mattnj
Well-known member
I am trying to work out how its installed, and if it will fit on a tiller (in cockpit) with the main unit below decks?
Any pictures...
Any pictures...
B&G SD10 Does anyone have one installed?
- Thread starter mattnj
- Start date
Tranona
Well-known member
No. That is for a below decks installation onto a quadrant or a lever arm on the rudder stock. You do not have any exposed rudder stick to attach it to unlike many modern tiller steered boats that are designed specifically to take a below decks drive. See here hudsonmarine.co.uk/products/bg-simrad-sd10-mechanical-drive-unit-for-nac-2-000-13697-001
The only autopilot for a tiller steered boat with a ram and separate control head is the Raymarine Evolution, although it is possible to mate a Raymarine control to a Pelagic drive from the US.
The only autopilot for a tiller steered boat with a ram and separate control head is the Raymarine Evolution, although it is possible to mate a Raymarine control to a Pelagic drive from the US.
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KompetentKrew
Well-known member
Usually these are just Wuxi Hongba actuators which can be obtained more cheaply elsewhere - e.g. PC Nautic in the Netherlands.
Sone local chandlery needs to import them as they're less than £120 each (including shipping, VAT and import duty) if you buy a box of 8 from the factory and IMO they're at least as good as the Raymarine QO47 tiller drive, which seems for around £500.
I'd have thought you could use these with a B&G control unit.
Tranona
Well-known member
I know you have posted this before - but who is prepared to buy 8? If there really was a market and it was that easy someone would have done it commercially. Realistically the market for pilots for tiller steered yachts is tiny and declining as almost no new boats that could use it have been built in the last 20 years. That explains also the lack of development in the current products unless like the controls on the Evolution they are shred with below deck pilots.
No reason why it can't be used with a B&G control if that outputs the right data to frive the ram.
KompetentKrew
Well-known member
I'm sure you're right that the number of tiller-steered yachts is on a decline, but I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of the existing fleet are using Raymarine QO47s that are on their last legs.
My boat came with at least 3 broken spares. After I gave up trying to repair them I gave them to a neighbour who was delighted. He refused a Wx Hongba one because "I just like repairing things".
I bought a case of 8 from China and have sold 2 without advertising. I've had one other enquiry that I ignored (sorry, whoever you are) because I don't want to ship outside the EU.
I have 5 left (keeping one for myself) and buying them has now cost me less than an official Raymarine replacement. I really should post them on the Yacht Buts group.
My boat came with at least 3 broken spares. After I gave up trying to repair them I gave them to a neighbour who was delighted. He refused a Wx Hongba one because "I just like repairing things".
I bought a case of 8 from China and have sold 2 without advertising. I've had one other enquiry that I ignored (sorry, whoever you are) because I don't want to ship outside the EU.
I have 5 left (keeping one for myself) and buying them has now cost me less than an official Raymarine replacement. I really should post them on the Yacht Buts group.
mattnj
Well-known member
Are you 100% sure on that...I've seen one directly attached to tiller bracket before wooden handle....with main unit below....it's clutched too...
The installation drawing shows it 200mm from post....so assuming I stick to that it can attach to tiller handle bit...can't it?
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Tranona
Well-known member
The motor cannot be outside. It is designed for use under deck. No reason why it should not drive a tiller but where do you mount the motor and take the thrust? Pretty sure they would be promoting it for tiller steered boats if it was suitable. This type of drive has been around for years and is useful on boats where it is not possible fit the more common linear drives and for cable steered power boats.
Tranona
Well-known member
That is the point - it is in the marginal DIY realm rather than a commercial proposition.
mattnj
Well-known member
It says... "The SD10 is a mechanical drive unit featuring built-in rudder feedback for sailboats between 25ft and 37ft. ...as part of an autopilot system. (Access to a quadrant or tiller is required)."
And here is a picture of an installation (smaller boat in cabin...... So it looks ok to me ... Have I missed something? The advantage of the sd10 is built in reference unit which is needed for good performance.
