TMP Gearbox

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Breoch

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Further to earlier post re Perkins 4108...thanks for all your help..the gearbox on this beautiful looking engine is a TMP with a 2:1 reduction. I've never heard of a TMP, bit ignorant really, and I was wondering if spares are readily available as there is a small leak at the rear of the box which I'd like to sort asap.

Thanks


Glen
 
Easy job get a new bearing !!.
How much oil , dont expect these old mecanicle boxes to be leak free . A drip tray may well provide a reasonable solution.
Cheers
Mick


<A target="_blank" HREF=http://homepage.ntlworld.com/boats/>http://homepage.ntlworld.com/boats/</A>
 
I had a TMP fitted to my Freeman 27. It is a hydraulic box, rather like the old overdrive units fitted to cars in the past (epicyclic, planet and sun etc). It runs at a high pressure so is prone to leak. Make sure it is not over filled.
Many years ago there was a service agent in Weybridge.
Try Sheridan at Moulsford (Oxon), if he is not flooded out as usual.
 
Also had one in a Freeman 24 I had many years ago. Never had any trouble with it in about 10 years of ownership. TMP stood for Thamesway Marine Products.

Seem to recall Sheridans doing bits for them, also used to see someone advertising bits for them in Canal & Riverboat Magazine when I used to subscribe to that before moving to seagoing boats, so a C & R may be worth a scan.

Chris
 
Thamesway Marine

do the bits and, I think, exchange boxes. They kind of sound like they're working from the house (and very knowledgeable). I've a feeling they don't take credit cards, which is a bit of a bind when you want that part tomorrow. They're at:

Thamesway Marine Products Ltd
96, Thames St
Weybridge Surrey
KT13 8NH
Tel: 01932 843072

All parts, except the big output shaft, were available new - but not particularly cheap - last time I asked. My 1:1 version has as slight leak at the backplate where the drilling for the hydraulic control of the brake on the output shaft passes through the flanged joint (the brake locks the shaft when you're in neutral with the engine running). I had been planning to replace the backplate gasket but Thamesway advised me to forget it "it's a teaspoonful a week, it only sees pressure when your running the engine in neutral, and, anyway, they all do that 'cos the land's been designed too small."

It's very easy to overfill the box as it has a very small oil capacity - nearly half the oil's in the filter (Maestro/Metro 1.3 engine filter, by the way) in the 1:1. It's also easy to lose a big proportion of the oil out of the dipstick/breather with the boat well heeled (I've been meaning to make an extended breather pipe for mine). It's probably not the best box. But on the other hand, in 23 years and about 6000 hours, mine's been stripped once to replace the big rear bearings at about 4000 hours when I bought the boat: I suspect the damage was caused by shaft misalignment due to failed engine mounts which I had to rectify at the same time. I changed all the seals as a matter of course. Everything else appeared to be as new, including the fibre brakes on the main ahead/astern epicyclic gear mechanisms.

I'd have to say that, whereas I'd go to any lengths to avoid changing my Thornycroft, and the same would apply to a 4-108, if my TMP looked like needing a substantial rebuild, the economics are such that I'd seriously consider installing a new Borg-Warner Velvet Drive (the only other box which fits my setup).
 
Thamesway rebuilt my TMP some years back. Perkins 4-108 in a Fjord 33 MS. A previous post is correct,he does work out of a shed at the bottom of the garden. I delivered it to him. it was ready on time and worked flawlesly. Very nice man. Highly reccomend
 
Re: TMP Gearbox Don\'t drop it!

I echo other positive comments about TMP/Perkins combination. BUT - don't damage the bell housing! A couple of years ago it took us six months to find one, new or second-hand. I think we tried everyone, including Thamesway. Finally found one, just serviceable, in the back shed of a small Perkins dealer here in the Netherlands. Seems to be the only essential part virtually unavailable now for this motor/box combination.
If you motor for long in the choppy stuff, check below now and then that the bilge isn't oily - as previous poster has suggested, it seems to spurt out of the dipstick hole. In our experience, the first sign that there isn't enough oil in the thing is not a loss of power going forwards, but a total lack of astern possibilities. Not nice.
All the best,
Richard.

LowTech
 
Re: TMP Gearbox single lever

By the way, can anyone recommend the best deck-mounted single-lever control system for the TMP? Must look old-fashioned/classicky! Ours is a chrome no-name make, using Morse cables, but almost impossible to adjust for reliable neutral and reverse ("That's right, push it till it clicks, then wiggle it a bit until the engine note changes..." - lovely in a marina...)

Richard

LowTech
 
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