Sloppy Tiller

[Easy]

Hi!
I have a 1970 Grampian 26. Sailing on Georgian Bay yesterday I was on a broad reach and noticed a sloppiness in my tiller and rudder. the rudder seemed to give a few degrees until it tightened up with a bit of a thunk (old nautical term for barely heard, more "felt" in the tiller). On a beam reach the sloppiness was barely noticeable.
Does anyone have a diagram or description of the assembly involved?
I suspect I am dealing with a worn hole that a larger size bolt/pin would cure but not sure how to go about replacing.
I would appreciate any and all advice!
Cheers, "Easy Go"

[rhr1956]

I have the same problem, but I know what caused it. When I installed the new rudder and tiller head, I mis-drilled the hole a little bit. I had to woble the hole some to get the bolt through. Kinda sucks but I'm living with it.

[Jimbo485]

Originally Posted by Easy

Hi!
I have a 1970 Grampian 26. Sailing on Georgian Bay yesterday I was on a broad reach and noticed a sloppiness in my tiller and rudder. the rudder seemed to give a few degrees until it tightened up with a bit of a thunk (old nautical term for barely heard, more "felt" in the tiller). On a beam reach the sloppiness was barely noticeable.
Does anyone have a diagram or description of the assembly involved?
I suspect I am dealing with a worn hole that a larger size bolt/pin would cure but not sure how to go about replacing.
I would appreciate any and all advice!
Cheers, "Easy Go"

Pull it out and fix it. You will learn how it works.

Worked for me, I pulled it out with a mask and snorkel from beneath.

Just do it and it will be obvious to you as well. No further advice necessary.

[ohdrinkboy]

Pull it and fix it. I had a sloppy rudder and ignored it. Broke on me 2 hrs from home in a stiff breeze, and of course I had to go upwind. Made it ok with a jury rig, but learned my lesson.

[Jim Quibell]

The picture shows how we fixed ours.
A 1/8" thick s/s plate mounted into the cockpit sole with s/s screws. The plate has a hole punched for the rudder shaft to fit nice and snug.

[perchance]

A good part of the sloppiness may be in the rudder tube itself. I found a fix on line that consisted of injecting the rudder tube with a mixture of epoxy resin and graphite and another filler that escapes me at the moment. It tightened it right up like new. The slop in the tiller handle was improved by adding thin washers between the tiller fork and rudder head.
FYI: Holland Marine in Mississauga has some parts still available for these old Gramps.

[GordMay]

See ➥ http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...ine-50436.html


G26 Rudder ➥ http://www.grampianowners.com/G26/Ze...Rudder%202.jpg

"... There were two designs used at different times in production.

I seem to recall that one was plastic bushings pressed into the rudder tube in the hull. In this case you can knock out the old bushings, measure them and the rudder shaft with a micrometer and check with a bearing distributor (I've had good luck with Canadian Bearings) to see if they can source an off-the-shelf replacement. If not, you need to find a machine shop that will machine replacement bushings for you.

The other design had "gun metal" bushings soldered into the ends of the rudder tube, which was a piece of copper pipe. This is what our boat has. The bad news is that to un-solder the bushings, you need to heat the pipe, and that will destroy the fiberglass that holds it in place. One option is to remove the old bushings by machining them out, for instance, with a file or die grinder and burr and a lot of patience, then press or glue in plastic bushings. Another option is to use an epoxy repair putty like JB Weld or Devcon putty to build up the inside diameter of the existing bushings, but you then have to come up with a way to bore the bushings to the right diameter for the rudder shaft ..."

➥ FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT GRAMPIAN 26

[SabreKai]

I had the same problem in both of the Gramps I owned. In each case it was a worn hole in the tiller head at the top of the rudder post.

The shaft comes up from the tube and the rudder is held in place with a cross pin that eventually wears a hole in the deck as the rudder wieght wears away the glass. This is a primary entry point for water into the plywood core of the cockpit sole. (also a grampian fail point) Than can be fixed with the steel plate mentioned above.

Meanwhile the tiller head, made of bronze is wearing. At some point you can over drill and sleeve the bolt hole but I'd be careful, there isn't much meat there. It might be better to remove the tiller head and have both holes brazed full and new holes drilled. The same applies to the tabs on the tiller itself. Taking the tiller head off is as easy as loosening the cross bolt and levering it up with a crow bar using a plate to keep the deck clean and dent free.

[Jim Quibell]

I forgot to mention that we also had sealed the worn top bearing area with epoxy so there would be no water going into the ply cockpit sole. The s/s plate seats directly onto the cockpit sole area with no leaks underneath it. On top of the s/s plate, we set a 1/8" thick s/s washer.
We had already installed a new 1/4" dia. rudder pin to replace the old worn pin. This rests on the washer, which rests on the s/s plate, which holds the whole setup nicely in play. The bottom washer setup (on the hull exit point of the rudder shaft) is snug, and there is no play whatsoever.