Jump to content

Hudson weed hatch gasket


Featured Posts

ohmy.png That might have been me whilst I had the plate assembly out for refurbishing.

 

This was an emergency repair after the steel cover developed a hole. As an experiment, I took a mooring spike hammer to the cover and was left with just the reinforced rim. The rest was all rust

 

Richard

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

This was an emergency repair after the steel cover developed a hole. As an experiment, I took a mooring spike hammer to the cover and was left with just the reinforced rim. The rest was all rust

 

Richard

Years ago whilst in dry dock with my old Harborough marine boat 'Patience' I was cleaning inside the weed box at the last minute and discovered it was like a pepper pot, riddled with pin holes. Big panic as I was due out of the dock next day. I had to fabricate weld up a new box on the dock side cut the old one out and weld in the new, in late in the evening during a thunder storm. I kept getting little tingly shocks off the welding equipment, wasn't getting struck by lightening, gear just getting wet.

Edited by bizzard
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Weed hatch is a particularly inappropriate name isn't it. I've never had to remove vegetation from the prop via my boat's back passage.

 

I think plastic bag hatch would make more sense, closely followed by towel hatch, rope hatch, carpet hatch, fishing line hatch and trouser hatch.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It might be that the anticavitation plate is now contacting the side of the weedhatch trunk, either because the supports connecting it to the lid have got bent, or perhaps just because of where it is positioned. Can you adjust the position? Or turn it through 180 degrees?

 

I think a gasket would be advisable anyway, particularly if the top of the trunk is not far above the waterline. If the boat takes on any water, and the stern sits deeper, then water can leak in without a gasket.

When we first had Joanie M we sometimes had bad vibration/knocking sounds when in reverse. Several people said it was the drive plate but couldn't understand why it wasn't there all the time.

 

I eventually worked out that it only occurred when I'd been down the weedhatch and found that if I kept it slightly forward then no more noise.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Really? You have never removed weeds through your weedhatch?

 

Richard

 

I'm the same, 13 years with current boat and probably only had to remove weed twice in all that time. I've had rugby shirts, rope, fishing nets, fishing line/weights/floats, 1/2 a duvet and what looked like a mangled stainless vacuum flask. Being on a river which has quite a lot of weed I would have thought I would get more, others seem to but maybe its just not attracted to my boat.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Really? You have never removed weeds through your weedhatch?

 

Richard

Never. If it's just weed and won't shift with a quick blast of reverse I can always dislodge it with the cabin shaft from the towpath, but I can't remember the last time I had to do it.

 

The last boat we had, a trip down the hatch was certainly a weekly, often a daily, chore. On the current boat I doubt I've been down there more than half a dozen times in three years and one of those was my own fault. Granted we do far more boating on the midland and southern waterways these days but I still think the previous boat was more of a rubbish magnet for some reason. It had a shallower draught, and our first boat, a little springer with barely 18" in the water was even worse at collecting debris. You would think deeper draughted boats would be more prone, but I suspect there is a "zone" in canals where most of the swarf collects waiting to be hooked by a passing prop it's just a theory.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We had to remove some horrendous weed when we were in Anglesey basin in September (which I guess may be the worst month for weed?). Weed unlike anything we had previously encountered, very stringy and it left us with zero thrust in fwds or reverse. It was horrible stuff, almost like removing wire mesh!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We had to remove some horrendous weed when we were in Anglesey basin in September (which I guess may be the worst month for weed?). Weed unlike anything we had previously encountered, very stringy and it left us with zero thrust in fwds or reverse. It was horrible stuff, almost like removing wire mesh!

 

I haven't had a problem there, but the Bradley branch is something else completely

 

Richard

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Fulbourne was brought to a complete standstill by the weed on the Bradley Branch during the BCN Challenge a few years ago. And we don't have a weedhatch.

 

As was Tawny, several times within one boat length.

 

It has got better since then

 

Richard

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm amazed that it doesn't have a quick release bar....even my 1983 Mike Heywood has a bar & hand operated clamp....or do Hudson owners have a man who comes out with a spanner for them??

Cheers

Gareth.

No, but that nice Mr Hudson did supply a nice hex key to undo them with! The odd thing is that the Owners's manual describes the weed hatch as being the quick release type and not like what's fitted, so maybe it was changed or modified at a later date.

 

On the subject of weed I've had a horrendous day battling with tons of the stuff on the River Nene, real prop clogging stuff but not once did I need to lift the hatch, just around six thousand and eight prop reversals to clear it. I'm also now convinced that my original problem is caused by the hatch cover or the cavitation plate vibrating against the shaft and an extra tight turn or two with the hex key has eased the vibration but not totally. As soon as I can I'll fit some gasket material that will hopefully cure it once and for all.

 

Mike.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm amazed that it doesn't have a quick release bar....even my 1983 Mike Heywood has a bar & hand operated clamp....or do Hudson owners have a man who comes out with a spanner for them??

 

Cheers

 

Gareth.

I think they are actually 4 screws so no spanner needed

Edited by ditchcrawler
Link to comment
Share on other sites

A lot of the people posting in this tread have no idea what a Hudson weedhatch is like

Nonsense, of course we do. It's a sort of gothic construction with ionic columns, a Doric arch clamping bar, tastefully painted in authentic Farrow and Ball bilge paint with gold leaf curlicues

 

Richard

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.