Hobie Drives

Since I bought a Revo in September 2017 I've had the follwing issues with the drive:

Shearing off teeth on the sprocket x 4.
Broken idler cable x 2.
Major breakage internally in the spline and idler pully broken.
Broken peddle arm (pictured).

I do proper maintenence, even going as far as keeping a wrench in the tackle box to tighten cables on the water. This is from a lot of miles and hard use. On the new reversing drives you cannot replace the sprockets on the drive and it requires a completely new spline (~$400) if you shear off teeth. Hobie seems okay with replacing it if it's under warrenty, but I doubt they'll do it after the two years. So beware you guys whose warrenties are close to expiring. I'm likely going to have to sell this kayak and buy a new one in a few months here just to stay under their warrenty as mine expires at the end of August.

Don't forget your paddles and radios.

I've called Jacques? at Hobie who deals with warranty issues. He said just keep sending them in and they'll replace them, which hasn't been an issue so far and probably won't be until the warranty expires. They seem to want you to keep using their products which is nice, and why I'd likely buy another one with the issues I've had.

The peddle broke mid stroke and flew five feet into the water. Going up hill in 2.5knts+ of current.

Years ago, a guy built a run of replacement pedal arms and sold them on this forum. I bought a pair.

http://www.northwestkayakanglers.com/index.php?topic=14240.msg154647#msg154647

Years ago, a guy built a run of steel replacement pedal arms and sold them on this forum. I bought a pair.

http://www.northwestkayakanglers.com/index.php?topic=14240.msg154647#msg154647

Those were anodized solid aluminum.  I am running a set of the original non-anodized prototypes Fungunnin had made, and they are rock solid (just fugly looking).

Workhard:  that's an interesting failure mode on your pedal arm -- does your pedal stroke bottom out on the drive? 
Looks like the pedal arm is sheared off - that type of failure would take a LOT of force in the forward direction met with a lot of resistance on the drive (or from your other leg).
On your next drive, try using the pedals in a longer adjustment position so you have a longer pedal stroke.  If your legs absorb all of the direction change of the fins, you may have a smoother transition from left to right power transfer and potentially less impact on the arm.

You must pedal like a demon!

Workhard:  that's an interesting failure mode on your pedal arm -- does your pedal stroke bottom out on the drive? 

Nope. If I fully extend my leg and lock out my knee I can bottom it out if I point my toes. I'm trying to use it as designed and maintain it the best I can. Broken drive = no fish, and I like catching fish.

  I'm trying to use it as designed and maintain it the best I can.

Do you always pedal strapless?  I don't think it would make a difference in the failures you are experiencing but it's possible  you are stressing the drive more by doing so.

If you are strapless 100% of your energy is transferred into an arm on each stroke.  If you use the straps it would be more of a 30/70 split between the two arms.  I'd like to think the drive is designed be able to survive one footed pedal strokes but you never know.

Years ago, a guy built a run of steel replacement pedal arms and sold them on this forum. I bought a pair.

http://www.northwestkayakanglers.com/index.php?topic=14240.msg154647#msg154647

I bought a pair and never got around to installing them 

  I'm trying to use it as designed and maintain it the best I can.

Do you always pedal strapless?  I don't think it would make a difference in the failures you are experiencing but it's possible  you are stressing the drive more by doing so.

You have a point and I have thought about this as well. I think it was a contributing factor to the peddle arm breaking but not the only reason. While I strip the teeth off the sprocket requiring a replacement of the lower portion of the drive a lot, the peddle arms have been on the drive since I bought the boat and easily have over 300 miles on them. I really think it was just fatigue in the metal and it eventually just broke. I've definitely put more pressure at times over the last two years on those peddles than when I was putting on it when it broke. Maybe would've got another month out of it before it quit? Two months? Who knows.

Workhard, do you start out your first 10 pedal strokes like you are Jackrabbit taking off, or do you start out slow and smooth until the kayak is moving smoothly?   

This really makes a difference in the reliability of these kinds of parts. 
When I got my Revo back in 2010, I did a few burst launches like I was a drag racer and paid the price of stripping out the locking pin holes for where the vertical arms adjust with. 

After that repair, I learned that you don't get crazy with the pedaling until the kayak is moving.

It would be interesting to see what the remains of that arm look like under magnification, likely faulty material, but who knows. Maybe just cheap material.

Shearing off teeth on the sprocket x 4.

That's a lot of sprockets.  Interesting.  Did all four happen all to the same one or 3:1, 2:2.

Can't use the word sprockets and not link this.

About every 60-90 miles.

Shearing off teeth on the sprocket x 4.

That's a lot of sprockets.  Interesting.  Did all four happen all to the same one or 3:1, 2:2.

Can't use the word sprockets and not link this.

YES!   

About every 60-90 miles.

I know from previous posts that you push your boats pretty hard. I'm not criticizing that, I'm just stating a fact. For comparison, I have about 60 miles on my MD180 v2 drive and easily over 150 on my GT drive (both with turbo fins) and I've had zero problems. I probably don't fish or pedal as hard as you do, but I'm not just a casual tourist on flat water either. If you want your drive to survive past warranty you'll probably have to examine what about your style of pedaling is contributing to the drive failures. It's not just raw miles.

Possibly related: One thing I see folks do all of the time on the Hobies, because it feels right to do it, is push down with both feet at the same time on the pedals to leverage your butt up, to change your seating position or whatever. I do it sometimes too. But using the pedals instead of the molded-in foot stops puts a tremendous amount of pressure on the pedal arm compared to even a vigorous stroke into current. That probably doesn't account for all the problems you have - just a thought.

I hope you're able to find a way to make your drives last longer so you can keep posting fish pictures!