Save-A-Boat - The Forum for Plastic Classic Rebuilds!

This is a tiller-and-a-half from a Valiant 40. I'm sort of adapting this idea for my tillerpilot.

You have to explain that contraption to everyone.

hmm... It looks to me like when your underway and your using your tiller-pilot or a windvane to steer, you can fold the large human sized tiller up out of the cockpit and let the autopilot/windvane use the stubby one.

Or did I get that totally wrong?

I 'd say you got it exactly right- that's what it looks like to me too- see the windvane control lines coming in from each side?

Neat idea.

That's the jist of it, though I've no plans for a windvane.

The tricky part will be the tiller head, I think.

Figment wrote:The tricky part will be the tiller head, I think.

I see a funky custom bracket in your future...

How goes progress on your recessed tiller pilot box? Pics?

I've also seen a variation where the tiller is cut wherever you want the break and using a fancy-type lap joint. Then it's refastened using a pair of fasteners. That way you can take it apart and have the short tiller for use with a wind vane or etc. and then put it back together when you want the full-length tiller. It doesn't just flip up out of the way like that one, but on the other hand you don't have all that bracketry to deal with.

I would search up a photo right now but the Internet is sloooooow here today and it would take me forever.

Rachel

Jon Eisberg on CSBB has his set up like that. I've asked him to post a pic so I could repost it here.

I've begun to wonder how funky or custom the bracket really needs to be. What's inadequate about a simple custom-cut stainless strap astride the rudder head, liberally through-bolted to the tiller?

The tillerpilot housing is very much as it was when you saw it. I managed to get a piece of tape over the seam before the cold weather hit, but nothing since.

Getting the tiller out of the cockpit while on auto sounds like a worthy task. I like the break down tiller idea Rachel mentions. I am a big fan of KISS. But then again, half the fun of these type projects is the process of creating a solution, good luck with it.

If it were me, I'd prefer a setup that left the "real" tiller in place so that it was available when I needed it to actually steer the boat.

In an emergency, I'd rather not have to be stuck holding a short stubby semi-tiller, particularly when in a Triton it would be deep in the cockpit well and extremely awkward to handle (never mind the lack of mechanical advantage). A 2-part tiller that needed to be fastened back in place sounds like it could complicate a potential situation that having a real tiller close at hand would easily avoid.

Everyone who has used an autopilot has become complacent enough during its use to find themselves in a semi-cricital swerving situation to avoid something. When that happens, I'd rather be holding the actual tiller. That said, the idea of a short tiller for the autopilot that allows the real one to be swung out of the way is a good concept that opens up the cockpit. I just think the real means of steering should always be right there and ready for immediate use, without fussing or thought.

I don't think the bracket needs to be overly complicated. It just needs to work satisfactorily in both modes. How you achieve this can probably take a dozen different forms.

Here is another short tiller idea from a C27 website.

Hey, thanks Peter!
I like the way that one hinges off the main tiller and leaves the tiller/rudder head assembly alone.