Best used as a SmartTrack Top Mount blade housing for kayaks that do not fit into the traditional, short pin, mid pin and long pin categories. These kayaks may, or may not have a rudder bracket or a vertical hole molded in the stern end of the kayak. See the SmartTrack Blade Housing Selection Video.
Use any length of pin! You will have to source a stainless steel shoulder bolt from a hardware store on your own. The tiller plate is drilled out to accept a 1/4 inch diameter pin (aka pintle), you can use any diameter pin you need to, smaller or larger. You can drill to match a standard 3/8 inch diameter pin as needed.*
A Smart Track Foil Rudder Blade must be used with this housing. This housing includes the standard hardware that normally comes with a housing. This housing does NOT come with instructions! Preview the Threaded Pin Performance Blade Housing Instructions with this link to gain insight into the install process. Contact us for advice as needed.
Typical examples of boats that could benefit from this No-Pin version would be Ocean Kayak, Scupper Pro, Sprinter and Cabo, as well as the Pyranha Pilot, Aquaterra Sealion and some Cobra brand kayaks, maybe some Current Designs plastic hull kayaks too.
*The Ocean Kayak Scupper Pro has a stern that was molded for a 3/8 inch diameter pin, but the Scupper Pro Rudder Kit came with a nylon sleeve to reduce that hole diameter down to 1/4 inch. If your Scupper Pro had this USA version Scupper Pro Rudder Kit on it you might be able to re-use the pin from that, or source a 1/4 inch diameter shoulder bolt. If your Scupper Pro never had a rudder on it you could use a couple plastic spacers in the stern rudder bracket molding for the pin (top and bottom would be fine), or drill out the tiller plate to match a 3/8 diameter shoulder bolt.
This housing does not come with line guide! Ocean Kayak did not have that feature on their rudder assembly. They used Rudder Tube Clamps as line guides (as did many other brands) mounted to the deck with a rivet. See the first photo on the Rebuilding a Scupper Pro Rudder page. SmartTrack uses the Smart Track Micro Fair Lead in applications like this. One will come with this Blade Housing, but it is meant to be used near the cockpit as a line guide.
The blade housing is Teflon coated 6061-T6 extruded alloy is extremely rugged and corrosion proof. Read the Related Article: SmartTrack Rudder System OK 300386 PPV
