Tiller Discussions

[c_amos]

FWIW,

That is the exact same casting I have on Faith.. (mine is a bit more wallowed out).

[Tim D.]

FWIW,

That is the exact same casting I have on Faith.. (mine is a bit more wallowed out).

Craig, If by wallowed you mean the holes becoming oval, mine has done the same thing creating a fair amount of slop in the tiller/rudder connection. So I am planning on drilling it out to the next bolt size. Anybody done this?

Tim

[c_amos]

Tim,

I have both that problem and the problem of the sides of the fitting being bowed where the play has widened them out. This problem has been discused in this thread. You might wanna take a look at that link before you take out the drill.

[Tim D.]

Thanks Craig, I will keep looking through the threads (I have been) It is mentioned about what the other reasons for the play can be and the inherent danger in drilling it out. But I am pretty sure my play is because of the hole shape, and it seems like it is only going to get worse.

Tim

[ebb]

Beating a dead horse again, but consider this:

WHY NOT DRILL HOLES THROUGH THE TOP?

Then you will clamping those laminations together.


If your 'original' is like my original you have only 1 5/16" width for the wood in the tillerhead. It would be better then to use all the wood you have in the tiller coming out the bottom of the fitting. Two - 2 1/2"?

[Imco bigger bolts will weaken the bury of the tiller even more. There's plenty of over kill in the design of the tillerhead. Once you fit the end of the tiller into the metal it's not going anywhere. The bolts are there only to hold the tiller in place. There's hardly any way you can cinch the sides tighter to the tiller. You want to fit the wood in tight.

If you insist on drilling out the side holes in the tillerhead to make them round again I would use sleeves in the holes, and use the same 5/16" bolts. You will risk weakening the tiller even more with larger bolts. It's really impossible to believe that the holes in the massive sides (plus 1/4") got so out of round that they would still not have enough integrity to work good enough. Maybe holes in the tiller but certainly not the bronze!]


I would seriously consider putting 5/16" bolts in through the top.
You could square the holes by filing and use easy to find silicon bronze carriage bolts for their nice round top. Actually the install would look better. Except, of course, for the empty side holes - maybe glue in wood plugs? Or weld them closed and file them smooth. Little Gull's will be this way.

I will use oversize washers.
OR actually I have some 1/8" bronze strip left over from another project, which I'd use in one length instead of washers underneath. Still use split lock washers, This will help support the wood against the time when the tiller is pushed down too far by someone one leaning on it. This is probably why the delamination started in the first place. Not to say the 3 bolt zipper through the lams wasn't the cause!

Even if you put 3 bolts in a line through the top (which is hard to avoid!) the zipper effect is nullified by the immovable sides of the fitting. In fact lining the three bolts up would look good.

I would prep the 5" at the end of the tiller as in ebb's post above, and put it in the metal as snug as you can using bedding compound.

If bronze is too expensive, you can always use 316L stainless.
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If there is objection to this idea I would really like to hear it.

[Tim D.]

Because this thread is discussing the tiller head at large I thought I would clarify the worn hole I was mentioning.

[mbd]

Because this thread is discussing the tiller head at large I thought I would clarify the worn hole I was mentioning.

I don't have a picture at the moment, but in regards to the worn hole mentioned above, my tiller fitting looks to have some sort of bronze "collars" that fit the inside of the hole and are just the right diameter for the bolts. (Sorry, no pics at the moment) But they work very well, because everything there is nice and snug...

Also, I'm thinking I'll try Ebb's suggestion and drill through the top of the fitting. I really like his idea of the bronze carriage bolts, so I'll have to pick up an appropriate sized file. I'd welcome any tips as to how to do this with limited tools and little to no expertise.

My tentative plan is to drill 2 holes through the top at roughly the same location as the 2 outer holes on the sides, then use the existing bolt and middle hole on the side and use it to keep the sides of the fitting secured.

As I said, "tentative", any and all suggestions/tips welcome!