King Kraft 11 Pedal

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Metime
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Re: King Kraft 11 Pedal

Post by Metime »

Finally on Easter Saturday I managed to do the maiden voyage in the King Kraft 11 Pedal after 6 months. Launched at Coronet Bay 7.30am 3 other fishos were launching too. There were 2 other fishos in Hobies. Weeds galore washed up on shore. Had to fight the weeds to launch. Spent a good 4 fours fishing for zilch! Not a single bite. Gentle breeze with slight ripple. My greatest issue is that I had trouble in keeping the kayak going in a straight line...... think I have more turns than a snake doing a 30 m dash! Lol. What am I doing wrong? Am I over adjusting ?
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spider25160
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Re: King Kraft 11 Pedal

Post by spider25160 »

Metime wrote: My greatest issue is that I had trouble in keeping the kayak going in a straight line...... think I have more turns than a snake doing a 30 m dash! Lol. What am I doing wrong? Am I over adjusting ?
Probably. Steering any boat is a matter of anticipating the motion and countering with minimal rudder movement. There is a delay from the time you move your rudder to the time the boat responds. Often in a sea way the bow of the boat will get pushed left and right as a wave passes under and the natural thing is to try and counter those movements but by the time the boat is responding to the rudder the wave has it moving the other way and your steering is magnifying the movement. Better to allow the waves to do their thing and only adjust your steering for the average course direction.
Disclaimer
There are times when you do need to counter wave action particularly in a heavy following sea

Not sure if I have managed to describe this properly or just confused the issue :?
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Re: King Kraft 11 Pedal

Post by laneends »

Dont think the rudder on this model is the most efficient design either
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maverick
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Re: King Kraft 11 Pedal

Post by maverick »

Marto's BerlyPro rudder conversion for the Native Watercraft may work on this. Looks like the same rudder.
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traj
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Re: King Kraft 11 Pedal

Post by traj »

I had one of those!! The reason I bought it is because it was the cheapest new pedal kayak on the market and I did not want to over invest as I was had never been out kayak fishing and I wanted to try. I moved my home to near the Seaholme boat ramp and I just wanted a hobbie on the water. I wheel my kayak down to the water from home.
Anyway, I took out the Kings Kraft may be 10 times in the 7 months that I had it and I can tell you that it served it's purpose. I enjoyed kayak fishing so much that I sold it and upgraded to a 2016 Hobie Outback (it's Scott Lovig's old personal boat - SLH Mornington) fully loaded with H rails, sounder, big rudder, trax wheels, rod extensions. square center hatch and some other stuff.
Now the dynamics of the 2 boats are like a 1960 Holden compared to a current Commodore . The KK is serviceable and entry level as boat dynamics go. It cuts through waves OK if you go head on but don't get caught sideways unexpectedly on the big ones. You get loads of rod holders and storage hatches and it is tricked up remarkable well for a cheap fishing kayak. It's lighter and this can be a big thing. The middle hatch is under the seat and can't be accessed on the water which is a real design problem. You can't really get to the front hatch at all on the water because the boat is not stable enough to allow you to get there. Accessing the front hatch is not a problem in the Outback. I never turtled the KK though so it was not what I would say bad - it's just that the Hobie is a lot better. Your movement in the KK is very restricted. The rear hatch can't be got to in either boat on the water. The KK does not track well and this is it's worst characteristic. It has a flat bottom. The steering cabling is not durable -mine snapped at the handle. Where the cabling exits the hull to the rudder, it rubs on the hull and gauges a track through there. I had to re-route it.It does not turn well but it goes backwards at least. Pedalling KK is much more strenuous than the Outback. The KK seat is good and the rear pocket is handy. The Outback's seat is better though. Removing the pedal drive is easy in the Outback and you can go into shallower water and paddle in to grounding since the fins can be moved up against the hull or the drive easily removed. To remove the drive in the KK was very difficult since the propeller blades have to be perfectly vertical to get through the hole and mine had no mechanism to get this to happen. I think the latest model has sorted this. So I had to exit the boat in about .7 m of water, and pull it to shallower water where I could tip it on it' side to line up the blades so as to remove the drive . That was a real pain.

