Tiller Steering, Autopilot

[Geoduck]

Howdy! I have a 48 ketch, heavy displacement wood, full keel boat w/canoe stearn. I mounted a Monitor wind vane and use a Simrad tiller pilot to drive the Monitor when motoring or in light wind conditions and it works great! I have a huge barn door rudder. The only time I have to hand steer is when I'm in heavy current. My boat has Edson worm gear steering with a backwards mounted wheel. I'm sure that this would even work better if I had a tiller - which I would prefer anyway. Monitor suggests that you have no more than 4 turns lock to lock on your wheel.
Hope this info helps.
BTW a used Monitor and a new tiller pilot was under $2500.

[barnakiel]

Originally Posted by Ciabi

Hi "Barnie"-

Yup... won't work for us. Aries-32 is a Thomas Gillmer design. Tiller and Rudder are one unit mounted on through bolted pintles fully after. Soooo... there is no rudder post coming up through the aft deck.(...)

Hi,

Negativo / positivo - you can still mount any motor as long as there is a way to attach an extension/adapter arm to the post. Then you attach the drive to the arm et voila-voile! The drive must be in a dry place though - e.g. under a cockpit aft seat (watertight); and you will have one more hole in the hull (above waterline though) - where the post-adapter goes in.

Have seen drives - electric and hydraulic - mounted this way a couple of times. Not only the motor is then out of salt water way but also (in case of an electric drive) it is quieter in the cockpit!

Cheers,
b.