stuffing tube and flex shaft question..

[anthony_marquart]

I'm tired of the lack of flexibility in the brass tube set ups we use.

What do you guys think would be the issue, if any,. if there was one inch between the end of the brass and the strut, and enclosed with a heavy duty shrink wrap,.. not tight on the shaft of course. Of course the brass very well secured in the boat,..

it's really hard and time consuming to adjust the strut settings with brass.. often I don't get it placed where I really want it..

I've done this many times with a .12 rigger.. I personally don't' think it would hurt and the benefit would be great.. I'm thinking about this initially for a sp20 boat..

am I missing something? Is this a "because we always did it that way" issue..

 

[Kez]

Actually if you ever had a Dumas boat, you will find that their hardware came with a ATeflon tube for the stuffing tube. The Teflon tube has 1/4" OD and is unsupported between the strut and the stuffing box. It works well for .20 size boat. It does not work well on anything larger. I like it for the same reason...ease of adjustment. You can buy the Teflon tube from Dumas.

 

[anthony_marquart]

I'm thinking of maybe just a small section about 1inch in front of the strut opening..

 

[Charles Perdue]

I have ran 2 to 3 inches gap between the end of the stuffing tube and strut on 20 and 40 size riggers for the same reason. I have had absolutely NO problems with it.

Charles

 

[anthony_marquart]

Charles, did you cover it with anything?

 

[John Beardslee]

I have ran 2 to 3 inches gap between the end of the stuffing tube and strut on 20 and 40 size riggers for the same reason. I have had absolutely NO problems with it.

Charles

Hi Charles,

Did you ever consider using that kind of set up on a SAW boat and use a steering strut with no rudder?

John

 

[Charles Perdue]

Anthony, nothing over the cable at all.

John, I have that exact setup you are talking about, it works.

Charles

 

[John Beardslee]

Hi Charles,

I've had thoughts about a solid shaft that had a short section of flex for the pivot area and then a short solid again for the strut area. The steering struts don't have to move much to make the boat turn do they, things happen quick when you change the thrust angle. When driving full sized race boats I really liked the quick response of the outboards and the inboards were like driving a barge.

Thanks, John

 

[Bob Morton]

I have made and tryed steerable struts. They always broke.

 

[HOTWATER]

I have used a clear peice of shrink tubing in between the gap of the stuffing tube and front of strut with just a drop of CA on each end to keep it there....

-Kent

 

[Charles Perdue]

John, on the steerable strut, I have 15 degrees swing of off center in each direction. This is also connected to twin air rudders on top of the boat for full speed trim. Running without a turn fin, you can almost make the boat slide sideways.

Takes one hell of a steering linkage, hand made 7075 clevices and 1/8 inch tool steel rod, but it works.

Charles