Bow thrusters !!

[Deleted User YDKXO]

buy underpowered I mean the spec of the thruster. 3Kw isnt enough for that boat and regardless of how many batteries you place next to it (it already has a dedicated one) it will never be more powerful than that

Is it fouled? If not worth checking out whether its operating correctly. I do remember that the thruster on my F46 was pretty useless when the prop blades got barnacled up. On the later Ferrettis I've had, the bow thruster has been pretty good. Maybe an incentive trade up soon

 

[Whitelighter]

I'll check when it's out.

But the manuals say the spec is only 3kw anyway. Which sounds a bit light.
That said the biat is a beauty to drive - responds well and will turn in her own length easily. If it's windy enough to cause issues I doubt and thruster that will fit will help so I'll just leave it

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

LOL, I was tempted to reply that I don't have a b/t at all, and never missed it...
Well, almost never. Surely MUCH less than most folks would think, anyway.

Thats because you never go out when its windy. You've already lectured me about that. I seem to remember that it was something about it being better to be retired so you don't have to go out when the weather isn't perfect

 

[MapisM]

Haha, yeah, guilty as charged!
Otoh, I was still working like there's no tomorrow during the decade that I spent in the Adriatic, hence I was very much used to go boating based on the agenda rather than on the weather.
And btw, also the open boats on sterndrives (which are much worse than shafts when maneuvering!) that I had before this one had no b/t , so I can claim it's possible to survive unscathed some nasty situations without a b/t...
...though I never denied that it's nice to have one - I even suggested the progressive control in fact, didn't I?

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

I'll check when it's out.

But the manuals say the spec is only 3kw anyway. Which sounds a bit light.
That said the biat is a beauty to drive - responds well and will turn in her own length easily. If it's windy enough to cause issues I doubt and thruster that will fit will help so I'll just leave it

I don't know whether your thruster is a Vetus or not but it might be possible to upgrade it. I had a Vetus sternthruster on my F46 and Vetus offered an upgrade kit from a single to double prop which I fitted. Its a long shot but its just possible that if yours is a Vetus there's an upgrade kit for it

 

[Whitelighter]

I don't know whether your thruster is a Vetus or not but it might be possible to upgrade it. I had a Vetus sternthruster on my F46 and Vetus offered an upgrade kit from a single to double prop which I fitted. Its a long shot but its just possible that if yours is a Vetus there's an upgrade kit for it

Thanks Mike,

I will look into that

 

[baylabayla3288]

I have Vetus 6Hp stern and bow thrusters and I upgraded the props from original 3 bladed to the latest 5 bladeed version. These increases the thrust and are significantly quiter because of less cavitation. These works well in most conditions but sometime I have to swing the bow against the wind with the engines and do the fine control with the thruster. The sternthruster is not a must have as the propwalk is significant but it becomes handy when backing in between mooring lines and if it is shallow. One more thing, also check the voltage drop at the connectors on the thruster when in operation. Even if the battery is next to the thruster the voltage drop can be significant if the battery is old.

 

[ST840]

Thanks for all your replies (never did find out who makes the best unit though). Actually the saga continues somewhat !! So more help required please.......
Having arranged a reasonable price for the supply and fitting of a thruster I am know being told that an extra £1k may be charged if my boat does not have a tunnel fitted already ??
The broker seems to think that looking at the pictures of my MF (which he put me on to btw) he can tell if it has one installed already or not!! Is there any truth to this or am I being taken for a ride here?
Evidently some have it factory installed but not used and others don't !!! Not sure wether to believe this or not and if it is true why not mention it at first enquiry ?!?!?

 

[LadyJ]

I'm not a dealer but my experience on the MF755 is that the bow thruster is an option for a factory fit and if NOT specified the boat will not have a bow thruster OR the required hole. Most 755's delivered to my Marina have no Bow Thruster and no hole. No issue fitting one but my experince will be the drilling of a hole will be required. I looked at Antares 7.80 first that has no factory fit option and was quoted £2/2.5k to supply and fit.
This may have changed with the 695 and 795 and have only seen them with a bow thruster but it was 2015 before the 755 had an option for factory fit.

 

[aquapower]

Thanks for all your replies (never did find out who makes the best unit though). Actually the saga continues somewhat !! So more help required please.......
Having arranged a reasonable price for the supply and fitting of a thruster I am know being told that an extra £1k may be charged if my boat does not have a tunnel fitted already ??
The broker seems to think that looking at the pictures of my MF (which he put me on to btw) he can tell if it has one installed already or not!! Is there any truth to this or am I being taken for a ride here?
Evidently some have it factory installed but not used and others don't !!! Not sure wether to believe this or not and if it is true why not mention it at first enquiry ?!?!?

