Help with 33' Hunter Steering...

[Sailboatdummy]

OK, a sailboat came with a bent rudder, and shaft, and a steering issues..

Now, the Rudder/Shaft is no problem to me.. the issue I am having is the steering..

Picture this.. standing behind the wheel (looking forward) You have the wheel.. Then you have a Serpetine looking belt that is attached to Wheel, and obviously the belt connects to somekind of pulley on the deck (starboard of whee) Now, the bracket is there, but no pulley wheel, the owner said it was in bilge of boat (its not) Can I make a pulley to suffice or does anyone know what exactly the pulley is called and who would carry such a part

Thanks, Steve

 

[kloudie1]

That is an old auto pilot . The bottom end of the belt goes around a pulley on a drive motor whose bracket pins into the deck plate that you show. The bracket has a cam that tightens the belt to engage the autopilot .. There should be a motor and a control head somewhere.. It will be about 8" in diameter and 6" long with a bracket sticking out the end. There should be wires connecting it to a control unit.. HAppy Hunting !

EDIT: The plug under the engine panel is probably where the motor plugs in ..

EDIT 2 :The dovetail bracket just inboard from the plug under the tacho panel is where the control unit mounts..

 

[Alex Dare]

autohelm

What your looking at is the remnants of a very old Autohelm belt drive autopilot system. (I believe a 3000 model) The black bracket you see held the drive motor which had a cog wheel that spun the belt and moved the wheel. There was also a control head that mounted on a bracket somewhere in the cockpit.

 

[Sailboatdummy]

Thanks guys, after googling the steering schematics, I figured that out and the rest of my problems.

Again, thanks!

 

[DeniseO30]

I actually have an old 3000 autohelm and it works!