RUDDERS

ANY OPINIONS ON THE STANDARD RUDDER PEDDLE SYSTEM VS. THE NEWER 'TOE-ACTIVATED" SYSTEM? I PLAN ON INSTALLING ONE OR THE OTHER IN MY CHESAPEAKE 17Y KAYAK. THANKS!


5 replies:

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RE: RUDDERS

I HATE the toe activated system.  Hard to tell how much the rudder actually turns.  Hit and miss.  Really sucks big time.

 

MrKim

RE: RUDDERS

This is the great thing about this forum; you get a wide variety of opinions.  I put the Smart Track rudder and toe peddles in my Shearwater 17H, not because I really thought I would need it, but just because it added another toy.  Two plus years of use later, I am completely satisfied with the functioning of the system.

PAG

RE: RUDDERS

I researched the smarttrack and feathercraft systems and opted for the feathercraft. Drove up to CLC this morning and made my purchase. Mine is going on a CH18. Both are great systems and the smart track is a pretty clever system. But I was concerned about contorting my ankles for steerage and felt that I'd like the more traditional aircraft rudder pedal motion. We'll see. I'm thinking about running a bungee from each foot brace, through the bulkhead and tie with a knot. The idea is to keep the cables tensioned and provide self centering. The feather craft rudder is very well made as I'm sure the smart track is as well. Dave

 

RE: RUDDERS

You can easily turn your feathercraft rudder in toe controls with a set of SeaDog rudder controls.

RE: RUDDERS

FYI,

if you're planning to use the CLC feathercraft rudder with the metal rudder mount that CLC sells, the rudder shaft is too short to extend all of the way through the mount, so forget about any clip pins or threading for a locknut. CLC only sells the short shaft (per email confirmation). Feathercraft does sell extended rudder blocks with and without threads. Guess I'm going to have to check that out. Dave

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