Tiller pilot

[Trop Cher]

I would like to fit a tiller pilot to my boat a MacWester Rowan Crown 24 ft and 2 1/2 to 3 tons. However the cockpit is too narrow for the Simrad TP10 and the Raymarine ST1000 which both require 590cm from centre of the cockpit to the pin that the tiller pilot fits into.
The boat seems to have been fitted with one before. However which one? can anyone advise? /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

 

[VicS]

Having found some photos I think I see your problem. In fact you need 610mm overall space for the ST1000. Possibly the boat was fitted with one of the very much older units which I think were a little shorter. I am surprised there is not enough space though.

My boat is narrow too but I have mine mounted on the coaming, which is just the right height but I can see that the Rowan Crown has a very high coaming. (In fact I have an extension on the Tillerpilot)

It will not in fact matter if you mount it with less space than specified, you just wont get as much movement of the tiller to stbd as you otherwise would. Provided you get enough it will be Ok , it wont affect the operation of the unit itself.

How far is it from tiller to inside of coaming at the specified 460mm along the tiller?

 

[retsina]

Welcome to a fellow Macwester. Have you asked the Macwester Association? look it up on the internet; e-mail or phone someone from the association. They are very helpful.

 

[Danny]

How short of the required 590cms is it? The last boat I had with a tiller pilot had the tiller "connection pin" mounted on a metal bracket that projected below the tiller. I've no idea if this would be a practical solution but I'm wondering if it would be possible to have this sort of arrangement but cranked down and away from the tiller (to port) to gain a few cms. Maybe in this way you could get the required 590cms gap between the tiller connection point and the cockpit side when the tiller was centered?

 

[oldharry]

It is perfectly OK to put the cranked extension on top of the tiller to gain height to get the space needed. Not very pretty though, but often suggested in the makers fitting instructions.

 

[VicS]

[ QUOTE ]
Not very pretty though

[/ QUOTE ] Not very pretty at all. Danny's suggestion may be almost the answer.

make an bracket that will offset the tiller connection to port a bit and mount the tiller-pilot on the shortest possible cantilever bracket on the coaming at a convenient height.

 

[Trop Cher]

Hi and thanks for your responses so far.
Yes the coaming is very high and if I mounted the tiller pilot on it it would then be too high above the tiller and too exposed to the weather and being banged into and tripped over.
At the 460mm along the tiller I only have 460mm from the centre line to edge of the cockpit, therefore will get next to no movement to stbd, probably just manage clockwise circles! There is a pin holding hole from a previous tiller pilot and it is only 400mm to the centre line. I wondered if there was another make I'm unware of?
I could try to offset the pin as Danny suggests, that may work.
I have looked at the Macwester site a few times, but it doesn't look very exciting, perhaps I could try a post on it.
Simon

 

[Spyro]

I had an old Autohelm 1000 with the red compass rose which had a much shorter fitting distance. That's possibly what was there before. I had to fit a new socket when I upgraded to a TP10

 

[VicS]

[ QUOTE ]
had an old Autohelm 1000 with the red compass rose

[/ QUOTE ] Thats what mine is. It is very much shorter from mounting to tiller but its tail sticks out quite a bit more than the new ones do. Even that was supposed to be mounted 480mm from the tiller. The other common tiller pilot of that era was the Seafarer Mini Seacourse. I have no idea of its dimensions but it had a whole row of holes for the tiller pin rather than just the one as with Nautech/Raymarine or Navico/Simrad ones.

There is no point in looking for one of the old relics as the modern ones are much more technically advanced.

I think simonmaclellan's only solution is to fit an offset tiller pin, as Danny suggested, but it's going to have to be offset by around 150mm. That'll be a nuisance having something that size on the side of the tiller unles it can be made detachable.

 

[simonfraser]

i agree, you need an off set bracket that is detacheable or swings out 90 and locks with a pin, you can have stuff like that made out of stainless steel, go and see a local fabricator with a drawing.