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Ready for straight shaft on Excal....Need counsel....

G

Gulf Hunter

Active member
Looking for counsel from those of you who mount control housing to the shaft. I surf hunt and at times am in the soup up over my waist to chest. Wondering if any of you are rigged that way, what you use and how it works. Also interested in a loop support for Excal, as my loop gets floppy even after a couple hunts with new washers and screw. I wish there was some kind of metal screw I could use that would not give me grief, but I know that's not happening. Would like to purchase the loop support as opposed to making 1. Called Kellco and they said they did not have an Excal loop support. Ya'll lemme know.
 
hey GulfHunter, I am an avid EXCAL Waterhunter, and I use the LIGHTNING ROD Straight Shaft, that sells for $100, plus shipping by Reilly's Treasure Gold in Pompano Bch, Fla. That is assuming that you have the Newer Model EXCAL with the BLUE S-Shaft, and not the Older Model with the Silver S-Shaft and Horseshoe Coil. It has a Black Baked-On Ionized Finish. It is a one piece straight shaft with all stainless steel hardware. VERY IMPORTANT--Whatever model straight shaft that you buy, MAKE SURE that you buy a ONE-PIECE SOLID Straight Shaft. I've only used two different makes, the Bill Babbs Straight Shaft, and this one. The Bill Babbs Straight Shaft is a good one, but in my personal opinion, I like the one-piece LIGHTNING ROD BETTER!! Just my personal opinion! Best of luck, whatever you buy.
 
TY so much for the reply NamVetLes. I am looking at that 1 and David from Suffolk uses same. Now about the coil flopping issue. Nobody but coastwise and I seem to be having an issue keeping the coil stabilized. Do you have any or have you had any issue with this and what in the world did you do to resolve it? The bolt just strips out after a couple of hunts. Rauchy Minelab design in my opinion. The bolt is insufficent to support a 10" coil.
 
That flimsy bolt and nut will never keep that coil set right. I went to home depot and bought a plastic toilet seat hinge bolt.It is much thicker I believe 3/8 inch.First change the rubber teardrop washers that fit into your lower rod or make sure they are not worn out.Make sure the coil fits real snug without the bolt and nut if not heat the ears on the coil with blow dryer and press together with vicegrips till a snug fit.Get drill bit of same diameter as bolt and drill your coil,rod and teardrop washer and you are done. Good Luck! Walter
 
TY Walter, I did just that last night after putting my PI up after digging a deep piece of iron. Got the Excal out of the truck and changed my wasted washers and used some Grave Digger Max signature bolts & nut. Coil was nice and tight and never slipped, even in the pounding 3-4 foot swells. Only was able to scratch out $.37 though. Oh well the chase was a thrill!
 
Gulf hunter i have the Babbs straight shaft for my Excal and i can tell you once you have used it you will feel like you have won a million bucks.
Why Minelab hasn't woken up to this and havn't changed their shafts has got me beat.
Regarding your floppy coil you can use high grade marine stainless steel bolt and nut i have been using one for years and it does not interfere with depth or performance.
If you don't believe it,try it out. Won't cost you much for the nut and bolt.
 
Hi Gulfhunter, Glad to hear that you have resolved your problem with the floppy coil. What are GraveDiggerMax Signature Bolts/Nuts? Not familiar, and curious minds want to know!! HH
 
Max sent them to me. Message him on the water hunting forum and ask him. It's already getting loose again though. May try Raoul's idea on stainless bolt & nut, but can't imagine that doing this would interfere with signal or have interference. I run in all metal a lot and then switch over to disc to check for ferrous.
 
Hi Raoul, thanks for the reply, just got my "lightening rod" in from Reilly's Treasure Gold today. I am going to rig it up tonight after I catch up on the forum. Have been hunting so much that I haven't had much time to look around on here. I think the straight shaft will be great. In reguard to the stainless bolt & nut you're using. I have thought about doing that all ready, but figured that it was out of the question as there surely must be some reading or signalling inference using this huh? Would be interested if it really works. I run in all metal a lot and then switch over to disc to check for ferrous before digging. Do you think it will still work?
 
HI gulf hunter make sure you get the high grade stainless steel wingnut and bolt either Surgical or marine grade,it will do the trick.if not i will send you the money that you paid for the bolt and wingnut.

Cheers Raoul
 
I'm going to try it and maybe upsize just a tat. The lower shaft is wasted from inadequate tension having only 1 push pin. Do you guys ever push out the push pin and drill all the way through the lower shaft and put bolts in their place?
 
Hey Gulfhunter, Glad to hear you made the move to the Lightning Rod. VERY IMPORTANT NOTE: Go to your local hardware store, I recommend a small local hardware store or like TrueValue or Ace Hardware, and PICK-UP SOME 1/4" White Plastic or Nylon Washers, you will need TWO (2) for each 1/4" Stainless Steel bolt, and get a small plastic or nylon washer, along with a Stainless Steel SMALL LOCK WASHER for the back of the small bolt at the top of Armcup. The small plastic one goes under the bolt-head, and the Stainless Steel Lock Washer goes under the SMALL Wing Nut. The purpose of the 1/4" plastic nylon washers is to prevent STRESS FRACTURES around the holes of the Control Housing from having DIRECT METAL CONTACT. With the washers there is NO DIRECT METAL CONTACT with the Control Housing. Get a couple exras, in case you lose one or two! Also, where the TOP OF THE CONTROL HOUSING slides IN BETWEEN the ARMCUP and the Straight Shaft Rod, place a 1/4" plastic nylon washers between the metal contact points. Hope this helps, hh
 
Hi Gulfhunter, You stated that you bought the LIGHTNING ROD STRAIGHT SHAFT from Reilly's Treasure Gold. Your LIGHTNING ROD should be a ONE PIECE Straight Shaft, not a TWO PIECE Assmbly. The two piece assembly is the BILL BABBS Version, which I originally had, and replaced it with the one, that Reilly's sells. When I had the two piece assembly, after a couple of yrs., it broke at the Inside Rivit.
So, I drilled through the entire assembly, and replaced the Aluminum Inside RIVIT with just a slightly bigger Stainless Steel Bolt, Flat Washer/Lock Washer/Nut (ALL STAINLESS), but the shaft still had a slight wobble effect. That is why I went to the ONE-PIECE Lightning Rod Straight Shaft. Hope this helps, hh.
 
TY NamVetLes, I have purchased some stainless hardware today, but had not read your post yet on the nylon washers. Sounds like an excellent idea. I will do that. Going to try Raoul's idea on the stainless bolt for the coil, sure hope it works. He said surgical stainless, but all I could find was 3041. Also thinking of drilling all the way through the straight shaft and bolting it together with stainless bolts as opposed to the goofy push pin on the excal fiberglass shaft. Looking forward to a sturdy well built frame to rectify the Minelab oem junk mounting setup.
 
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