Movable tiller and tiller pilot

[kingfisher]

Aside from going left and right, which I guess is the point of a tiller, my tiller also moves up and down. It is S-shaped, because the rudder stock head is under the mainsheet traveler.

Also, the underside of the mainsheet traveler has a notch, where I can park the tiller in.

I want to fit a tiller pilot.
a) will the fact that the tiller moves up and down affect the tiller pilot? The amount of friction in the up/down movement can be regulated by tightening the bolt that attaches the tiller to the rudder stock.
b) will the notch block the tiller and destroy the tiller pilot?
c) which brand of tiller pilot (semi long keeled, easy on the tiller, 3 tons)

 

[johnalison]

The arm of the pilot needs to be pretty much horizontal to act on the nipply thing on the tiller without pushing itself off, as well as at right angle to the tiller when seen from above in its mid-position. A few degrees either way shouldn't matter much, so it should be set onto the coaming or cockpit side to meet the tiller properly at its normal position.

 

[RupertW]

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a) will the fact that the tiller moves up and down affect the tiller pilot?

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Most (all?) tillers move up and down so no problem there as long as the tiller pilot is horizontal when the tiller is at it's normal down position. No need to worry about the friction - I've always gone for minimal vertical friction. Depending on the cockpit layout and tiller height you may be best with an arm (sort of s-shaped) under the tiller with the tillerpilot nipple on it.
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b) will the notch block the tiller and destroy the tiller pilot?


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Can't quite visualise this, but the tiller needs to be able to move freely horizontally for the tillerpilot to work. When the tillerpilot is not on, then you disengage from the tiller completely so you can use the tiller as normal

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c) which brand of tiller pilot (semi long keeled, easy on the tiller, 3 tons)

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I'm a bit prejudiced here having had one Autohelm with each of my last 3 boats and never a problem, but went through three Tillerpilots in 2 years on one boat, all under guarentee but no bl***ing use when they stop working mid-trip. Whatever today's equivalent of an Autohelm 1000 would do you fine, and a secondhand one would probably be fine too, so I'd be tempted to go down that route assuming you can test it before buying.

 

[CPD]

Interesting this one. I have a Raymarine ST2000 which is well specified weight-wise for my centaur. When really going for it (which equates to 5.5kts+ in a centaur, and yes, it can be done), the tiller pilot has been known to struggle with the increased stiffness of the steering, and instead of shoving the tiller over, it chooses the easier option, which is to fling the tiller upwards. The previous owner used an autohelm 800 and one of the reasons for staying with autohelm/raymarine, was to keep the installation simple (ie. no mods required). It isnt really a big problem, however it does give you, looking at a new instakllation, something to think about. Of greater concern to me at the moment is this . . . . . . .. .

http://www.ybw.com/forums/showflat.php/Cat/0/Number/1463916/an/0/page/0#1463916

 

[Slow_boat]

I have a lifting tiller on a Macwester26, not known for lightness of helm, and use an Autohelm 1000 that cam witht he boat. It attatches to a bracket under the tiller that keeps that autohelm approximatly horizontal from where it plugs into the cockpit coaming to the tiller attatchment. It seems to work fine, though does a little overtime if the tiller becomes a bit sloppy on the stock.

 

[RupertW]

Ooh, confused now on which thread to reply.

On your first point, though, it sounds as if there might be a slight tilt upwards from the autohelm base to the nipple on the tiller. More force ought to slightly force the tiller down to it's lowest position. Maybe worth lowering the nipple a couple of centimetres to ensure that happens.

Re. the thread unscrewing that was one of the Tillerpilot issues - I ended up attaching a lanyard to the pushrod to stop it going overboard every time it fell off. Grrr....

I wonder whether you could fit a tiller stop to prevent absolute full extension of the rod as that's what caused mine to unscrew. As I say, never had any problems (well, one silly one) with Autohelms.