​DIY Canoe Rudder

[Guest]

Shop partner Joel has been wanting to put a rudder on his Wenonah Rendezvous for a couple of years now. Today we had at it.

Joel had picked up a set of gudgeons from Duckworks, but aside from that $15 piece everything else would need to be made or fabricated from stuff in the shop.

http://www.duckworksbbs.com/hardware...anoe/index.htm

A little trial and error tape in place and we calculated the best position for the gudgeon.



The gudgeon needed control arms. Easily fabricated by cutting two triangles from an old aluminum sign and bending a right angle flap on each.

We use the lauan rudder template (Kruger shaped) from the Optima rebuild and it was the perfect size and shape with no additional modification.




A little more saw work and presto, a rudder.





A nicely reflective rudder at that (at least on one side)



A couple of nylon washers and spacers and that puppy works like a charm.





Instead of installing foot pedals Joel wanted to use a pivoting bar attached to the existing foot brace. Because the two sleeved tubes of the foot brace slide during adjustment we couldn’t simply drill a pivot through the foot brace. It needed something trickier.

Something odd. Something something.

20 years ago I had a can of Plastic dip, and knowing it would harden I used it up dipping various objects. Many of which I still have.



This little tool hanger proved to be the ideal solution.



That was some seriously tough spring steel, and we wore out a couple of drill bits making the needed hardware holes. For the rudder control bar we use a piece of anodized aluminum tubing from a rec kayak rebuild



We faked some lines on the control bar and Joel had a test sit in the Rendezvous. He can still lock in on the foot brace and move the rudder with his toes.



The rudder and foot controls are lightweight, easily removable and re-installed and the total cost was less than $20 and a couple of hours in the shop.

I hope to see that rudder in action next week in the Carolinas and later this winter in the Everglades. And when Joel has it tweaked to perfection we’re putting one on my Penobscot.

 

[JoelBeckwith]

No Title

Finished making and running the lines out of Zing-it in a couple hours. Overall I am very pleased with how it turned out.

 

[daveo4]

Hey Joel,

Considering that I was interested in buying your Rendezvous last spring, I'm glad to see you are resurrecting it for more adventures.
Hope to see you before you head south. Stop by the shop.
Regards,
Dave in Annapolis

 

[JoelBeckwith]

Glad I kept it! I used it on the Green last Spring and have a couple of croc filled deep backcountry Everglades trips planned for it this winter! Wish I could come by but leaving in a couple days. Say hi to Dave Y and Lee!

 

[Alan Gage]

Thanks for posting this. Outfitting a couple canoes with rudders is on my agenda for some time this winter and I'm happy to get some good ideas. I like the foot control bar with the pivot in the middle. I never would have thought running the rudder control lines over the gunwales like that would have worked. Are you able to put pressure on the foot brace without pushing on the rudder control bar?

Alan

 

[Hanz]

Neat. I'm sure that took a bit of head scratching to work out.

Looks good.

If you had used a stop sign for the rudder would it have slowed the canoe down?

 

[Guest]

Outfitting a couple canoes with rudders is on my agenda for some time this winter and I'm happy to get some good ideas. I like the foot control bar with the pivot in the middle. I never would have thought running the rudder control lines over the gunwales like that would have worked. Are you able to put pressure on the foot brace without pushing on the rudder control bar?

The rudder lines slide over the gunwales with no loss of function, which eliminated having to drill holes in the hull and makes installation and removal far easier.

The pivoting foot control bar is positioned higher and slightly in front of the foot brace, so the ability to brace and turn the rudder are both present at the same time.

Joel discovered a flaw in our first configuration. Having the rudder retraction line run over the stern deck plate through a pad eye didn’t work, and the rudder lifted and fell when turned from side to side as the line humped up over the tip of the deck plate. The simple solution was to drill a guide hole through the back of the deck plate.

See Joel’s photos and captions for more info – soft shackles, locking brommels and Zing-it line (500 lb test). I know who is putting the lines on my canoe rudder come spring.

