Dignity123
New Member
Steerage Issue, Hi all, sadly after owning Dignity for ten happy years without issue I touched the bottom with her recently resulting in some steerage gear damage.
I was coming astern very slowly indeed perhaps even in neutral as wind was blowing me, and there is a concrete slip there and I felt a very gentle touching, I came full ahead and thought all was well, I managed to happily go ahead , then turn to Starboard , then Port out into an open stretch of water, it was only then that when I started to try and manoeuvre her that I realised something was wrong, the steering was totally unresponsive.
The wheel turned freely but the rudder was stationary.
So I think that after taking the ground, the steering worked a short while or I would never have gotten out the tight berth I was in out into open water, then it packed up all together.
I am now away at sea until late November just now so have to get third parties to look at the job, I am trying to make sure that they do the job right, and not start changing irrelevant things at my expense.
Its an OM 352 Engine onto a PRM Gbox, hydrolic steering coming off the gbox to a steering piston ram rod set up that has worked beautifully for ten years.
My question is, could the rudder touching the ground create eccectively a huge lever effect and send a reverse hyrolic pressure that would be forced back up the system and break the PTO power take off cog within the box, or blow a seal somewhere else?
Im looking for the easiest and most simple soultions first otherwise they may go and rip the whole thing apart at an expensive hourly rate.
The guys doing the job have changed a seacock recently too and are saying that the rudder, and hanging brackets etc are fine and that the issue is hydrolic. I do not know how they can tell that the rudder gear is ok as she still afloat.
If anyone could offer some advice as to what may have happened Id be eternally grateful.
Perhaps simply me turning the wheel probably with some force when the rudder was being held stationary against the slip by wind force could be enough to burst internal seals within the system.
As a final thought, if there is anyone with Hrydro Gbox set ups etc, reading this within easy travel distance of North Woolwich and could go and have a look I would offer to cover travel and some time too.
Regards Alan
I was coming astern very slowly indeed perhaps even in neutral as wind was blowing me, and there is a concrete slip there and I felt a very gentle touching, I came full ahead and thought all was well, I managed to happily go ahead , then turn to Starboard , then Port out into an open stretch of water, it was only then that when I started to try and manoeuvre her that I realised something was wrong, the steering was totally unresponsive.
The wheel turned freely but the rudder was stationary.
So I think that after taking the ground, the steering worked a short while or I would never have gotten out the tight berth I was in out into open water, then it packed up all together.
I am now away at sea until late November just now so have to get third parties to look at the job, I am trying to make sure that they do the job right, and not start changing irrelevant things at my expense.
Its an OM 352 Engine onto a PRM Gbox, hydrolic steering coming off the gbox to a steering piston ram rod set up that has worked beautifully for ten years.
My question is, could the rudder touching the ground create eccectively a huge lever effect and send a reverse hyrolic pressure that would be forced back up the system and break the PTO power take off cog within the box, or blow a seal somewhere else?
Im looking for the easiest and most simple soultions first otherwise they may go and rip the whole thing apart at an expensive hourly rate.
The guys doing the job have changed a seacock recently too and are saying that the rudder, and hanging brackets etc are fine and that the issue is hydrolic. I do not know how they can tell that the rudder gear is ok as she still afloat.
If anyone could offer some advice as to what may have happened Id be eternally grateful.
Perhaps simply me turning the wheel probably with some force when the rudder was being held stationary against the slip by wind force could be enough to burst internal seals within the system.
As a final thought, if there is anyone with Hrydro Gbox set ups etc, reading this within easy travel distance of North Woolwich and could go and have a look I would offer to cover travel and some time too.
Regards Alan
