Maybe the best Revo mod yet

[dsafety]

I store my Hobie Revolution upside down on top of my garage door roller frame. As a result, I cannot mount anything on the gunnels, (such as a ball mount for a rod holder), and retain the ability to easily slide the kayak into its storage spot. Needing to install a rod holder in the Revo's cockpit, I have been fooling around with ways to make a removable device. I think that I may have come up with a simple yet elegent solution. You be the judge.

From Home Depot, I picked up some inexpensive parts. The key component is a 3.5" Cleanout plug. HD carries several kinds, I chose the one that does not have any metal parts, made by Souix Chief.

I removed the wing nut that causes the plug to expand when tightened. After drilling a 1/2" hole in a 1.5" ABS pipe cap, I inserted the threaded shaft from the plug into the hole and reattached the wing nut. I had to shave a little material from the wing nut to make everyting fit properly.

The next piece to be installed is an 1.5" ABS ell. Here you have a couple options. The ells come in several angles. In the photos below, you can see versions using the both 60% and 22% ells. The larger the angle, the more the rod holder will point away from vertical. I think the 22% version will work best for my purposes, (third photo).

The final piece is a 12" or longer piece of 1.5" ABS pipe. You can glue everything together or, as I ended up doing, add a thread fitting to the end of the pipe and top of the ell. Adding the thread fitting gives you access to the wing nut and allows for easy attachment of optional accessories, (such as a real cup holder). The thread fittings are not shown in the photos.

When everything is assembled, simply insert the cleanout plug into the Revo cup holder and tighten. When you are done fishing, reverse the process and remove the rod holder.

This device can be made in minutes. The total cost ended up being less than $15. It remains to be seen how this thing will perform and hold up over time but I expect good results. I will report back after I have tried it out.

Bob

[Billy V]

You're doing a great job with the mods.

-Have you given some some thought on constructing a "gimbal" that can be mounted on the 8" hatch for big fish. I'd like to see a clean installation for one of those gadgets.

[bajadog]

Bob,

That is a great setup.

Necessity is the mother of invention.

You might be getting a call from hobie.....

Marco

[dsafety]

Originally Posted by Billy V

-Have you given some some thought on constructing a "gimbal" that can be mounted on the 8" hatch for big fish. I'd like to see a clean installation for one of those gadgets.

I thought about mounting the rod holder on the hatch cover but felt that it would get in the way too much. Also, what would you do with the rod or the holder if you needed to get into the hatch?

Bob

[Drew]

But...but....my beer goes there.


Nice mod, though. How much pressure can it take before it comes loose?

[dsafety]

I can actually lift the kayak off the ground by pulling up on this thing once it is tightened down. The one concern that I have is the strength of the plastic threaded shaft in the plug. It flexes when lateral pressure is applied. This is a potential weak link. It it breaks off, I can probably replace it with a stainless steel shaft.

Bob

[sdcityboy]

pretty cool Bob! I guess now it's beer helmet time!

[mg2969]

Maybe the best Revo mod yet ?
Yeah probably

The thing that makes it so kewl it that it is totally unexpected and in a location that has a totally different use. It seems so practical as well as in close reach range. Makes me say damn why didn't I think of that.

Congrats on a great and hopefully successful revo mod

MikeG

[dsafety]

The original cleanout plug that was used for this project has a plastic threaded shaft. I chose that product because there were no metal parts to rust. As it turns out the plastic shaft is just not rigid enough for this type of device.

I found another plug at Home Depot that is mostly hard plastic but has a metal shaft. The rubber gasket from the first plug is far superior to the one with the metal shaft so in the latest version of this mod, I married the best parts of both. The result is a very sturdy cup holder mount that can be used for many applications. I have recently made a fly rod holder that mounts to this device. Other things are in the works.

Until next time.

Bob

[dsafety]

I went fishing today with this device installed. It worked great. The only minor annoyance is that the unit intruded into my knee space a bit as I was peddling. It is also in the way somewhat when paddling.

Because I have the trolling bar attached to my kayak, I did not need to use this rod holder for that purpose. The configuration that I used today stored the rod in a near verticle position which would not be good for trolling. It worked exactly the way I wanted when I needed to temporarally store my jig rod to check the rod that was trolling live bait.

By changing the angle of the ell to 60 degrees, this device would hold the rod in a good trolling position. The next one I build will have interchangable ells to allow for this adjustment.

Until next time.

Bob

[ChuckE]

Bob... that's brilliant!
I have an Adventure with a similar cup holder right behind the seat. It might work well for that too. Thanks for sharing your great idea.

[bajadog]

Originally Posted by ChuckE

Bob... that's brilliant!
I have an Adventure with a similar cup holder right behind the seat. It might work well for that too. Thanks for sharing your great idea.

2:20 AM Insomniac Chuck?

[EricM]

Nice mod!

[speedydk]

Nice mod ever think of putting a notch in the pvc to accept the trigger of the rod? I've done it to rod holders I've made in the past to keep the rod in the correct orientation. Just a thought.

[beardedguy]

Hobie makes a ball mount that screws in where the eyelets
screw into the hull.

[seafarer7777]

Originally Posted by dsafety

The original cleanout plug that was used for this project has a plastic threaded shaft. I chose that product because there were no metal parts to rust. As it turns out the plastic shaft is just not rigid enough for this type of device.

I found another plug at Home Depot that is mostly hard plastic but has a metal shaft. The rubber gasket from the first plug is far superior to the one with the metal shaft so in the latest version of this mod, I married the best parts of both. The result is a very sturdy cup holder mount that can be used for many applications. I have recently made a fly rod holder that mounts to this device. Other things are in the works.

Until next time.

Bob

Hi Bob,
Can you provide a pic of the upgraded cup mount with the metal shaft? Also, which section of Home Depot did you find the cleanout plug?

Thanks for the great ideas!