severe curve or mild curve: tiller question

[emergpa1]

I recently shopped D & R for a tiller. One had a severe curve, the other a slight curve. I ordered the severe curve. What experience do you guys have with these. Which do you prefer? I felt like a larger curve would give more options as to how far away the tiller would be. What i mean is that, at different points along the curve, you are a different distance away from a given position. So i thought the severe curve might be best. But honestly I am not sure.
Is it an up and down curve or left to right curve.
keith (who should be working on the boat before it gets too hot)

 

[Joe11688]

I recently shopped D & R for a tiller. One had a severe curve, the other a slight curve. I ordered the severe curve. What experience do you guys have with these. Which do you prefer? I felt like a larger curve would give more options as to how far away the tiller would be. What i mean is that, at different points along the curve, you are a different distance away from a given position. So i thought the severe curve might be best. But honestly I am not sure.
Is it an up and down curve or left to right curve.
keith (who should be working on the boat before it gets too hot)

Keith,
I bought one off Rudy years ago with a mild curve, and it has two stainless plates that fit over the rudder head on my boat. The reason I bought the mild curve is so I could mount the pin for my Autohelm ST 1000+ auto pilot on top of the till. Otherwise, I would have needed to buy a special bracket for the pin that mounts under the tiller. Because of the fact that this tiller is wider than the stock tiller that came with my boat, I needed to make more room for it on the rudder head by lowering my pintles on the the rudder head to the bottom holes and drilling new bottom holes on the head. It all worked out great on my boat. I use my autopilot about 98% of the time.

 

[wendy]

I just bought a 222 it needs a new tiller. I have a 26, and the 222 tiller/rudder head seems flimsy compared to the 26.
Do D&R supply the stainless bracket and tiller for the 222?
Do you have any close up photos of the head?
Thanks

 

[Joe11688]

I just bought a 222 it needs a new tiller. I have a 26, and the 222 tiller/rudder head seems flimsy compared to the 26.
Do D&R supply the stainless bracket and tiller for the 222?
Do you have any close up photos of the head?
Thanks

Wendy,
I have pictures of my rudder and tiller on this site under, "Owner Directory"-"Owner Photo Album"- "Trinkka". I'm not sure if Rudy has these tillers. You would have to call him.
http://www.drmarine.com/ On my 1986 O'Day 222 tip up rudder, I needed to lower the pintles down to the bottom hole, and drill a new bottom hole for both pintles. This raised the rudder head high enough to make room for the tiller plates and to be able to use the same hole for the tiller bolt. I also installed two stops on the rudder head to keep the tiller from hitting the top of the transom. The stops are nothing but Aluminum storm door "L" shaped brackets that can be bought in any hardware store. I drilled a small hole in the top of each one and tapped it for threads for the screws to hold small pieces of Starboard for the tiller plates to rest on. Raising the rudder head provided the space needed to mount this heavy duty tiller and still provide the space under the tiller for the small diameter rudder hold down pendant line. I also installed a rudder blade hold up pendant line with a fair lead on the rudder head, and a self rescue clam cleat on top of the tiller. The leather is a chafe guard for when I tie my till off.
Joe

 

[kdnichols]

tiller

I bought a mild tiller last year from Rudy.

I also bought a "battlestick" from West Marine and think it's a more important purchase than the tiller was.

I can comfortably sit anywhere in the cockpit and steer the boat with this tiller extension.

It's great when I am single-handing (80% of the time) and I have to screw around with the jib sheets at the winches.

Kevin

 

[Steve Morris]

I purchased a new tiller for my 1978 O'Day 25 from D&R. I chose the tiller with the mild curve. It allowed me to easily mount a Tiller Tamer under the tiller. It looks great and works great.

 

[Joe11688]

I bought a mild tiller last year from Rudy.

I also bought a "battlestick" from West Marine and think it's a more important purchase than the tiller was.

I can comfortably sit anywhere in the cockpit and steer the boat with this tiller extension.

It's great when I am single-handing (80% of the time) and I have to screw around with the jib sheets at the winches.

Kevin

Kevin,
Your next purchase should be an Autohelm autopilot!!! :dance:

 

[kdnichols]

autopilot

Hey

I got a Raymarine ST1000 autopilot in my garage. I bought it last year. I just haven't installed it.

Like I said...I tend to be weary about making holes in my boat and I'm not the most accurate craftsman by any means.

I did see somebody had made a removable brace for their ST1000 on this forum.

Plus..it seems like every time I go to the lake I should be sailing...not working on the damn thing.

Maybe I get wild and crazy and actually work on this project this weekend.

Kevin

 

[Joe11688]

Hey

I got a Raymarine ST1000 autopilot in my garage. I bought it last year. I just haven't installed it.

Like I said...I tend to be weary about making holes in my boat and I'm not the most accurate craftsman by any means.

I did see somebody had made a removable brace for their ST1000 on this forum.

Plus..it seems like every time I go to the lake I should be sailing...not working on the damn thing.

Maybe I get wild and crazy and actually work on this project this weekend.

Kevin

Kevin,
I can understand your concern about doing it right the first time, but if you read the instructions and measure twice before drilling holes, you'll make out OK. Chuck Rothert had made up a detachable mount for his Autopilot and mounted it on the Port side of his O'Day 222, Get Away. Chuck liked sitting on the Starboard side when he was at the helm. I think that knowing where you want to mount the pedestal is very important. I can only speak for my own personal preferences on my O'Day 222. I prefer to sit on the Port side when I'm at the helm even on a Starboard tack. My lazarett hatch is in that area and I need to open that hatch to get at buckets, gear, and etc. So for my own personal preference, I'd rather have my pedestal mounted on top of the fuel locker lid on the Starboard side. This locker is open on the side near the sole plate. So drilling holes in this lid isn't going to be detrimental to water getting into my bilge. The water will go right out through the self bailing hose in the cockpit. I wanted the receptacle in an area where the plug wouldn't get accidentally broken, so I mounted it on the transom. So you need to figure out which side that you want the autopilot, and then figure the height and where to mount the pin on the tiller. The autopilot needs to be level and the pin needs to be placed a certain distance from where the pintles swivel. The electric hook up is simple. Getting the right measurements takes a little time, along with careful planning.
Joe