I have heard a lot of recommendations to drill out the rudder pickups on the Speedmaster rudders. Is that necessary with a dual rudder pickup? One to the engine and the other to the exhaust. Do I risk overheating an engine using the rudder as it came?

Never needed too yet .... always had plenty of water flow and cooling using SM rudders.

Hi,
I have never experienced any waterflow problems with the Speedmaster Rudders. If you are worried about this, just try other things like adding a second pickup off the transom. I have never really liked the ones that hang behind the prop, they tend to throw a lot of air with the water through the pickup. This might be ok if going through just the exhaust but not around the cylinder which as you know needs a constant water flow.
Hope this helps
Cya. Graeme

They usually work fine right out of the bag. I have drilled some, and other I didn't. Never really had a problem either way. With the single pickups I usually drill them just for piece of mind. The duals I run as-is.

Thanks for the responses. Just looking for piece of mind before tossing in a new build with new engine in the pond. The rudder is set 2 3/4 right of the strut so there shouldn't be any air to contend with. Never been a fan of placing the rudder directly behind the prop.