Rudder

Submitted by mgjmsw on Sun, 08/19/2007 - 14:53
I have a 30 year old Scot and the brackets which attach to the rudder that allow it to hang on the transom have come loose and it seems the rudder housing might be rotting on the inside. Is the core of the rudder housing wood? some screws held well when I removed the bracket, but other are VERY loose. Does the rudder housing need to be replaced or is there a cure? M. Jones FS 2450
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Comments

I drilled progressively larger diameter holes until the wood see

Submitted by TonyP on Sun, 08/19/2007 - 19:41.
I drilled progressively larger diameter holes until the wood seemed to be rot free. I think I ended up with i/2"dia. holes. I plugged the holes with wood dowels and epoxy.

Did you re-drill the holes in the same spot or move them proport

Submitted by mgjmsw on Sun, 08/19/2007 - 22:06.
Did you re-drill the holes in the same spot or move them proportionately up or down to get fresh wood?

I redrilled the same holes.

Submitted by TonyP on Sun, 08/19/2007 - 22:11.
I redrilled the same holes.

Drilling, epoxy and resetting new screws seem to help.

Submitted by mgjmsw on Sat, 09/15/2007 - 10:48.
Drilling, epoxy and resetting new screws seem to help. Thanks for the advice. Will test sail soon. Was wondering if you have noticed rot in other places on the wood portions of rudder that needed reenforcement- similar problem to hull delamination. FS 2450

That was the only rot problem.

Submitted by TonyP on Sat, 09/15/2007 - 13:48.
That was the only rot problem. My rudder head does have a longitudinal split which runs the entire length of the forward edge, but which I don't think is caused by rot. I stabilized the split with two 3/8"lag bolts (along with washers and nuts) that I ran through the side of the rudder head along the line of the split, and about 2" in from the forward edge. The bolts are spaced about 8" apart.