The Zing-it line is run through a couple of pop riveted cable guides on each side to keep it under the inwale and away gear when loading or unloading.

I think we were both thrilled with how simple, functional, inexpensive and easy this DIY rudder assembly and installation went. I hope to see it in action in the Carolinas soon, and I’ll make a complete parts list of how many/what sized machine screws, nylon washers and spacers and etc.

The key to making this work is that Kruger-shaped rudder with the curved protrusion at the top to attach a single rudder retraction line. Pull the line and the rudder pivots up out of the water, free the line and gravity drops it down. I’d be happy to mail a paper template of that rudder to anyone who wants to DIY one.

 

[JoelBeckwith]

I still need to install a small bungee running from each side of the footbrace through the foot control to the thwart to make it self centering.

 

[Hanz]

I still need to install a small bungee running from each side of the footbrace through the foot control to the thwart to make it self centering.

I like that idea. That sounds like a handy feature.

 

[JoelBeckwith]

Paddled with the new set up today down a stretch of the Black River in NC. I loved it. The Rendezvous, a boat that I've paddle since the 80's is now perfect. Still turns like a dream but now when I take the paddle out of the water it still goes where I want it to go. We did decide to make a longer rudder for it but it still worked very very well! Thanks Rocky Headlands for the Ideas and helping me solve this puzzle!

 

[Will Derness]

Joel, it was nice paddling with you on the maiden voyage of rudder 1.0. Despite the sensible logic in having that device on the stern, I felt vaguely uncomfortable seeing that on a fine canoe. Be careful of this path you're taking; you may wind up with a motor mount on the stern one day.

I'm interested in how easy you find it dealing with the assembly/disassembly as you use the rudder

 

[Rocky Headlands]

Oh Oh - the rudder / no rudder morals question. The rowboat is the only other boat without a rudder and those guys are forced to go backwards. Rudders offer such a margin of safety in rough conditions, so much better control while fishing and you can take your non paddling friends on any number of trips. Mastering the forward stroke first and acquiring the skills of control strokes as their experience grows has worked for years.
If my brother in law can paddle up and down the length of Lake Powell and my cousin can paddle the perimeter of Big Bend and not play bumper pool with the banks I go for a rudder on any canoe.
Now as far as rudders leading to power boats - there could be some merit there - I do own 3 power boats. Naaah!! Rudders are not a gateway to outboards.

 

[Guest]

Joel, it was nice paddling with you on the maiden voyage of rudder 1.0. Despite the sensible logic in having that device on the stern, I felt vaguely uncomfortable seeing that on a fine canoe. Be careful of this path you're taking; you may wind up with a motor mount on the stern one day.

HA! Truth be told now Willie, you asked me to make a rudder for your Penobscot before we were 3 miles down the river.

I will, but you'll get yours after I get mine.

My thanks as well to Rockie and friends for the design ideas.

 

[Guest]

We did decide to make a longer rudder for it but it still worked very very well!

The longer rudder is ready when you are, just let me know when to ship it south. After seeing your rudder besotten joy paddling the Rendezvous I got cracking on one for the Penobscot. While I was at it I decided to do a mini-production run; three new canoe-sized rudder blades and three sets of control arms cut from old aluminum signs.



The blue and black striped rudder is the Monarch size, 15” long by 5 ¾” wide at the most bulbous, the canoe rudders, mounted higher and needing more meat in the water, are 18 ½” long by 6 ½” bulbous. The increased size of the canoe rudders was a combination of guesstimate from the performance of the smaller rudder on the Rendezvous paddled empty and some size restrictions with the old aluminum sign material. Easy enough to cut things shorter, impossible to cut them longer.

Shapes cut, edges sanded smoothand drilled for 3/16” machine screws/pop rivets with the holes de-burred with a rat tail file. Everything on the rudder assemble is 3/16”, which simplifies assemble or potential repair.

