A. J. Matthews #605, Ay Mon

You do not want to try to remove the rudder while it is in the water.

I had my rudder out when I refurbished the pintles and gudgeons on Ay Mon. To remove the rudder, I had to remove the bolts on the pintles (2 each, or 4 for the set) and I ended up removing the gudgeons as well (just because I wanted to get them off too). I don't think I need to go into the removal of bolts that have been under water for some 10-30 some years, with the associated resin and paint holding them on. Besides, mahogany was the wood of choice for Triton rudders and I really don't think you want to allow any more seawater to attack the wood than you absolutely have to.

Before you remove the pintles, remove the rudder post cap and key from the rudder post (use a wrench and a small pry tool, keeping in mind that the rudder post and the cap are bronze (the cap should be chrome plated). Don't go crazy with a hardened steel crowbar or you can plan on replacing the cap when you are done. Some P.B. Blaster (available at any god hardware store) seems to work real good her. Spray it, let it work the start lifting on the cap should do the trick. you may have to do this two or three times though.

Once the Pintles are loose from the rudder (you may have to pry the forks open a little bit to free the rudder), you will be able to slide the rudder and post out of the rudder tube. Make sure to catch the bearings. They shouldn't fall through, but you don't want to let anymore crud get to them and may even want to clean them up and install new O-rings (I believe there are four of two different sizes). If you, investigate the replacement of both (if you can find them -- I doubt it this calls for fabrication $$).

Now that the rudder is out, give it a good inspection. Clean up the rudder post with a SOFT wire brush and some 220 grit paper. Is it PINK? there may be a problem. Electrolysis may have gotten to your post. This is not uncommon, especially when you consider that there are no zinc's for the rudder post. If there is a lot of pink and pitting top the metal, you may want to consider replacing the post (realistically a bent bronze shaft that is screwed onto the rudder and reinforced with layers of Fiberglas cloth and resin. It can be done, but I imagine that it would be expensive for the shaft and bend. But not nearly as expensive as a new rudder.

Give the rudder a good going over as well. Let it dry and re-glas where necessary. But be careful that the rudder doesn't warp or cup. It this has happened, fill in the cup and fair the while rudder with epoxy resin and a suitable filler (Cab-o-sil, Microballoons, etc.).

Reinstall the rudder taking steps in the reverse order as the removal. Spend the few dollars to replace the bolts holding the pintles onto the rudder. you might even want to drill out the old holes, fill and re-drill them for strength. Use only epoxy resin here.

Now if you are going to go through all of that trouble, you may want to read over the suggestions for Pintle and Gudgeon refurbishment in the MIR section of the web page. After all, you would have completed the hard part of the job already.

My original mahogany rudder developed a rather nasty warp, to the point that I could sail around in circles with the tiller tied amidships. The rudder turned out to be concave on ones side and convex on the other. As a fix, the rudder was glassed with epoxy and a layer of light cloth. Then the void was filled with mush made of resin, cab-o-sil and microballoons. Once the mush has cured, the rudder was sanded and faired. Finally, another layer of cloth was added before a final sand a fair.

The result? I sail straight and my mahogany rudder does not touch the water anymore. It works for me.

Pulling the prop off just gives you more room to work. But I would leave the shaft in place. Hell, why you are at it, replace the cutlass bearing too! The bearing should cost you about $20.00. As long as the boat is out of the water, do what you must and what you can.

Steve, #184, Black Dog

I built a new rudder for my boat last winter and it's fairly staightforward. First, you have to remove the tillerhead from therudderpost. Mine had almost become one with the rudderpost and I had to use penetrating oil, a lot of heat from a burnsamatic, and finally a crowbar. After you lift this off, you will find a key which mates the post to the tillerhead and a synthetic bushing. I have heard there were 2 of these but I have only found 1 on my boat. I then dropped the entire rudder by removing the bottom pintle, which allowed enough room to lift the top pintle out of its gudgeon. I found it necessary to dig a hole in the ground to receive the rudder--if this is necessary for you, dig it quick before the ground freezes! My original rudder was built up of mahogony, it's trailing edge was tapered. Mine had 3 bolts and 1 lag pin, all bronze. At least 2 of the bolts had nuts attached to them. The wood was cut away from where the nut would go, it was threaded on, and then some type of epoxy was put in place. I assumed that this was done at the factory but I guess it could have been done at a later time. My shaftine was in almost perfect condition and I used both it and the bolts for the new rudder. I built the new rudder up from plywood sheathed it in fiberglass, and drilled holes into the rudder to accept the bolts/pins--I filled these holes with epoxy before inserting the bolts and glassed the entire stock to the rudder--I feel very comfortable with the rudder's strength. My bearing at the top of the tube was some kind of plastic (esolite?) which didn't wear down the bronze shaft at all. I built the rudder to the same general shape but added about 15-20% more area, most of it down deep. I have almost no weather helm in light/moderate breezes and modersate weather helm in a stiff breeze.

Al, #26, Esprit

The pintles (pins on rudder) and gudgeons (receivers on keel) are best removed with a grinder. Take the heads off the bolts (mine are bronze rivets) then pound the bolt out. This is a fairly simple and straight forward job. You will likely waist your time with efforts to save the bolts (rivets).

