Four levers to control two engines......

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NealB

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'Scuse my ignorance...

I'm well used to having a single lever throttle / gear control for each engine.

However, I've never 'driven' a boat that has separate levers for each throttle and for each gear control for each engine. Seems to be a popular set-up with the Taiwan built trawler types.

How are the separate levers usually arranged? Presumably, one set per engine? Are throttles to the left or right? Or do they vary?

They sound like they'd take a bit of practice, before it becomes intuitive?

Any tips or comments?

Ta!
 
Normally gears on the port side, throttles on the starboard side. Lots of American boats are like this.

Mine has throttles on the port side, gears on the left. You get used to it. When manoeuvring I hardly touch the throttles and just control the boat with the gears.
 
pete1987 said:
Normally gears on the port side, throttles on the starboard side. Lots of American boats are like this.

Mine has throttles on the port side, gears on the left. You get used to it. When manoeuvring I hardly touch the throttles and just control the boat with the gears.
Click to expand...

Sorry for being thick......

Does that mean the pairings are: gears together in one unit, throttles together on the other?

Yes, that would make sense......generally ignore the throttle unit when manoeuvring in close quarters.
 
My Taiwanese built twin screw trawler has seperate controls for throttle and gearbox on each engine. The cables can be connected to the levers in any order you like. I think in terms of red knobs equal danger therefore they are the throttles, leaving black knobs for the gearboxes. Mine are from port to starboard :- throttle, port engine. gearbox, port engine. gearbox, starboard. throttle, starboard. It didnt take me long to get used to this setup and now dont need to think about it. Most manouvering is done with engines at tickover with an occasional burst of power to quicken things up, if needed. Steering below about four knots is normaly on engines, it's not often that I use the rudders.

j
 
johnwest said:
The cables can be connected to the levers in any order you like.
Click to expand...
Spot on.
I've got the opposite setup (gear levers outside, throttles inside), and I find it better for stern-to mooring, 'cause you can stand facing aft and conveniently use the gear levers behind you.
HelmFB.jpg


But you can actually find pros & cons for each and every possible combination...
In fast boats frinstance, not only the throttles MUST be inside, but it's equally important that they are coupled one next to the other, in order to use them together with one hand.

And in answer to this question...
NealB said:
They sound like they'd take a bit of practice, before it becomes intuitive?
Click to expand...
...yep, they do take some practice.
But all the people I know who got used to that, would consider returning to single levers as a downgrade.
 
Play d'eau (Fleming 55) has two sets. The port set is for both gear levers, whist the stbd set is for both throttles.

Strange to start with, but after a short time, so good and easy to use. When docking, I set the throttles just above idle and control the boat on the gears. Simples!
 
Piers said:
Play d'eau (Fleming 55) has two sets. The port set is for both gear levers, whist the stbd set is for both throttles.

Strange to start with, but after a short time, so good and easy to use. When docking, I set the throttles just above idle and control the boat on the gears. Simples!
Click to expand...

I too have never experienced this type of throttle control system, but very interested. So in your case Piers you go in and out of gear with the engines running above idle, does that have any wear significance to gearbox..?
 
Firefly625 said:
does that have any wear significance to gearbox..?
Click to expand...
I suppose it's a matter of how much above idle - 650 instead of 600 rpm isn't probably going to make a big difference.
Then again, if the difference is enough to positively affect the maneuverability, I suspect that the gearbox can't be very happy... :rolleyes:
 
Firefly625 said:
I too have never experienced this type of throttle control system, but very interested. So in your case Piers you go in and out of gear with the engines running above idle, does that have any wear significance to gearbox..?
Click to expand...

The Twin Disc gearboxes can handle up to 700 rpm. Engines idle at 600, so I set them just under 700. That gives enough thrust for almost most circumstances. The bow thruster is there just in case!
 
NealB said:
Sorry for being thick......

Does that mean the pairings are: gears together in one unit, throttles together on the other?

Yes, that would make sense......generally ignore the throttle unit when manoeuvring in close quarters.
Click to expand...

Yes that's the setup on Eos. You soon get used to it, seems to work well for me.
 
NealB said:
'Scuse my ignorance...

I'm well used to having a single lever throttle / gear control for each engine.

