5' Rudders vs. 4' Rudders

[betterliquor]

What is the purpose of running 5' rudders on an airboat. I have driven boats from 11' long to 32' long and they all have had 4' rudders. What can you possibly gain by using 5' rudders. I could understand taller rudders if you could sling a prop longer than 84", but who is doing that?

 

[Ruagatr]

Better: My airboat has had 5ft rudders made by DAvid Powell in Opa-Locka (Dave's tank service) since 1992. They make a big difference in a large boat as far as being able to "throw"the boat around in close quarters and either make a 180 turn or just to get moving with a big load by shaking the rudders. They simply have much more surface area and exert more force on the hull. Once you drive a boat with 60" rudders, you kinda giggle when you go to spin it around. On a small hull, it doesnt matter near as much, but the effects are more pronounced, but usually the cage wont fit the rudders without work.

 

[betterliquor]

I think if you properly centered your rudders with the propeller you could actually be ok with 3' rudders.
I saw a 16' Panther the other day with (3) five foot rudders, didn't make any sense.

My grandfather used to run a single 3' rudder back in the day.

I see Diamondback, Panther, and a couple other brand boats use 4' rudder and 5' rudder setups and other companies strictly use 4' rudder setups or strictly 5' rudder setups. I was just wondering why some people use the setup they do!