I have fitted mostly Sidepower and Vetus which I have found both to be reliable, the Vetus controllers were far better, had a lot of Sidepower joysticks fail although they may be better now.
Its important to fit correct battery capacity with correct sized cables for it to be reliable, if not you will get problems.

Some boats have a built in tunnel from when moulded with a blank inserted, I don't know what make/model boat you have, it would be easy to check by looking in fwd bilge to see if there's tunnel there or not before lifting out.
Have you a picture of boat out of water that may show this?

 

[Whitelighter]

Thanks for all your replies (never did find out who makes the best unit though). Actually the saga continues somewhat !! So more help required please.......
Having arranged a reasonable price for the supply and fitting of a thruster I am know being told that an extra £1k may be charged if my boat does not have a tunnel fitted already ??
The broker seems to think that looking at the pictures of my MF (which he put me on to btw) he can tell if it has one installed already or not!! Is there any truth to this or am I being taken for a ride here?
Evidently some have it factory installed but not used and others don't !!! Not sure wether to believe this or not and if it is true why not mention it at first enquiry ?!?!?

You could spec BT prep from the factory - I.e the tunnel but no thruster.
I reality most either species the thruster or nothing. So it's likely you'll have to have the tunnel installed

 

[wipe_out]

Thanks for all your replies (never did find out who makes the best unit though). Actually the saga continues somewhat !! So more help required please.......
Having arranged a reasonable price for the supply and fitting of a thruster I am know being told that an extra £1k may be charged if my boat does not have a tunnel fitted already ??
The broker seems to think that looking at the pictures of my MF (which he put me on to btw) he can tell if it has one installed already or not!! Is there any truth to this or am I being taken for a ride here?
Evidently some have it factory installed but not used and others don't !!! Not sure wether to believe this or not and if it is true why not mention it at first enquiry ?!?!?

On the 695 the thruster is an option and it looks like a completely different hull for the one with the thruster vs the one without.. The hull on ours has the half the tunnel as part of the hull and then the other half as another section that is fitted afterwards..

This is not what it looks like exactly but is the basic idea..
http://www.boatdesign.net/forums/at...way-fitting-bow-thruster-thruster-insert-.jpg

So if the boat doesn't have a thruster from the factory you are likely going to have to fit a tunnel..

 

[Whitelighter]

On the 695 the thruster is an option and it looks like a completely different hull for the one with the thruster vs the one without.. The hull on ours has the half the tunnel as part of the hull and then the other half as another section that is fitted afterwards..

This is not what it looks like exactly but is the basic idea..
http://www.boatdesign.net/forums/at...way-fitting-bow-thruster-thruster-insert-.jpg

So if the boat doesn't have a thruster from the factory you are likely going to have to fit a tunnel..

The hull is the same, they just add a block to the female mould to creat the tunnel indent the glass in a seperate section as you say.

If you order the BT prep option they mould it in this way and insert the bottom piece but obviously don't fit the thruster.

The extra cost of the tunnel is to ensure a watertight fit after they have cut a chuffing big hole in the boat. The advantage of not having the prep is you can be more flexible with the size/power of the thruster as you are not restricted by the factory tube

 

[Magnum]

I must say I thought progressive was a good idea and I have it with a 25hp b/thruster and 20hp s/thruster, but in practice I find I hardly ever use it. I tend do decide how much kick I need to give the bow and given a choice of full power for 0.5 seconds and 25% power for 2 seconds to get the same kick I choose the former because normally I have plenty of other things to be getting on with when berthing the boat and don't want to waste 1.5 seconds
Occasionally it is nice, eg at night to keep noise down, but I honestly wouldn't miss it loads if I had to give it away.
It also comes with a "hold function" where you can have say 10% power pressing the boat onto the dock and walk away from the control panel, so you can step off and tie up. That feels a nice idea too, but in 5 years of having it on 2 boats I've never once used it.

Agreed. A high powered non-progressive bow thruster is what you want. Stern thrusters are useful on larger boats but on anything under 50ft I wouldn't bother.

 

[ST840]

Ok , so on a MF 755 what size would be ideal ?

 

[AllanG]

Ok , so on a MF 755 what size would be ideal ?

Take a look at the following Side Power brochure, which shows that a SE30 should be sufficient for your length boat.

https://secure.toolkitfiles.co.uk/clients/24131/sitedata/files/Side-Power_Product_Range.pdf

 

[jfm]

(never did find out who makes the best unit though).

Yes you did! In your size range, Sleipner/SidePower

 

[rubberduck]

Yes you did! In your size range, Sleipner/SidePower

+1