Pro Angler / Mirage Drive issues

[Brendandrage]

I have owned a PA for about 6 odd months now and think its the best yak i ever had, yes its big and heavy but so am i so it suits me.

I have had a few little dramas that would have been good to know about, nothing major and in hindsight pretty damn obvious so i thought i'd share a few things that have happened that i now check on a semi regular basis to save anyone else having the same problems, nothing major.

1) Front wing nuts under seat come loose - Yep was pulled up at a caravan park in Werribee and accidentally kicked a wing nut that was laying on the grass, hmmm picked it up and thought that looks handy ill keep that. About an hour later getting the yak ready i noticed the seat felt loose!

2) Mirage drive getting hard to put in and pull out - I posted on this before but both the pin that the fins pivot on and that the drum pivots on have Allan key grubs screws holding them in place and yes they come loose.

3) Rudder falls out - Not on mine but on some older models the rudder was held in with a roll pin that falls out letting the rudder drop out, mine has a split pin but i check its condition every so often as well as the cables. just unscrew the black cover on the back and have a look.

4) Other people have had cracks and leaks in the hulls places to check are front and rear scuppers and around the mirage drive area.

5) Seat adjuster straps - a few people have had the back angle tensions break mid fish which would suck, not much you can do but keep an eye out.

6) Like a ford falcon I have found the screws come loose so i just check over them with a screw driver here and there and nip up each screw.

Thats about it from me, it would be great if anyone else could chime in and add to the list even if its not PA specific i can soon change the topic.

Cheers

4)

[Yacker]

Another issue common to PA's is a crack in the hull in front of the pulley that redirects the rudder retracting line. This pulley is mounted inside the hull and is approx 150mm in front and down of the point where the retracting line enters the hull (near your right knee when in the yak).
I understand that this issue was more common in pre 2010 PA's when the pulley was mounted with a single bolt only. Post 2010 two bolts were used which seems to have reduced the incidence of the problem.
When this initially occurred with my 2010 PA, my dealer repaired the problem. When it reoccurred 3 months later Ghurkin welded the crack. that was approx 6 months ago, so far so good

[Babylon]

Gee I'm really glad i brought a P A now..

[Yacker]

Wouldn't get too worried Jim, above is a pretty comprehensive list of ALL faults that have been known to afflict PA's.
Most can be avoided with a bit of regular maintenance
I reckon if you even get one of these you are pretty unlucky

[Brendandrage]

Other than the cracked hull all the others are just routine maintenance but if you don't know what to look for they are over looked. I always inspect my mirage drive and spray it down after but as they moved out slowly i didn't notice anything different.

If thats the extent of the list ill be very happy and i still thinks it the best yak for me and wouldn't have anything else as my main yak.

But i do have my eye on a TI down the track

[Babylon]

She is a bitch on land..BUT i do love her Jim

[herbie]

You still talking about the yak jimbo....

[Babylon]

[Knogg]

Loctite mean anything to ya. It should mean peace of mind and no stress. Untill it means bugger I gotta undo that