A27 Steering Gear

[don123]

It's way too quiet around here!

On the cable drive mechanism behind the helm wheel, there is a removable, tubular something or other about a foot long screwed on the upper side which points to starboard - The cable going to the rudder exits on the bottom, also pointing to starboard

Anybody know what this upper thingy is for? It looks like maybe you're supposed to remove it and fill it with a lubricant of some kind and put it back on to keep the cable lubricated . . . . but that's just my very weak guess. I suppose it could also be a place to attach a second cable for a push-pull steering arrangement

It's hard to see let alone get to with the engine control panel in place, but mine is currently removed, waiting on me to install my new Yanmar panel, so it's easy to access right now. If it's supposed to be lubricated, no doubt it needs doing on my 30 year old boat

Don

Edit: Looking at new Teleflex steering boxes, I'm guessing (again) that this tube covers the end of the steering cable when the wheel is turned all the way in one direction - But . . . . should I remove the cover and put some lithium grease or something in it?

[hetek]

You are correct - It is just a cover for the end of the inner cable when the helm is turned lock to lock. It keeps the greasy cable clean (and any hands and arms that may be working in the helm area).

Can't remember off-hand what lube Teleflex recommends but lithium sounds about right. I've always found the cables to have more than enough lube on them so I never had to add any.

[JT48348]

Can someone tell me what size shaft the A27 steering wheel mounts to? Are all shafts standard 3/4" tapered or are there variations based on brand?

[Vic K]

Don,

You need to liven things up with some photos and narrative about your trip for us yard and slip bound Albinites or is it Abineers. Did you really tow a dink w/outboard attached from Applach to Tarpon Sprs?

Vic

[Beta Don]

Vic,

Yes, I did - Thereby breaking two very hard, very fast rules. 1.) Never tow a dink offshore and 2.) Never tow one at night. Doing either is admitting you really don't care if you lose it or not. But, I'd had a preview of sorts in east Choctawatchie Bay and another in West Bay, Panama City when we ran into some pretty bad wave action (I was initially worried about the darned thing flipping over) and it came through high and dry with virtually no water in it. I *think* what's going on is I got real lucky with the distance between it and the boat. I had a 38' 5/16ths rope which I doubled and towing it 17 or 18 feet behind the boat has it bow up on the stern wave and it's really stable there, though I suspect it's slowing me down 1/2 knot or so

But yes, from Biloxi to Tampa it's been back there and doing remarkably well. I do have the option of lifting it up on the roof . . . . or I will have once I get some hardware installed on it, but for the time being, it's doing fine - Now, the next posting may well have you all reading that I've lost it, so stand by! Definitely NOT a recommended practice I'll readily admit

On a related note, I'm glad you resurrected this old thread. In anticipation of one day installing an autopilot, I swapped out the OEM steering gearbox at the helm for an Octopus Drive. Essentially it's an electric motor driven helm with a clutch which an autopilot can use to move the helm. I would have sworn I installed it exactly like the OEM unit it replaced, the cable to the rudder on the bottom and the tube mentioned on the top, but when we launched the boat, the steering was backwards . . . . and that made for a very interesting trip from the boatyard back to our dock on the bayou - After a few miles I was almost getting the hang of it which is a scary thought

Anyway, until I reread this thread I had just assumed I'd somehow managed to get it installed backwards, but no, evidently the Octopus Drive has an extra gear set in it and the rudder cable must go to the top port and not the bottom like it was originally

Sorry for the lack of photos - We'll try to do better when we get somewhere with faster Internet. We have free, unsecured Internet many places where we anchor using the WiFi transponder I mounted up on the mast, but since it's free and unsecured, it's a given that we're not the only ones using it, so many times it's slow and other times it's VERY slow - But it works! . . . . most of the time anyway

Don

[JT48348]

What. Is. The. Size. Of. The steering. Shaft?

[Vic K]

Don,

I popped a dinghy line in the Bahamas lucky we had a back up that saved our bacon and the dink. I have to add that the wife insisted on the back up line as I had told her "we're not going far.....we won't need it!" After that I listen to her.

What I understand because of the way the 27 is built and with such a small rudder ( and I'm sure speed has a lot to do with it) are a bear on auto pilots in quartering or following seas. I would be interested in the experiences of others.

I did track down and bought a rebuilt Autohelm 3000 that has the belt drive. I'm old, old school and don't need or want an auto pilot that can make coffee, tie my shoes or give me my horoscope not to mention the cost. I still have an ADF. The Autohelm works fine until the bay gets a bit sloppy and the wind /water comes from the aft and starts moving the stern around.

Do keep up the narrative Don add photos when you can.

Vic

[rnummi]

Vic is that the wheel pilot or can you use one that pushes-pulls the cables (I believe hydraulic pump?)

[Vic K]

I have an old style Autohelm 3000 that has a drum mounted to the wheel and uses a belt from a power head/control to turn the wheel. Very low, low tech. Took me a while to find one that was rebuilt as they have been out of production for a number of years. Sorry no photo but just Google Autohelm 3000.
My electronics guru almost had a cat when he saw that I bought it.
Vic

[tego]

Vic, I've been looking for one of those old timers for over a year now. I live by the " KISS" rule too. I've had the 3000 on two of my previous boats and never had a problem with either. They work pretty well with a full keel boat except in a following sea and nobody in their right mind leaves the helm in a heavy following sea anyway. Don, sorry I missed you in St. Pete. I went by the marina area but there was some festival going on and wall to wall people, so couldn't find any parking. Back in TN today. Rick, I went to the salvage yard yesterday and spent a long time talking to Don and Ken. We had a lot in common. I'll be back there in the next week or two to pick up some stuff. Tried to call you a couple of times but no answer. I'll call again the next time down. Ben

[Vic K]

Tego,

Try Dan Gerhart ( C250@mydurgano.net ) he rebuilds the old Autohelm's. Tell him that Vic from Texas gave you his email.
Vic

[Vic K]

That's C250@mydurango.net.

[tego]

Vic, Thanks, I'll give him a shout ASAP. I love those old units! I've been a day late several times when I thought I'd found one. Ben

[Beta Don]

We had lots of stern and quartering seas on this trip - Across Mobile Bay, up the narrows under the Navarre Bridge, across Choctawhatchee Bay and especially West Bay into Panama City . . . . and you're right - No autopilot has a prayer of steering this boat in those conditions. Her flat backside gets lifted up and deposited a couple feet to one side and sometimes it takes an anticipatory full turn of the wheel to get her back in line

I briefly considered an AutoHelm 3000 (inexpensive and worked great on my 34' sailboat) but the main thing I'd really like in an autopilot is something that can follow the purple line created by my GPS. If you have a chart chip in any modern Garmin unit, you have access to 'autorouting'. You input your boats water and air draft, create a waypoint you'd like to go to and the GPS will draw a line which keeps you in safe water and a good autopilot will carefully follow that line - Really shortens things when you're in the ditch following the Intercoastal Waterway markers. You can take many shortcuts, plus it keeps you out of the channel much of the time so you don't have to worry about the barges and big rigs. Of course, the downside is . . . . about $2K

Don

[Beta Don]

What. Is. The. Size. Of. The steering. Shaft?

JT - I honestly don't know for sure. 3/4" with a standard taper sounds about right. When I bought the Octopus Drive, my old steering wheel fit it's shaft correctly, but the nut off the shaft on the old gearbox did not fit the new shaft - Different size and different thread. I had a heck of a time finding a nut which did

Don