Stability (and I feel this is the most important thing) in the Outback is on a different level. On the KK it is a bit dicey just turning the body in the seat to access something (like your cooler) in the storage well behind the seat. In the Outback there is no problem in taking a leak - just move forward onto your knees and do it into the pedal scupper. It's much more challenging in the KK because of the lower stability. It is possible to stand in the Outback, but I don't - impossible in the KK (I'm 100kg).The load capacity is much better in the Outback since it is a bigger boat. It turns far better and goes straight. The KK "cabin" gets a lot of water in it. I plugged the scuppers but the water tends to build up and fill the gaps so I was regularly sponging it out. The Outback drains all the water away all the time.

So I don't regret buying the KK. It introduced me to this hobby which I really enjoy. You get what you pay for with these kayaks and you can't really beat the product development of Hobie kayaks over a long period of time. Oh and the mirage drive on Hobies adds enormously to their functionality and enjoyment and in my opinion is sufficient reason by itself why Hobies are worth the much higher money.
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shane
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Re: King Kraft 11 Pedal

Post by shane »

I thought I'd post this as a bit of a cauton regarding the Kings Kraft.

This was originally posted on Fishing Victoria by user "Bruffy". He was using a tandem verison of the Kings Kraft on its maiden voyage in a river when he had a minor collision with an object causing the drive to punch a hole through the hull. The kayak capsized and sank to the water's surface within minutes.

Image
Image

The user was rebuffed by the retailer regarding it being a manufacturing defect and it appears warranty claims have been a problem with this manufacturer.

I'll add my 2 cents on this here. From the first photo it appears that the PE plastic is quite thin and weak around the drive area, which would not be fit for purpose imho. Major brand kayaks like Hobie's are made from a high grade HDPE plastic that is actually quite expensive and contributes a large part to their higher cost. Many of the cheaper kayaks would be made of lower quality HDPE or even LDPE, which won't be as robust and more likely to fail. Hobie also put a lot of effort into strengthening the plastic around the drive wells following failures in the early models. Warranty support is also another factor in higher cost but something that major manufacturers like Hobie are renowned for. Don't expect much assistance from a cheaper kayak manufacturer.

So it's really a case of Caveat Emptor when purchasing these cheaper pedal kayaks. You may save in the first instance but regret it later if/when something goes wrong.
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Metime
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Re: King Kraft 11 Pedal

Post by Metime »

Thanks for comments and advice. All taken aboard. How taught should the rudder cable be? Super tight? If I was to position the rudder for the kayak to track straight forward and peddle, should the rudder stay in that position and track in a straight line without frequent adjustments? Hope my question make sense.
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maverick
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Re: King Kraft 11 Pedal

Post by maverick »

Metime wrote:Thanks for comments and advice. All taken aboard. How taught should the rudder cable be? Super tight? If I was to position the rudder for the kayak to track straight forward and peddle, should the rudder stay in that position and track in a straight line without frequent adjustments? Hope my question make sense.
The cable should be reasonably tight, but it was also depend if the cable has any stretch in it. More stretch would suggest it should be tighter. The kayak wandering off track happens with most kayaks, to differing degrees. It will as a result of the kayak design. Google BerleyPro and look for the replacement rudder for the Native's. It may fit what you have, check with Marto first. If it does fit, it should make a world of difference.

The issue with buying a new design is that there won't be a lot of people around to gain information from.

Given you have already purchased the kayak, not sure why everyone is jumping up and down and bagging them. What's done is done.
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Re: King Kraft 11 Pedal

Post by bjspinner »

Most of the tracking issue is due to the length only being 11ft, the kayak will pitch on the top of a wave and the rudder will come out of the water as the nose goes down the wave.

Just choose the conditions to suit the kayak.
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Metime
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kayak: Kings Kraft Peddle kayak -Malibu Mini X
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Re: King Kraft 11 Pedal

Post by Metime »

On checking the rudder I noticed that there was some slack in the cord. Was moving the rudder by hand and noticed that the lever handle did not move until the rudder was at a wider angle.
Think this could be part of the problem in not being able to peddle in a straight line. Is there a preference between cord and stainless cable?
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