Rudder control arms L-bent and painted. Black for the control arms seemed right, and I always have black spray paint in the shop.



I found stainless steel spring clamps in a hardware store in NC, and have two more sets of gudgeons from DuckWorks. I had no bright yellow spray paint, so I sprung for a can of fluorescent yellow spray paint so the back side of the rudders kinda sorta matches the reflective front side. I’ll add a couple stripes of yellow High Intensity refractive tape for good measure. (Post-painting note: That fluorescent spray paint is crap; lousy coverage and it doesn’t feel near as tough as spray enamel).



Time to put one together. The hardest part* may be the actual assembly of pivoting rudder to gudgeon. Rather than sort through the diminishing boxes of SS machine screws and nylocks I bought the specific hardware needed.

*OK, the hardest part was that I had thrown away the template for the control arm pieces. I remember thinking it seemed wrong then I tossed it in the trash. Note to self – never discard templates.

First, a dry test fit, to make sure the machine screw holes in the gudgeon and two control arms match up. Dang, that all lined up nicely. I wonder what I over looked?

We overlooked an order-of-work flaw in manufacturing the rudder on Joel’s Rendezvous. The furthest astern holes on the control arms & gudgeon do not get a machine screw (the rudder needs to pivot up through that open space), but those last two holes could use a short pop rivet to hold the sides of the gudgeon and control arms held together.

Those pop rivets need to go in first, while it is still possible to spread the arms of the gudgeon to seat a pop rivet. Two 3/16” x ¼” pop rivets and a couple of washers do the trick.



Next up, the spacer at the front end of the gudgeon to keep the center pivot point open. One ¼” nylon spacer, one 1” machine screw and nylock.



Lastly, the finicky part, getting the rudder, sandwiched between two nylon washers aligned in the gudgeon arms. A hint: that part is far less finicky frustrating if you temporarily glue the washers to either side of the rudder blade so they aren’t slipping and sliding out of position during the assembly.

Another hint: While you are assembling that multi-piece bit do not declare success until you have determined that you put the rudder on facing in the correct direction. Do not ask how I know this.

Two 1/8” thick nylon washers and another 1 x 3/16 machine screw and nylock. Tighten until there is no wobble in the sandwiched rudder while still loose enough that weight and gravity will drop the rudder when released.



Done with the rudder assembly. Installation and rigging will have to wait. I have some ideas that may greatly simplify the control line connections and adjustments.

 

[daveo4]

Mike,
A question: Did you pop rivet the gudgeon to the Rendezvous? Hard to tell from the photo.
Regards,
Dave

 

[Guest]

Mike,
A question: Did you pop rivet the gudgeon to the Rendezvous?

Yup, pop riveted and fender washered inside. That area above the float tank is beefy reinforced material and the installation seems dang sturdy.

 

[daveo4]

Yeah. Couldn't tell if it was above the tank or not. Thanks.

 

[Hanz]

Thank you for posting the detailed "how-to". That helps a lot.

 

[Guest]

Thank you for posting the detailed "how-to". That helps a lot.

Hanz, I’m not done yet. I think I have figured out a way to greatly simplify the installation and removal of the rudder and lines. A little more cogitation, some pondering of what I have available in easy-to-find hardware or shop stock and a trip (which will end up being two) to the hardware store and I think I’ll have it.

I’m trying to make this an everyman project that doesn’t require any special tools or skills, and something that is quick and easy to install or remove. I do not enjoy the back strain or time spent bending over a canoe at the launch futzing with finicky outfitting. It needs to be quick and easy.

Beyond the Mark II rudder on the RX Penobscot I am really interested in seeing what Alan comes up with.

Outfitting a couple canoes with rudders is on my agenda for some time this winter and I'm happy to get some good ideas

Having followed his canoe builds I am anticipating something simple yet elegant, probably with a couple of head-slap “Duh, why didn’t I think of that” improvements.

 

[Mihun09]

This is likely how kayaks were born... tinkering with a canoe.