Attachments
Tranona
Well-known member
Guess it is back to your original question - has anybody actually done it? Your photo suggests yes so the next questions are how it is mounted to take the thrust and then how the cable gets from the motor to the tiller passing through the structure of the boat.
Looking at photos of the cockpit layout of your boat there does not seem an obvious place where you could meet the requirements of a suitable place to locate the motor and get the drive cable out to meet the tiller in the correct place with the fixed clamp for the cable 400mm from the centreline and 200mm from the rudder stock. The port side looks the most likely. but the exit point for the cable would be well below the tiller. Out with the tape measure!
Looking at photos of the cockpit layout of your boat there does not seem an obvious place where you could meet the requirements of a suitable place to locate the motor and get the drive cable out to meet the tiller in the correct place with the fixed clamp for the cable 400mm from the centreline and 200mm from the rudder stock. The port side looks the most likely. but the exit point for the cable would be well below the tiller. Out with the tape measure!
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fredrussell
Well-known member
Nice looking bit of kit but looks expensive to me. Drive unit is £1.3k, NAC2 ‘brain’ is £1k, and a controller and cabling will add a fair bit. Best part of £3k all in. What’s weird is that there is virtually nothing written on the web re this system, in terms of reviews and so on, which, I assume, is why the op is asking here. I’d want to be absolutely sure pre-purchase that it was a better system than the Raymarine Evo tiller pilot which is circa half the price.
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mattnj
Well-known member
mattnj
Well-known member
its B&G so its never going to be cheap!
Hopefully my "friend" in the trade can get me some good prices ...
fredrussell
Well-known member
Well, keep us posted. I’m very interested as I’m probably going to buy a Raymarine Evo for my tiller steered boat. I have an ST2000 which is ok but struggles in a blow.its B&G so its never going to be cheap!
Hopefully my "friend" in the trade can get me some good prices ...
prskier17
New member
Did you ever install this? I'm strongly considering the SD10 for my Corsair 970 Trimaran and have only found a small number of references to it online (mostly positive).
Daverw
Well-known member
I’m also interested in this as an option, we already have b&g plotter which saves separate contol
Tranona
Well-known member
You will still need an autopilot control head sensor and core in the same way as any other below decks installation, although of course it can be interfaced with your plotter. As noted in post#11 this is over £3k of kit - twice the price of the EV tiller pilot which has essentially the same software. Then the installation issues which mean it is impossible to do it on most boats. While the drive has been around for years under different names it has very limited applications. Rotary and ram drives cover most below decks installations.
Daverw
Well-known member
I don’t have access to rudder post to fit a quadrant, currently have ev auto pilot and ram, this gets in the way and the SD10 would be a way of fitting better and also having clutch can be operated without lifting off ram etc. it would initially work with my Raymarine stuff and then swap this out for NAC2 and heading unit and then sell ev system to regain some funds.
Would need to fabricate a small stub tiller arm to fit rudder post underneath tiller but this should not be too difficult, motor drive can fit under cockpit seat coaming
. Just need to look at dimensions etc
Would need to fabricate a small stub tiller arm to fit rudder post underneath tiller but this should not be too difficult, motor drive can fit under cockpit seat coaming
. Just need to look at dimensions etc
Tranona
Well-known member
That may be possible but you need to anchor the drive and provide a waterproof boot where it exits the locker.
You may find this discussion on the subject useful forums.ybw.com/threads/autopilots-for-tiller-steering.598614/ as there are examples of what has been done. However few seem to have made it work because of the constraints of locating the tiller attachment point vs the motor mounting. Installation manual here softwaredownloads.navico.com/Simrad/SimradYachting_Software%20-%20Copy/Downloads/documents/SD10-Sailboat-Drive.pdf
You may find this discussion on the subject useful forums.ybw.com/threads/autopilots-for-tiller-steering.598614/ as there are examples of what has been done. However few seem to have made it work because of the constraints of locating the tiller attachment point vs the motor mounting. Installation manual here softwaredownloads.navico.com/Simrad/SimradYachting_Software%20-%20Copy/Downloads/documents/SD10-Sailboat-Drive.pdf
