2015 models?

Yeah that was my biggest concern with the mounts, will they support something of that design as i know they do create quite a bit of force and the one thing i thought about with having a 12 sided bar (i think it is 12) is i don't understand having that many sides when less sides would be more efficient say 8 or so while still maintaining a rounder shape than a square tube. At least that is my thought and while i am an army engineer and could design the hell out of it in CAd, i am by no means an expert in this application so i can only hope Hobie did the testing with many styles before saying that the 12 is strongest. I think of it like using a wrench, more smaller flat edges equal the easier stripping of said edges and in this case using a plastic "nut" that kinda seems like it would greaten the chance of stripping the mount out if too much weight is applied. Sure would be nice to know the manufacturer suggested load bearing weight limit. I do like the idea of using two tho. will spread that load out more.

The other thing i was wondering will the arm fit under the hrail so it could be mount on one of those scotty swivel mounts? they seem to sit prety high on those mounts so might be able to add a cutting board or two under it to get it to swing out under the rail. I am throwing darts in the dark as i have neither device in front of me but i do enjoy brainstorming the problems!

First, let me emphasize that I'm not a mechanical engineer. I'm a retired software engineer. With that said, I used AutoCAD to design a 12 sided rod and a 6 sided rod, both inscribed within a 1 1/8" circle. I then measured the surface area of each flat. The 12 sided polygon had each side measure .2912". Multiply that by 12 sides and you get a contact area of 3.4944".

On the 6 sided polygon, each side measured .5625". Multiply that by 6 and you get a contact area of 3.375". The greater the contact, the better the grip, right? Well, that's true up to a certain point. If you have too many (say 1000 points), then it would just slip over those points.

I don't know how to calculate the most efficient number of contact points, but perhaps some mechanical engineer out there can chime in.

Carlos

It gives you more positions to rotate the clamp. Say if you have a rod holder without the ball mount you can position it at the direffernt flat locations.

Otter1: I would certainly buy that argument.

Carlos

I'm getting ready to purchase a pa12 and am looking at the 2013-14 models , I would prefer the older h-rails and that's my main reason for going with the 13-14 models... I have a scotty mounted lowrance /anchor and camera ,Would just make it easier ...

It is a balance of strength of the grip vs angles of adjust ability for the accessories. The 12 sides allows for 30 degree increments and a good, tight connection. Less sides means less ability to make these adjustments.

_________________
Matt Miller
Former - Director of Parts and Accessory Sales
Warranty and Technical Support
Hobie Cat USA
(Retired 11/7/2022)

mMiller,

I'm not sure if anyone else is having the same problems I'm having with my h rail accessories but the red knob that tightens into the screw before you clamp it down easily strips or gets loose. Is there a way to keep it secure ? When I have my rod holders on the rail and I wiggle it to check if it's secure it always loosens up.

Recently we have received some reports of knob threads stripping. Seems one of the molds may have an over-sized hole. We will be informing dealers shortly and will have a solution. In the meantime... caution on heavily loading it.

_________________
Matt Miller
Former - Director of Parts and Accessory Sales
Warranty and Technical Support
Hobie Cat USA
(Retired 11/7/2022)

thank you mmiller.

May I ask why Hobie didn't go with a screw that has a larger threading if they were planning on using plastic threading knob?

That would be a question for engineers. Seems that test versions of parts are sometimes not the same as final production. This inconsistency in the production certainly was not expected. The product went through rigorous testing. The problem likely arose with multiple cavity molds and one is not quite right. The idea, of course, is to keep costs and weight down. Our solution will have to add to both in some fashion I'm sure.

_________________
Matt Miller
Former - Director of Parts and Accessory Sales
Warranty and Technical Support
Hobie Cat USA
(Retired 11/7/2022)

Update from Hobie Warranty department:

http://www.hobiecat.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=78&t=53298

_________________
Matt Miller
Former - Director of Parts and Accessory Sales
Warranty and Technical Support
Hobie Cat USA
(Retired 11/7/2022)

Thank you for the update

Very good info. I really like knowing the why's of things and it does make sense.
I now am the proud owner of a 2015 PA 14 in Dune dubbed the "Go Easy", picked it up yesterday as we just got the shipment in over here in Hawaii so tonight had it up and started the install on the lowrance ff, anchor trolley is on, universal mount drilled and mounted a scotty socket style mount to it for a rod holder, have the tub inside now and will cut the insulation to wrap the tub in and then do the hatch cover. Tomorrow the list is to finish up the FF install, get some caster wheels and mount the PVC for the storage rack, make and install the sail furling rig, possibly make a new cart for it although my old one works really good with it could just be fine tuned.

Can't wait to get on the water and do some huli and re-entry practice and see how she handles the waves and wind and note the adjustments for where the rods will go while trolling. I have the PVC for the Rod extenders but haven't decided if i will use them much or not. The livewell is in the near future and the spring creek amas (stabilizers) will be here tuesday so will install those. man i love the damn thing and the process of making it fit me and my needs! Will post a walkaround i think once i do the amas.

Doc - I am thinking that perhaps some cutting board material, sculpted on the bottom to fit the rail contours and then just U - bolted onto the rail wherever it best suits you may be the answer to our downrigger problem. Not pretty, and not as nice as your forward board mount or my aft deck mount, but it would get the job done. The H-rail system just doesn't seem very downrigger friendly.

Hi, I have recently been shopping for the best fishing Kayak and had decided on the PA 14. I went and looked at the 2014 models the other day (15's not in yet) but they didn't have the olive color I wanted. All they had was yellow left and they were 12's but they had a 14 in dune in the back but it was boxed up so I made up my mind to wait until the boat show coming up to try and get a good deal on the 2015.

That said the first thing I noticed were the shorter mounting plates. I'm a big guy..BIG guy and was planning on installing the H-Bar but after seeing the shortened plates I'm wondering where it will mount ?? I do hope its not on the H-Bar rail with the potential to slide or worse even break .

Another thing I noticed in this thread or maybe another is the back hatch is now useless which kind of messed up what I was planning to do but there are always alternatives so not a very big deal. Certainly not a deal breaker.

Another thing I'm not sure I like is the long H-Rails. I'm thinking a long one on one side and a short one that isn't beside your feet and legs where you enter and exit the Kayak and leaving the 2014 mounting plates as they were would have been a much better idea.

This has got me to thinking maybe I should have grabbed that 2014 even though it wasn't the color I wanted. Could anybody tell me where the H-Bar supports are going to mount up not ?