Replacing MD180 drive broken plastic sproket with stainless steel 3rd party part

A few weeks ago, while out fishing in my Hobie Outback 2020, I ran into a bit of a problem. The drive pedals suddenly started slipping. I took a closer look and discovered that all the teeth on the back gear were GONE!!!. Unfortunately, Hobie doesn't sell individual parts, so the only option to fix it was to buy the entire drive assembly for a hefty $400.

After some online searching, I came across an article where people were replacing the worn-out gear with a stainless steel part from Amazon. I decided to give it a try and ordered one from Amazon Canada for CA$272 (~US$200). It arrived a couple of weeks later, and I spent a few hours today installing it.

Hobie should consider manufacturing the drive gear with a metal material from the start. The plastic teeth on the current design are prone to wear and tear, and eventually, they'll likely fail on all drives.

Part link:
https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B0B9RZ6VXR?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title

There is a quite detailed step-by-step instructions writen by other user:
https://www.norcalkayakanglers.com/index.php?topic=101901.0
 

I like it, thanks for posting.  My biggest problem with the 180 drive has been the bearing race wearing out.  This same stainless part would be a fix for that too.  Let us know if there are any issues down the road, but it looks like a great fix.

The bearings in my drive seemed to be in good condition, but I was thinking about upgrading them to ceramic bearings from a third-party supplier. I'm not sure how long they'll last, but I've read on other forums that people have had good experiences with them, using them for over a year without any issues.
Here is a link if you would like to see it:
https://www.etsy.com/ca/listing/1578645941/hobie-kayak-mirage-drive-spine-repair
I can not tell myself if it's worth to try or not, but ...

I'm going fishing today to give my upgraded drive a try, but I've been mostly using my electric trolling motor lately (video attached).

When I’ve had the bearing problem, it has always been the race.  The bearings have always been in good condition.  It is good to know alternates are available, but I bet the original will last fine with the SS part.

spent 4 hours in the ocean, drive feels very good and solid, works like new

Wish this part was around when I stripped those sprockets like 5 times and put it under warranty 5 times. Hobie always fixed it though. I even called Hobie and talk to one of their product managers who told me I was an extreme user and to just keep putting it under warranty.

Anyways, through trial and error I learned that using the full range of the pedals likely was the reason. When the pedals are at 90 degrees the force is on the least amount teeth so they eventually shear off, which leaves the force to be carried by less teeth so eventually more shear off, repeat the cycle until you have no teeth. I didn’t have any more problems after switching to using 50-75% of the pedals range.

I remember your discussion of the trials you had with the drive unit.  Yeah, you do seem to be an extreme user, but I'm impressed that you traced a big part of the problem to how aggressively one uses the drive.  Thanks for posting this!

Wish this part was around when I stripped those sprockets like 5 times and put it under warranty 5 times. Hobie always fixed it though. I even called Hobie and talk to one of their product managers who told me I was an extreme user and to just keep putting it under warranty.

Anyways, through trial and error I learned that using the full range of the pedals likely was the reason. When the pedals are at 90 degrees the force is on the least amount teeth so they eventually shear off, which leaves the force to be carried by less teeth so eventually more shear off, repeat the cycle until you have no teeth. I didn’t have any more problems after switching to using 50-75% of the pedals range.

I went out three times, and I think it was a very good choice. I don't have to worry about broken teeth ever again. I don't like pedaling in small pushes; to me, it looks silly too. I'm pedaling fully, transferring the most power to the fins. When I’m fighting waves and currents, I want to trust my pedals. Sure, in the lakes you don’t need that…