Convert tiller to Ship Wheel:Has anyone done it and do they have any advice on doing?

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hopern1

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So I am a newbie and on my first season with a cruiser. I have a solid old Trident 24 and I am thinking of adding a ships wheel as an alternative option to the tiller (would intend that the tiller could be refitted rapidly if required).
Has anyone on here ever done something similar and do you have any advice on cost effective (ie cheap/diy) ways to go about it ?
 
hopern1 said:
So I am a newbie and on my first season with a cruiser. I have a solid old Trident 24 and I am thinking of adding a ships wheel as an alternative option to the tiller (would intend that the tiller could be refitted rapidly if required).
Has anyone on here ever done something similar and do you have any advice on cost effective (ie cheap/diy) ways to go about it ?
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Dont try,buy another boat with a wheel.
the Trident is a fine little boat designed for a tiller
 
Many years ago there was an article in PBO of someone who fitted a wheel to a 26' Westerly it involved lots of structural re glassing, custom made mouldings, was expensive think £1000 upward particularly if using new components, compromised the cockpit area and looked odd. For what it's worth don't do it on a 24 foot boat it is unlikely to be achievable live with the tiller learn to use it experience the feedback from it and enjoy your first boat as she was designed.

Happy sailing
 
Our first cruiser was a Trident 24... as others have said. I would leave it the way it is. Unless you have the skills...an 'economic' DIY conversion will mean you are very unlikely to re-sell the Trident for anything like the normal market value. Even if you have the job done properly, you will not recoup the considerable conversion costs when you sell.

The Trident 24 is a fantastic first cruiser, tiller and all. If and when you want to move onto the next boat, then look out for wheel steering options at that time.

PS: Have you joined the Trident 24 Owners association? http://www.trident24.com/ Well worth doing if you have not. Enjoy your sailing.
 
I assume there's something about the tiller that you don't like or get on with, what is it? Or do you think it might be easier with a wheel? Have you got/tried using a tiller pilot?
 
hopern1 said:
So I am a newbie and on my first season with a cruiser. I have a solid old Trident 24 and I am thinking of adding a ships wheel as an alternative option to the tiller (would intend that the tiller could be refitted rapidly if required).
Has anyone on here ever done something similar and do you have any advice on cost effective (ie cheap/diy) ways to go about it ?
Click to expand...

Shouldn't be attempted on anything less than 30+', preferrably 35' upward.
 
the challenge is when underway with the tiller, there is room for at most two others in the cockpit.
Need room for more so figured put a wheel on behind the cockpit and then hey presto room for 4 in the cockpit , plus one on the transom at the wheel .

I know get a bigger boat is the answer, but not on my budget it isn't
 
stuey said:
Our first cruiser was a Trident 24... as others have said. I would leave it the way it is. Unless you have the skills...an 'economic' DIY conversion will mean you are very unlikely to re-sell the Trident for anything like the normal market value. Even if you have the job done properly, you will not recoup the considerable conversion costs when you sell.

The Trident 24 is a fantastic first cruiser, tiller and all. If and when you want to move onto the next boat, then look out for wheel steering options at that time.

PS: Have you joined the Trident 24 Owners association? http://www.trident24.com/ Well worth doing if you have not. Enjoy your sailing.
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I suppose it would be possible to convert a Trident to wheel steering, but it would be a fairly major job for very little benefit. If anyone has tried it, then there will almost certainly be a record of it in the Trident Owners Asscn Archives. TOA has an active Facebook site too which not only carries some great pics of these lovely boats, but has direct access to the Archives through it's administrator who seems able to answer almost any technical question thrown at him. If you are thinking of making Mods, its well worth the £10 to join. What Sail number is yours? We will have it on record and can probably give you some of her history.
Commodore, Trident Owners Asscn.
 
I know someone who did the conversion on a Carter 30, heseemed to think it was successful. I couldn't imagine doing it on anything smaller.
 
Before you go any further have a good look to see if you really would save that much space. A pedastal takes up space and you do need enough room behind it to be able to stand comfortably for long periods. If you were to leave insufficient room a long passage could be very uncomfortable. Don't forget also that, when on a mooring, you would not be able to swing the tiller out of the way and your cockpit would effectively be smaller. You also need to consider if a wheel would hinder the opening of any lockers.

In theory, I suppose you could have a small wheel mounted on the rear of the coachroof but.........

If you must have more space it might (possibly!) be worth considering moving the tiller aft and fixing up either wires or levers to connect it to the rudder stock but that's only an idea to think about!
 
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Rigger Mortice said:
A pedastal takes up space

In theory, I suppose you could have a small wheel mounted on the rear of the coachroof but.........
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Think that is what the OP was suggesting. No reason why you can't put a Teleflex type wheel on the bulkhead, run the cable down the side deck and attach it to a stub tiller. Many small displacement motor boats have such an arrangement. However, would not be practical for sailing.
 
alant said:
Shouldn't be attempted on anything less than 30+', preferrably 35' upward.
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I would revise the above to
Shouldn't be attempted on anything less than 35+', preferably 37' upward.

I started in dinghies 60 years ago and have sailed all sorts of boats including over 50ft. I now own a Beneteau 323 which is 10m (33ft) LOA with wheel steering and how I wish that the boat had a tiller instead.

In my opinion the OP would be well advised not to try to change his boat.
 
Tranona said:
Think that is what the OP was suggesting. No reason why you can't put a Teleflex type wheel on the bulkhead, run the cable down the side deck and attach it to a stub tiller. Many small displacement motor boats have such an arrangement. However, would not be practical for sailing.
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It would only then need a 50hp o/b to be a Macgreggor
 
Tranona said:
Think that is what the OP was suggesting. No reason why you can't put a Teleflex type wheel on the bulkhead, run the cable down the side deck and attach it to a stub tiller. Many small displacement motor boats have such an arrangement. However, would not be practical for sailing.
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Hi Tranona,

I'm curious about why you say such an arrangement wouldn't be practical for sailing?
The reason I ask is that my centre cockpit boat has her steering wheel mounted on a pedestal at the aft end of the cockpit, with very little space between the pedestal (which is aft of the wheel) and the aft cabin. Before I bought her I viewed a couple of the same type of boat where the wheel was mounted on the aft side of the coachroof just clear of the saloon entrance. To my eyes this freed up a lot of cockpit space and gave a better field of view from the helm.

Paul
 
PaulJS said:
Hi Tranona,

I'm curious about why you say such an arrangement wouldn't be practical for sailing?
The reason I ask is that my centre cockpit boat has her steering wheel mounted on a pedestal at the aft end of the cockpit, with very little space between the pedestal (which is aft of the wheel) and the aft cabin. Before I bought her I viewed a couple of the same type of boat where the wheel was mounted on the aft side of the coachroof just clear of the saloon entrance. To my eyes this freed up a lot of cockpit space and gave a better field of view from the helm.

Paul
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That is often a Motor Sailor set-up, there is very little "feed back / feel" via that system, which is why real sail boats have large wheels & high gearing
 
As sailorman says it is a "motorsailor" thing. Many such boats are fitted with a wheel like that when the boat probably does more motoring than sailing. The downside on a little boat like the Trident is that it is on the lee side on one tack and the small wheel you would have to use lacks feel. Also nowhere to sit comfortably when sailing - motorsailors usually have fair sized wheels and a seat for the helmsman.

Think one has to accept that there are limits as to what is possible in 24'. So if you want a full 4 berth cabin there is simply not enough room for a cockpit for 4 adults and be able to sail the boat. Other boats have different priorities - smaller cabin, larger cockpit, or you have to go up in size.
 
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