Bill Bell, #41, Kialoa

I think the most important concern may well be with the bolts that hold the rudder to the rudder post. You should be able to find where the nuts were fed on to the threaded ends when the rudder was attached to the post. Knock out the filler and see what the metal really is - I know a couple of cases where the metal failed; corrosion set in and the rudder started to separate from the post. Bad news. I rebuilt mine and used ss bolts. I made the new rudder of two layers of laminated 3/8" mahogany, set up in epoxy, the whole assembly faired off and then sheathed in fiberglass set in polyester resin as a final jacket. I did it maybe 18 - 20 years ago and no problems since.

Chris Dowling, #266, WYLLY

On a recent business trip to Rhode Island I found a Triton going through a complete re-fit. Windows were out and the whole interior was removed. A new rudder had been fabricated and was attached. They used heavy stainless steel and it looks like it will out last the rest of the boat! The boat was located at New England Boat Works in Portsmouth, Rhode Island. The owner wasn't around so I wasn't able to contact him.

Mark Parker, #516, All Ways

What I have done in repairing my rudder is use standard Schaffer pintles in the rudder (1/2" pin), then drill out the original gudgeons to 3/4" which allows a nylon bearing (3/4"OD, 1/2"ID) to be placed between the two. I'm not sure if corrosion would be a problem with ss on bronze, but certainly the bronze (and much harder to replace) gudgeons would take the wear. This way wear is no the nylon which is (relatively) easily replaced. The Schaeffer pintle I used was #80-55 (West #163873) It is 7" long x 1 1/2" thick and has too long a pin which will have to be cut off (or the rudder relieved). The West catalog lists them as 'medium' duty, but doesn't elaborate. The are definitely beefier than the originals. Beware - cutting ss is fun (use an abrasive wheel and go slow).

Jay, Emily Ann, #318

My rudder was attached to the rudder post with 2 big lag screws and two bolts. These went through the leading edge of the post and into the rudder, edgewise. The screws just screwed in, and there were two small square cutouts in the rudder used to attach the nuts to the bolts. I just ordered a brand new 1" diameter, 55" long S/S (316) shaft this morning for 120.00. As soon as I put a couple of more coats of epoxy resin on the new rudder (made from cutting out two pieces from 1/2" marine grade plywood in the shape of the rudder and laminating them together with epoxy resin), I'm going to have S/S straps (4) welded to the post. Then the rudder will slide in and be hrough- bolted. This will work fine for me because I no longer have an inboard. I didn't have to cut out the space for the propeller in the rudder. The bottom of the rudder shaft will have a 1/2" pin either welded to it or machined in. This will slide right into a new S/S gudgeon.

Chris Dowling, WYLLY, #266

I wish I had brackets! My rudder post curves around the leading edge of the rudder and stops only 14" from the top. It has four stainless bolts extending into the wood at various depths. These are starting to work loose and have to be refastened soon. I fudged it last season with some 5200 and it looks like it will work for me again this summer. I'll install a carbon fiber rudder next year!!!Yeah right!

lloyd hamilton

I recently experienced the singular/frightening experience of having the rudder on my Pearson Triton (hull # 489) part with the tiller. I was sailing on Tampa Bay at the time. After being towed in by Sea Tow, I swam under the boat and tried to determine the cause of the problem. Other than some delamination along the leading edge of the rudder (boatyard next) I was unable to see how the rudder shaft is connected to the rudder itself. Is there a pin that is used to secure the shaft to the rudder? I noticed that the tiller would pull out of the cockpit floor(the redder shaft connected to it) but didn't want too pull it out more than a few inches. After the tiller was allowed to lay over to one side the rudder post settled to it' original position without any space between it and the cockpit floor as was the case(about a half inch) when in the amidships position. I made this observation the next day, so don't know what the position of the rudder was in relation to the tiller.

Larry Suter, Dogstar, #607

I've never taken off the rudder but once, to remove what became a one bladed prop, I had to take out the (prop) shaft. It was easy. Loosen the two bolts around the coupling between the motor and the shaft. My shaft then slid out quite easily. There's a metal "key" that fits into a grove in the shaft and also a groove in the coupling. Try not to lose that or you'll have to do some running around to get a replacement.

Bernie

I recently refurbished the rudder on our Triton, saturating the mahogany with expoxy, sheathing the whole thing w. two layers of fiberglass cloth, & applying a barrier coat. Now, since I didn't weigh or measure anything, I can't claim anything w. scientific certainty. Nonetheless, the process clearly increased the rudder's weight and noticeably _reduced_ the boat's weather helm.

Lee, LASTOCHKA, #273

I have recently completed a bottom job on my Lastochka (Russian language for swallow) #273. My 5 day bottom job ended up taking closer to 5 weeks. She now has a new shaft and rudder. After 40 years they were a bit tired and waterlogged. The rudder was water saturated so I ground off all the fiberglass, let it dry for 3 weeks then rebedded the shaft attachments. I then applied two coats of 6.5 oz cloth with epoxy resin followed by 4 layers of epoxy barrier coat. I then rebedded the shaft with West high density filler. My shaft had a horizontal electrolysis crack extending from the end back about 3 inches.