Steering wheel removal Catalina 30

[BKEELER]

I have a 1980 Catalina 30 which I am planning to sail down the coast of California. I am wondering how to remove the steering wheel in case I have to use the emergency tiller. The make of the steering wheel is edson. Does anyone have experience with this?

Thanks,

Barry L Keeler
Sailing Pai-A-Dice

 

[igor]

Barry - the steering wheel has a nut in the middle of it which you can unscrew to remove the steering wheen from the "rod" it's sitting on. I think it's a hexagonal nut - right in the middle of the wheel.

 

[Albanach]

Suggest you have a 'practice run' removing the wheel. When I had to remove mine on the 310 to install the wheel pilot it took two of us, plus blowtorch, puller and hammer about a 1/2 hour - probably due to it never having been serviced over the years. This would not have done in an emergency.

 

[BKEELER]

Yea, I sprayed some anti-freezing compound on it and came back in a week with a puller and it still did not want to budge. It appears there might be a key, since there is a small slot in one part of the wheel. Looking in ths slot it appears that the wheel may be screwed on rather than pressed on. I really don't want to deal with this if/when an emergency comes up. I put the emergency tiller on and, though it can be used with the wheel in place, the wheel limits the motion (and leverage) while steering straight ahead, could be very tiring. Thanks for your comments.

Barry Keeler
Sailing Pair-A-Dice

 

[Stu Jackson]

A friend had the same issue on his C34. He used a puller and it wouldn't work. His solution? He got a bigger puller from the yard and it popped off.

All Edson's are the same, the wheel does NOT screw on, the nut holds the wheel in place. www.edsonmarine.com