Sailomat suggestion/question

[powsmias]

hi all,
i have a sailomat on the floor and wondering since i have wheel steering that a cpt wheel attachtment is too big in diameter for this unit. that said was thinking about the force needed or troublesome for sailomat hooked up to a emergency tiller i have near the rear of cockpit. possible to use tiller with sailomat while wheel pully hardware still attached? will it have enough power to fight the extra strain from wheel hardware? just throwin this out there after a thought but was told by knowledgeable pearson owner to just convert entire boat over to tiller only and be happier. thanx in advance

[Paul L]

Do you have the Sailomat wheel attachment?

[powsmias]

Originally Posted by Paul L

Do you have the Sailomat wheel attachment?

no attachment only the cpt wheel adapter which is twice the circumference of the pics i've seen of other's sailomats

[Paul L]

How about adding a Sailomat wheel adapter to the CPT one. Sailomat are used on plenty of wheel boats. They are finicky to setup and the adjustment instructions are poorly written, but they do work.

[powsmias]

Originally Posted by Paul L

How about adding a Sailomat wheel adapter to the CPT one. Sailomat are used on plenty of wheel boats. They are finicky to setup and the adjustment instructions are poorly written, but they do work.

thnx i did consider that but may go to all tiller and remove wheel altogether.. just threw this out there to see if doable with the emergency tiller fighting the other hardware

[Paul L]

What boat is it? I sure wouldn't remove a wheel to make it easier to install a windvane. Plenty of windvanes work fine on a wheel.

[roverhi]

I'd sure remove a wheel to add a windvane in a New York minute in fact did that though not to add a vane but just to get rid of the wheel. The biggest issue with Pendulum Servo Vanes and wheels is the limited travel of the wheel. The wheel adapter has to be smallish diameter to create the power to steer the boat but that limits the amount of travel of the wheel. A larger diameter adapter may not generate enough power to turn the wheel under the load of weather helm at higher speeds. That's not to say that a PS vane won't work with a wheel but that it may not.

Believe I've seen boats as large as a Columbia 50 with a wheel steered by a PS Vane and seem to remember Grant used a PS vane on a Peterson 44. I wasn't able to get a Monitor to work with the wheel on my Pearson 35 in winds less than 10 mph. Vane just couldn't turn the wheel at boat speeds less than 4 knots. Didn't spend much time trying to fix the PO's installation as a servo rudder vane fell into my lap and solved the wheel issue.

Installation of a PS Vane with a tiller is dead simple as long as you can run the steering lines without obstruction. None of the inertia of a wheel to overcome and no quadrants, cables, sheaves to go wrong. Moving the attachment of the steering lines fore and aft on the tiller give a quick and easy way to change power and speed ratio of the vane till you find the sweet spot. For most boats way easier to single hand with a tiller as all the strings are usually at hand with a tiller. You'll have to rig your emergency tiller to get a sense of how much force is necessary to drag the wheel along as you steer.

[Paul L]

Originally Posted by roverhi

I'd sure remove a wheel to add a windvane in a New York minute in fact did that though not to add a vane but just to get rid of the wheel. .....

Well I guess it depends on the boat size. I just wouldnt make my wheel removal decision primarily on a windvane. I did an offshore on a 40 ft boat with a big tiller and a windvane. It made the cockpit barely usable offshore and somewhat dangerous as the tiller went sweeping by. Not the same in a smaller boat shorter tiller.

[billknny]

Originally Posted by powsmias

no attachment only the cpt wheel adapter which is twice the circumference of the pics i've seen of other's sailomats

First, the CPT adapter is made for a toothed belt. It will NOT work with lines that are required for the Sailomat. You need the Sailomat wheel adapter or something bespoke that is very similar. You can make one out of plywood if needed.

Do you have the Sailomat manual? You need to read and understand it on how to rig the lines. Knowing if you need a direct drive, or a multiplier is important to knowing how it will be rigged.

Your steering gear needs to be free turning for any wind vane to work properly. With the boat at the dock, you need to be able to turn the wheel with one finger. Friction is a wind vane's worst enemy.

You certainly can rig it to an emergency tiller arm. Mechanically that is a great solution, but you still need to have a very free working steering system. BUT, is your emergency tiller post deck penetration waterproof? Can you tolerate leaks there?

[powsmias]

https://www.cruisersforum.com/forums...-a-253145.html