward, and removed the drive before I beached the kayak. Then I went home.
Here's a couple of initial recommendations: (1) If your 360 drive starts to grind and stick, don’t force it. The belt may merely be out of adjustment. If you force it, you may break the belt. If the belt isn’t broken, you or your dealer may be able to fix the problem with a fairly easy adjustment to the belt tension. (2) If your 360 drive steering mechanism starts to grind and stick, try to gently rotate the drive so it is pointing straight forward, and then leave it there. This will allow you to pedal back to shore, and will allow you to remove the drive before you land. (3) If you can’t rotate your drive using the 360 handle, you may still be able to rotate the drive by hand so it is pointing straight forward. One option is to climb out of the kayak into the water, reach under the kayak, and gently turn the drive. The other is to paddle to shore, roll the kayak on its side, and gently turn the drive. Either option will allow you to pedal your kayak back to your launch site, and may let you complete a day of fishing, although without any 360 maneuvering.
Fortunately, the salesman at the dealership from which I bought the kayak is very knowledgeable about the repair and replacement of Hobie kayaks. He said that Hobie would replace the entire 360 drive steering mechanism under warranty. He said that I could either bring the kayak to the dealership and he would replace the steering mechanism, or he could send me the steering mechanism and I could replace it myself with the assistance of a detailed instructional video -
https://www.youtube.com/embed/UTWFxWeBi ... =light&. Although I’m an experienced DIY guy, the replacement process looked a bit daunting. But because I live 550 miles (about 8.5 hours) from the dealership, and suspected that it could take several days to get the mechanism replaced, I decided to replace the mechanism myself. The salesman shipped the replacement steering mechanism to me. I put my Pro Angler up on sawhorses and was able to replace the 360 steering mechanism. I would watch 30 seconds of the video, perform those steps, and then watch the next section of the video. The new steering mechanism worked fine when the kayak was sitting on sawhorses. However, the first time that I went fishing in the kayak, the 360 steering mechanism made grinding noises and wouldn’t rotate. The salesman diagnosed the problem as being caused by the belt not being tight enough, so I tightened the belt somewhat. The second time I went fishing in the kayak, the steering mechanism still stuck a lot, but I could gently and slowly inch the 360 steering mechanism around if I pedaled slowly while turning the handle. That time I brought the 5/32” hex wrench required to tighten the belt with me. I beached the kayak, pulled out two foam blocks, and tightened the belt further. Finally, the steering mechanism worked perfectly.
Here's a couple more recommendations about what to do if your 360 control belt breaks: (1) If the dealership from which you bought your Pro Angler has a person who is experienced at repairing Hobie kayaks, and specifically 360 drive kayaks, have that person replace the 360 steering mechanism. Then if the replacement steering mechanism doesn’t work perfectly, or later breaks because it wasn’t adjusted properly, you can blame the dealership, and should be able to get a second steering mechanism under warranty. (2) If the dealership from which you bought your kayak doesn’t have an employee who has a lot of experience in repairing 360 drive kayaks, and you have good mechanical skills, you’ll probably do just as good a job at replacing the steering mechanism as somebody at the dealership, with the help of the video referred to above, which is detailed and excellent. (3) Throughout the process of replacing the 360 steering mechanism, I made repeated calls to the salesman from whom I bought the kayak. He had replaced half a dozen 360 steering mechanisms, and his assistance was invaluable. If you can’t locate a knowledgeable person at your dealership or at Hobie who can help you through the process, it will be a lot harder to replace the steering mechanism and get it adjusted properly. (4) In order to replace a 360 steering mechanism, you often need to reach way inside the kayak. If you don’t have long arms, you better enlist a friend with long arms to help you during the replacement process. (5) You’ll need to put your Pro Angler up on sawhorses or something else at least a foot and a half high while replacing the 360 steering mechanism so you can take the 360 drive in and out while doing the replacement. A disadvantage of putting the kayak on sawhorses is that they are so high that when you need to reach way inside the kayak, you’ll need to stand on a stool. So try to find something lower than sawhorses to rest the kayak on while you work on it. (6) An advantage of replacing the 360 steering mechanism yourself is that you will learn how to get the mechanism adjusted, and should be able to fix problems if they arise in the future. For example, if after several years of use the belt in your steering mechanism stretches and begins to grind and jam, you should recognize the problem and be able to quickly fix it by tightening the belt.
So that’s my story. If further issues arise with my replacement 360 steering mechanism in the coming weeks, I’ll update this post.