Autopilot on wooden wheel?

[jockster1059]

Hi Everyone,


Angie and I hope to fit a Raymarine EV-100 wheel autopilot to our 85yo timber yawl... question is, how adaptable is the fixing hardware to suit old wooden spoked wheels, or would we have to replace the wheel as well? Has anyone had a similar experience?



Wind vane self steering is not an option as we have dinghy/davits setup that has to stay...


Any help appreciated, I'll try to attach a couple of photos...


Cheers Jim

[Dsanduril]

What is the diameter of the inner wheel? The mounting holes for the EV1 are 10.6”(270mm) diameter. If that falls on the inner wheel would be relatively straightforward to drill and tap the bronze cover plate and use machine screws to attach the EV. Otherwise I’m guessing the dimensions will get a bit awkward fitting around that inner wheel.

[jockster1059]

Originally Posted by Dsanduril

What is the diameter of the inner wheel? The mounting holes for the EV1 are 10.6”(270mm) diameter. If that falls on the inner wheel would be relatively straightforward to drill and tap the bronze cover plate and use machine screws to attach the EV. Otherwise I’m guessing the dimensions will get a bit awkward fitting around that inner wheel.

Thanks, I'll measure it next time we're down at the boat....

[Panope]

I installed an EV 100 wheel pilot on a wooden wheel by screwing (with wood screws) directly to the wooden spokes.

Wheel pilot had to be first disassembled, and holes drilled to match the wheel spokes.

It was an easy job and has woked perfectly for years.

[Cpt Mark]

I firmly believe in redundancy for AP's. I bought the Hydrovane wind AP because it doesn't need to be mounted on center. Check out their website and/or call them. I dealt with Will and Sarah in Vancouver BC, Canada. Beyond helpful, friendly, knowledgeable.

[Mike Paget]

Originally Posted by jockster1059

Hi Everyone,


Angie and I hope to fit a Raymarine EV-100 wheel autopilot to our 85yo timber yawl... question is, how adaptable is the fixing hardware to suit old wooden spoked wheels, or would we have to replace the wheel as well? Has anyone had a similar experience?



Wind vane self steering is not an option as we have dinghy/davits setup that has to stay...


Any help appreciated, I'll try to attach a couple of photos...


Cheers Jim

Hi Have you thought of fitting a below deck AP more expensive but is more efficient and will out last any wheel pilot just a single button to engage, depends on what steering gear you have but worth having a look.
Mike

[Mike Paget]

Hi I have tried to reply this before so sorry if it comes up again.
Have you thought of installing a below deck AP more expensive but worth it in the long run it will out live a wheel pilot and is so much more efficient, operate by one button press. It depends on your steering gear but it is well worth a look.
Mike

[Gaia]

Originally Posted by Mike Paget

Hi Have you thought of fitting a below deck AP more expensive but is more efficient and will out last any wheel pilot just a single button to engage, depends on what steering gear you have but worth having a look.
Mike

Echo Mike. We installed a Raymarine AP Evolution series below decks on our Gazelle and love it. Everything is super protected down there out of the elements and it has and is operating flawlessly. We have torgue tube steering and that is also almost failure proof, The linear drive Raymarine sell for below decks use is an old and super reliable design. (But they might have redesigned it. I have not needed to look.) When we tune the unit down in sensitivity, power draw for their 7002 series is amazingly low. All the gear for it is under our bed in the aft cabin and if we sleep there while under way, not often, we can barely hear it operate.

Good luck

Jim sv Gaia

[roland stockham]

Should be no problem to fit but for a boat that size is only going to be suitable for motoring in calms or under sale in fair weather. Offshore it would be well undersized. I used wheel pilots on a 35ft wooden sailboat and after the second one exploded switched to a below deck pilot.

[jockster1059]

Thanks for the handy input re below deck APs, do they operate like a tiller pilot with a push rod on to the steering quadrant at the top of the rudder shaft? If so, it would be difficult to push against the high geared cables/chains/sprockets/counter shafts in our steering setup...


I thought of using a tiller pilot on the shortened emergency tiller, but the effort required to turn that wheel from there would burn a motor out in no time I reckon!


Cheers Jim

[roland stockham]

There are a number of different ways of doing it. On my boat I have center cockpit and the original chain drive had so many corners it never worked well and had way to much slack, 1/2 turn before the rudder moved! I took the whole lot out and replaced it with hydraulic drive fitted to a short tiller. The ram lives on the rear deck and it worked fine but quite an expensive job. If your chain drive works fine you can fit a rotary drive with a chain sprocket anywhere that has a VERY solid mount. You could also fit a cable drum drive, basically a grooved drum that takes several turns of cable. I have seen those working but not for sale new so not sure if they are still available. The main issue with a below deck drive that does not connect directly to he quadrant or tiller is ensuring a small enough slack. Too much slack and the drive may think it is moving the tiller when it is actually only moving chain! A rudder position sensor improves things but there are limits. Do you have a sketch of your searing layout?

[JD-MDR]

I used this forum for advise on choosing the Jeffa sprocket drive auto pilot . It connects directly to my wheel shaft and everything is concealed . I control it all with the Garmin 742 GPS. Some day I will figure out how to control it with my cell phone. It works great and uses very little power. I also have a Cape Horn wind vane connected to the same shaft. So far everything is working out fine

[jockster1059]

Originally Posted by roland stockham

There are a number of different ways of doing it. On my boat I have center cockpit and the original chain drive had so many corners it never worked well and had way to much slack, 1/2 turn before the rudder moved! I took the whole lot out and replaced it with hydraulic drive fitted to a short tiller. The ram lives on the rear deck and it worked fine but quite an expensive job. If your chain drive works fine you can fit a rotary drive with a chain sprocket anywhere that has a VERY solid mount. You could also fit a cable drum drive, basically a grooved drum that takes several turns of cable. I have seen those working but not for sale new so not sure if they are still available. The main issue with a below deck drive that does not connect directly to he quadrant or tiller is ensuring a small enough slack. Too much slack and the drive may think it is moving the tiller when it is actually only moving chain! A rudder position sensor improves things but there are limits. Do you have a sketch of your searing layout?

Thanks for the info, I think if the inner timber/brass ring on our wheel coincides with the Raymarine wheel setup, I'll fit that The boat is quite light to steer, so shouldn't stress the EV-100 too much. I'll update after I've measured it

[JD-MDR]

[QUOTE=roland stockham; The main issue with a below deck drive that does not connect directly to he quadrant or tiller is ensuring a small enough slack. Too much slack and the drive may think it is moving the tiller when it is actually only moving chain! A rudder position sensor improves things but there are limits. [/QUOTE]




I'm not having any of those problems. Maybe because I have the worm drive steering. My chain is short about 24" only about 12' distance sprocket to sprocket and I did need to have a rudder indicator