Tiller pilot on a wheel?

[colhel]

I've got a couple of tiller pilots left over from our old sailing boat and am thinking about trying to rig one up our motor boat. I'm trying to think of what could go wrong.
To stay on course the wheel requires far less effort and movement than our old yacht, I could rig up a quick release and it would be cheap. My only slight concern is though, the swing of the wheel would be about 10 degrees off vertical rather than a horizontal movement of a tiller, but of course the yacht would heel which may have the same effect.,
I think it'll be quite easy to rig something up and try it, but am interested to hear opinions.

Cheers

 

[vyv_cox]

Our wheel-steered motorsailer has an emergency tiller that drops onto the rudder stock. In the past someone has attached tiller pilot fittings to it, and an adjacent bulkhead. I assume it would work reasonably well.

 

[colhel]

I'm thinking of attaching it directly to the wheel so it can be released quickly.

 

[Kelpie]

I'm thinking of attaching it directly to the wheel so it can be released quickly.

Your tiller pilot will be able to effect a maximum of just under a half turn of the wheel.
How many turns is your wheel lock to lock? You're going to end up only being able to steer a small portion left or right- this might not be enough to get your boat back on course in anything other than flat calm conditions.

 

[BabaYaga]

My only slight concern is though, the swing of the wheel would be about 10 degrees off vertical rather than a horizontal movement of a tiller, but of course the yacht would heel which may have the same effect.,

On my boat the rudder stock is raked circa 45 degrees. This has the effect that the tiller pilot is difficult to release when the tiller is not reasonably centered, because the pin is no longer vertical in relation to the drive unit.
I think you would get the same problem if you attached the pin to a wheel, only more pronounced.
Unless the steering wheel is very large, but that would in turn reduce the sector in which the pilot could operate.
The above is not related to whether the boat heels or not.

 

[colhel]

Thanks for all your thoughts. Our boat is a Nimbus which are known to to track fairly well so relatively small movements will be required to stay on course but changing direction will need a lot more, hence the need to release it quickly without the tiller pilot crashing to the floor.

 

[pvb]

Thanks for all your thoughts. Our boat is a Nimbus which are known to to track fairly well so relatively small movements will be required to stay on course but changing direction will need a lot more, hence the need to release it quickly without the tiller pilot crashing to the floor.

Sorry, but it's not a sensible thing to do. If you need an autopilot, you could fit a wheelpilot of some sort.

 

[Plum]

I've got a couple of tiller pilots left over from our old sailing boat and am thinking about trying to rig one up our motor boat. I'm trying to think of what could go wrong.
To stay on course the wheel requires far less effort and movement than our old yacht, I could rig up a quick release and it would be cheap. My only slight concern is though, the swing of the wheel would be about 10 degrees off vertical rather than a horizontal movement of a tiller, but of course the yacht would heel which may have the same effect.,
I think it'll be quite easy to rig something up and try it, but am interested to hear opinions.

Cheers

I don't think you will get enough rotation of the wheel. Maybe you could use a rack and pinion https://goo.gl/images/t5fzCJ with the pinion mounted behind the wheel and the rack pushed and pulled by the tillerpilot.

Www.solocoastalsailing.co.uk

 

[Pete7]

There is always a good demand for tiller pilots, especially in the Spring, so selling them and fitting the latest Raymarine EVO 100 would solve the problem properly. My EVO 100 came from Hudson Marine who were very helpful.

Pete