Yanmar SD 20 Saildrive- In Gear While Sailing ?

[Ram]

I have a sd20 sail drive / fixed prop, wile under sail should it be in forward or reverse,
nutral is noisey
Ram

[sv_makai]

Per Yanmar service bulletin I saw a while ago the sd20 should be in neutral.

[Ram]

Hi Bill
Yes I kinda thought that, but im wondering what harm could come if any in gear? Any thoughts?
Wile sailing I dont want to hear 2 gears turning, wile the noise is not that high I still hear it, and if making a passage that becomes a pain in the ass after a wile
Ram

[sv_makai]

From what I remember of the service bulletin is that leaving the trans in a gear is it doesn't damage the gears themselves, but puts excessive pressure on the clutches.

The gears don't run dry as they are bathed in oil and cooled by water passing by the leg, so it isn't a heat issues.

[Kookaburra]

An old post that I just came across and I suspect it may have already been answered, but here is my tuppence worth. Fountaine Pajot says to leave it in reverse on their Cats while, as noted above, Yanmar says leave it in neutral. I raised this conflict with the presenter at a Diesel course run by Mack Boring. His answer came down to: it is essentially a legal issue. There was an accident where an engine was started with the gear in reverse and injured a swimmer. So on new set-ups there is now is a mechanism that prevents the engine being started in gear. To prevent someone wondering why their engine won't start when they are faced with, say, an emergency when you might not notice that it is on gear they now recommend leaving the gear in neutral.

[Wanderlust]

Reviving an old thread, I am wondering if anyone has further comments on this question.

Most of the time I sail with the SD20's in neutral as per the Yanmar manual, but would prefer to leave it in gear if it does not cause a problem.

The Yanmar instruction makes no sense ....

"NOTICE: When sailing, set the remote control lever in neutral. Not doing so WILL introduce slippage and void your warranty"

This identical wording is also used for the SD50. For the SD50 I can accept that it makes sense because of possible wear to the cone clutches. But the SD20 has a dog clutch, so can't slip.

From what I can see, Kookaburra's comment may be the answer. Does anyone keep their's in gear and can report on experiences?

[DotDun]

Originally Posted by Wanderlust

Reviving an old thread, I am wondering if anyone has further comments on this question.

Most of the time I sail with the SD20's in neutral as per the Yanmar manual, but would prefer to leave it in gear if it does not cause a problem.

The Yanmar instruction makes no sense ....

"NOTICE: When sailing, set the remote control lever in neutral. Not doing so WILL introduce slippage and void your warranty"

This identical wording is also used for the SD50. For the SD50 I can accept that it makes sense because of possible wear to the cone clutches. But the SD20 has a dog clutch, so can't slip.

From what I can see, Kookaburra's comment may be the answer. Does anyone keep their's in gear and can report on experiences?

SD20s, 10 years, 2400 hours, in forward gear when sailing, no signs of a problem. F or R shouldn't matter as they are the same gear ratio. I agree that leaving a dog clutch in gear doesn't wear the clutch, except for maybe the corners of the ears as you shift into gear, but that would be a long time for any significant wear. If that bothers you, simply kill the engines while in gear, hence you won't be doing any additional shifting.

[Wanderlust]

Thanks DotDun. That gives me more confidence to ignore Yanmar's warning and do it more often. It's surprising how much vibration and rumble a spinning prop generates when the speed picks up, ket alone the wear to the saildrive.

[gspeak]

I couldn't agree more with your aversion to the noise, wear & tear of the rotating prop on seals, bearings etc. I also hate it. However, you do realise that a locked stationary prop creates even more drag than a free rotating fixed prop? The ultimate solution is to fit a folding or feathering prop (in our case props). Peace & quiet, no wear & tear plus more speed sailing & motoring. We have seen a minimum of 1 knot increase in speed both motoring & sailing since fitting a pair of Slipstream folding props to Seabreeze.

Dave


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