Trojan Boat Forum

Hey gang,

‘74 F32. My port rudder seems to be loose—as it’s able to move up and down with some force. Is there a set screw or a pin that I need to tighten or install? Plan to monkey with it tomorrow or Friday after work.

Thanks

A little up and down is not abnormal. I would inspect the parts inside for wear.
How much is it going up and down? Is the rudder dropped down more than the other from the rudder port?

Back story—winds blew the water out of the creek and the boat was on bottom. Pushed the rudder up—and water started to seep. Put my foot on the top of the rudder and it went back down. Seeping stopped. My starboard side rudder never moved. Port moved Maybe 4”?

Briank117 wrote: ↑Thu Mar 10, 2022 9:03 am Back story—winds blew the water out of the creek and the boat was on bottom. Pushed the rudder up—and water started to seep. Put my foot on the top of the rudder and it went back down. Seeping stopped. My starboard side rudder never moved. Port moved Maybe 4”?

Sorry I missed your up date. 4" is a lot. Did the rudder port move? Any photos?

Hi gang just an update—

Everyone please check all your mounting hardware for the steering bar that connects both rudders. My starboard mounting plate had no nuts on the 4 carriage bolts that keep it in place; thus when the boat sat on bottom it was able to push up. I assume they were removed at some point and never reinstalled—and with the carriage bolts facing down, I never saw they were missing. I went ahead and installed larger fender washers and lock washers on everything back there so I know everything is tight.

Are you talking about the rudder port/ packing box? if so the carriage bolts come up from the bottom of the hull they go thru a bronze plate with square holes for the carriage bolts then thru the hull and rudder port.

No not the actual rudder box, I’m speaking of the wooden brace that runs between the stringers—the top of the rudder runs through it. I don’t now the technical term for it

Are you talking about this piece of the framing, that I think the top bearing (?) it attached to?

I believe in our config the rudder arm is above the top bearing, not below it as shown in this diagram.

Yes that’s it! My “framing boards” if we’re calling them that, are carriaged-bolted to two other boards that are sister’ed (bolted) to inside of the stringers, and I think also support the gas tanks. From your picture it looks like yours are directly lagged to the top of the stringer, which I wouldn’t mind doing if the boards were longer. Mine is a ‘74 FWIW.