On my older QCC-700 with the rudder I would like to move the mounting points for the smart track rudder up. I figure the top screw mount would be at the very top of the yack aft end. That would involve some how installing new hard-wear to hold the screws that hold that mounting plate. Anyway, any thoughts on how to do this? Would it be as simple as drilling Two new holes and gluing/ epoxy-ing the hard-wear/ bolts in place??
Yes & other option
– Last Updated: Oct-19-04 12:55 PM EST –
Yes you could drill 2 new holes and some how epoxy the nuts to the underside of the deck .... or make an aluminum plate for the underside spanning both hole locations and drill and tap it (no epoxying required this way). You could also make a top side adapter plate out of aluminum that was drilled for the existing 2 hole locations and drilled and tapped for the new 2 locations .... thus drilling NO NEW holes in your kayak. Bob
Thanks
but the adapter plate wont work as i am still trying to remove all stuff that gets in the waterline. however the beefup plate, with self tapping screws is a good idea. Now I need to see how far back i can reach in my 700… Do they make some kind of Self tapping screw that migt work?
Self tapping
Yes you can get self tapping screws … but ask around for a real tap. 1/4 inch thick aluminum bar 1 inch wide can be bought at Home Depot pretty cheap. Auto stores , even Sears, sell cheap tap sets or even single taps. Helps to have children at times like this that can fit into small spaces … or broom handles with duct tape and lots of patience! This is much easier than epoxying nuts onto the hull … good choice. Bob
yeah
the broom stick idea is a good one!! or my personal favorite lots of ratchet extenstions. you are right about the tap, what i ment was more like one of those expanding wedge type locking devices.
Similar but different
I’m not familiar with how the Sealine is mounted on your 700, but I retrofitted one to my 500 earlier this year. The 500 has the “step” moulded into the deck for a short pin mount. I bought a couple of nylon washers at Lowes and raised the whole mount 3/8 ", and then I modified the tiller plate so it would plug into the housing in the topmost slot. Gained enough height to keep the housing about 1 inch above water level.
But what I really mean to say is that having even a small amount of rudder submerged still works great! So go for it.
Jim
Pretty sure the steps all…
…went away after the switch to SealLine. I’ve seen it on the originals.
No step
Just two screws & a sheet metal bracket that holds the rudder hinge pin. On the QCC 700 with the step the seal line system sits even lower!! I returned one for that reason. I just don’t know why Seal line makes the rudder bracket so freaken huge. Yeah for high Vol boats it works fine. But when the bracket is the same depth as the end of your yack, you’re going to have stuff hanging in the water!! Anyway its an old point. I was actually thinking of welding a tab to the top of the bracket and drilling a Hole in the top of my yack to mount it. I was then going to shave off as much as the sealine bracket that I think is unnecessary with my dremmel tool. Basically I don’t need that huge of a bracket and rudder, as I know with just the housing in the water it makes a pretty good rudder. Anyway my ultimate goal is to raise the bracket up enough that nothing hangs in the water until the rudder is deployed. This will raise the over all undeployed height about 2 inches which I hope to compensate by using a smaller rudder fin. IMHO the stock fin on the 700 is too big!! I think they make smaller fins, if not my dremmel will be modifying it as well!!
No step
I looked at the rudder mount on the QCC site, and from what I can see it should be simple to fabricate a “riser” out of aluminum or SS.
The lower hull mounting hole becomes the lower hole for the riser plate, the upper hole has the lower “C” bracket mounting bolt, and the upper “C” bolt is mounted to the top of the riser.
The bottom of the riser plate might still drag in the water, though. The riser could be fabricated from 1/4" aluminum, or if you have a full-service bike shop nearby you could ask for a couple of Blackburn Rack mounting plates - one comes with each rack, and may not be used. These are SS and could be sandwiched for rigidity.
Jim
BTDT
but the riser plate hangs in the water, makes a nice “T” shape that cups the water. Bottom of T end is attached to yack end… what i want to do is to re-locate the mount to ovoid this completly. Top screw Hole now become bottom Hole. top hole is a new one, some place some how…
Just curious, how thick
is that housing anyway? Do you think this is a drag concern (does it sort of blend with the water flowing off the stern) or does it just bother you that it provides some steering capability even when retracted?
I think if I had that boat and rudder I’d just keep it in the water all the time, and consider the retractabilty feature only for low-draft situations.
Mike
Both
and the faster you go the more noticeable it is. I’ve had pictures taken at a slow cruising speed, and even then it tosses up a sizable spray!! This is an Old problem that i am now just re-attacking i am perfectly satisified with my Skeg-QCC 700. I just want to tweak my older one. Personally I like rudders better then skegs, and If i can get it to work for me then great. I I was really looking for was a way to fasten something to the boat.
How about
doing a little vertical carving off the stern of the boat so that the mechanicals are in tighter and blend a bit better with the hull countour.
I’m just thinking having that whole mess perched up higher is going to look even more aesthically-challenged than it already does.
Mike
yeah
I am trying to limit my mods to the rudder as I think the hull is fine as is, and I thin moding the hull will be more work the moding the rudder, but hey that’s an Idea I hadn’t thought of…
It’s a bit radical but since you
said you had two boats, what the heck…might end up with the best Q700 rudder mount going. They obviously needed to do a bit more engineering work before slapping that new rudder design on there.
Presumbly there’s enough solid resin in the ends such that it would still hold together and not open up any holes.
Mike
Just happened to look at Epic 18
based on discussion elsewhere, very similar-looking boat, same rudder. They do have it perched up like you are trying to do, and have a little fairing ridge rising from the stern deck to try to improve the looks a little.
Mike
Hmm
– Last Updated: Oct-21-04 1:16 PM EST –
Now thats an idea, going to try to find some epic pics now... maybe Glue a chunk of resin or something on the deck and mount the bracket to it and the upper mount hole!
Just be careful, someone here
will complain about all that extra weathercocking sail area…
It looks to me like nice low aft decks and retractable rudders as they exist today just don’t mix. Time for a clean-sheet-of-paper redesign effort.
Mike
yeah
smart trac Almost got it right!!! all they need to do is join forces with the old school rudder systems. Use the Smart track “Non Sliding toe steer” foot braces with the old flip down rudder system with a smart trac foil blade!!
Yup, as you’ve noted it’s
the housing that’s the problem. Not sure why they didn’t anticipate it would be, in at least some instances.
BTW the judgement/guess I made of the Epic approach was based only by looking at the pictures on their website (a bit of squinting required).
Mike