However, I've never 'driven' a boat that has separate levers for each throttle and for each gear control for each engine. Seems to be a popular set-up with the Taiwan built trawler types.

How are the separate levers usually arranged? Presumably, one set per engine? Are throttles to the left or right? Or do they vary?

They sound like they'd take a bit of practice, before it becomes intuitive?

Any tips or comments?

Ta!
Click to expand...

Navigator's setup...

Image007.jpg


We idle at 450 - 500 RPM and happy there for slow & gentle manouvering (about 4 knot when both engines in gear and no tide) when still ... in a bit more challenging situations where we need a bit more power on tap and faster mooring is required (wind/tide) we can easily haver have more known and controlled power on tap, by setting idle 50 - 100 - 150 RPM higher.. pending situation.... Crew will be told and expect boat to behave accordingly...
 
I'm a tad surprised to understand that the "above idle" trick (which obviously only separate levers allow) is so popular.
I mean, I accept that the trick can work and that if you don't abuse it in terms of rpm, the gearbox can take it.
But I find that in hairy conditions it's more effective to use sudden "bursts" of power, rather than a costant slightly higher rpm.
And even if for such usage single levers might appear more intuitive and faster, I find it very convenient also with separate levers, with some practice.
 
MapisM said:
......But I find that in hairy conditions it's more effective to use sudden "bursts" of power, rather than a costant slightly higher rpm.
.........
Click to expand...

Problem is that crew will not be aware of when the "sudden burst" will come ... and when used (on larger planning boats). we have so much power on tap vs weight, it is easy to catch crew un-aware which can create more "challenging" situations ...

That said, we use slow idle 8 out of 10 times, and I much prefer moorings to be slow and controlled with plenty of time for crew not feeling rushed... and I'll rather stop, back off and re-attempt the mooring manouvers, rather than trying to recover from a helsman (my) mistake, which would make the crew's work more stressful and hazardous...
 
Divemaster1 said:
Problem is that crew will not be aware of when the "sudden burst" will come ... and when used (on larger planning boats). we have so much power on tap vs weight, it is easy to catch crew un-aware which can create more "challenging" situations ...
Click to expand...
Yep, I didn't think about that.
In fact, with my heavy boat, there's no such thing as a power burst strong enough to make her "jump", and all reactions are always pretty smooth, even when a tad faster.
But I'm aware that with planing boats the reactions are more hectic.
I've seen once a Pershing where a crew member on the swim platform almost fell in the water when the helmsman just engaged the fwd gear to stop the boat, while reversing towards a dock... :eek:
I'd expect Piers' F55 to be less sensitive to the throttle and more similar to my boat, though. But what do I know...? :)
 
MapisM said:
I'd expect Piers' F55 to be less sensitive to the throttle and more similar to my boat, though. But what do I know...? :)
Click to expand...

Hi MapisM. Engaging gear at 700rpm doesn't make Play d'eau leap, but applying power in anything but a smooth gentle movement does make her jump. Hence, gears only and at less than 700, with thrusters if necessary.
 
MapisM said:
Spot on.
I've got the opposite setup (gear levers outside, throttles inside), and I find it better for stern-to mooring, 'cause you can stand facing aft and conveniently use the gear levers behind you.
HelmFB.jpg
Click to expand...
Yes we had the same setup as MapisM on our Cantieri Di Pisa. We sometimes crew a c-kip of our friends that you have to have 1000RPM on to move it and the gearboxes take it fine.
Nice boat by the way Mapis
 
We have four levers on a stern drive powered Sealine 310 statesman and find them fantastic.

Set up is both blocks touching, throttles in the middle gears outside.

find manoeuvring at tickover is a piece of cake and although I wouldn't refuse a boat because it had only two sticks I would very much miss the ease of four.

Biggest problem when you first get the boat is when you are backing in.
As you gently go back all levers are at the bottom, when you want to come to stop you need to push sticks forward and for some reason the red ones are the most attractive. pushing these forward makes the backward motion a lot more active.

Funniest thing I have ever seen was my friend, a very competent boat handler, trying to teach my father to moor after I gave up. What I hadn't accounted for was that he had never used four levers himself.
Watching him flying backward and forward across the marina at about 15 knots was, despite the potential ensuing disaster, very amusing.

He did need a stiff drink when he finally got things back under control and my father never did get his lesson.
 
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