Trojan Boat Forum

This was my first season with my 10 meter express. Love that boat. Only issue is auto pilot can not keep up when it gets a bit sloppy. Any 10 meter owners here have rudder extensions? I am thinking of putting extensions on while boat is laid up over the winter and any insight would be appreciated.

I would be surprised if the rudders were the root cause of your issue. The Internationals have good sized rudders, bigger than a lot of other boats of the same size. There's an Express Searay in my marina parking lot, same size as my boat. No exaggeration, the surface area of both Searay rudders is maybe equal to one on my boat.

Do you have play in the steering? There shouldn't be any and can be fixed if there is (i drilled out and installed bushings on my tiller arms which made it like new).

Bob

I experienced the same problem you did before I increased the size of my rudders. Autopilot would trip numerous times throughout the day as I was trolling for trout and salmon in moderate seas. On plane the original rudders are just fine. I don't believe trolling at 600 rpm's was a priority when designing the size of the original rudder. There are at least (5) 10m meter internationals on the south shore of Lake Ontario that have done this. I've been using the larger rudders for 5 years now and I bet my pilot will go days without tripping. CaptG brings up a good point about taking the slop out of your steering. Drilling out and putting new bushings in the tiller arms is an easy job with noticeable results. I also put bushings on top of each rudder shaft "tube" and It's probably tighter that it was when it left the factory.

I have been running a Raymarine Autopilot on my 10 meter since 2003.

It is just as steady at idle as it is at cruise.

I would guess there is some other issue at hand.

Seriously, the factory rudders are ROCK SOLID.

I suggest that you check the bolt that holds the assembly solid to the top of the stringer.

Mine rusted out and caused all kinds of autopilot issues.

Otherwise no need to improve something that has been designed, engineered and proven to be more than adequate.

RWS

I have been running a Raymarine Autopilot on my 10 meter since 2003.

It is just as steady at idle as it is at cruise.

I would guess there is some other issue at hand.

Seriously, the factory rudders are ROCK SOLID.

I suggest that you check the bolt that holds the assembly solid to the top of the stringer.

Mine rusted out and caused all kinds of autopilot issues.

Otherwise no need to improve something that has been designed, engineered and proven to be more than adequate.

RWS

Thanks for the great suggestions. The boat comes out in a week or so and I will check slop and check the bolt on top of the assembly. The auto pilot is a Raymarine st5000 and works well at cruise and even slow speeds, say 5 or 6 mph, or even 2mph on calm days. But as Surestrike mentioned it just won't hold at trolling speeds with some wind and slop.

Surestrike, did you build your own extensions? If so, what size and how did you attach them?

Thanks, Gary

A lot of the coastal guys don't understand how we troll on the Great Lakes.

I know a few folks with the internationals that have extensions or custom made rudders. It may just be what you need.

I'm one of those guys with oversized rudders on my 10M Express. Night and day difference. On the Great Lakes when trolling for Walleye, Salmon, and Trout we troll on one engine at 600RPMs. Any current or wind will kick your AP off. We ran our boat for a year with the original rudders, and we just finished season 4 with the oversized rudders. Wouldn't go back to stock if you paid me! My AP NEVER kicks off now, and will hold on one motor in 6'+ seas.

If all you do is cruise on both engines there is no need for this upgrade. Like mentioned above these boats weren;t designed to troll on one engine at 600 RPMs, but a simple update to the size of your rudders will allow it to.

Also, we have tightened up the linkage between the rudders. That gets sloppy and noisy after the last 25-30 years.

How do you go about getting oversized rudders? I too have a 10M with an autopilot that can give me problems on some days. Because the stock rudders seemed oversized already (compared to other boats), I never thought of that as being the issue. What would I do to find oversized rudders?

davescarrs wrote:How do you go about getting oversized rudders? I too have a 10M with an autopilot that can give me problems on some days. Because the stock rudders seemed oversized already (compared to other boats), I never thought of that as being the issue. What would I do to find oversized rudders?

We had a local machine shop do it.

Mine were custom made as well.

There are some who have extensions made that bolt on, but you best (albeit expensive) route is to have new metal welded on and re-profiled, or completely new rudders.

You did mention that your rudders are oversized already? If you are still have AP problems, you could have slop in the linkage.