Wheel steering failure

[Bob]

I have a 1999 Hunter 260 with wheel steering. Today while sailing with 10-20 knot winds one of my wheel steering pulleys ripped out of the fiberglass it was bolted to. The pulleys are mounted inside the seat pedastal above the fuel tank for my outboard 9.9hp. A chunk of fiberglass about 3 in by 6 in ripped where the pulley was attached. After returning to my slip ( a harrowing story for another day) and examining the damage I realized there was no backing plate for this heavy load bearing pulley, only washers 1 inch in diameter. The fiberglass at this location is about 1/8 inch thick. My question for those of you with wheel steering is how are your pulleys mounted? Do they have backing plates? Was your wheel steering factory installed as was mine?Any insight is appreciated. s/v Thome Inn

 

[Tom]

Yikes!

Bob,This is of some major concern! Thank you for letting us all know.Did you notice the steering getting difficult before the failure, or did anything jamb up to cause extra strain on the helm?It would take some force to rip the FRP apart like that. Do you notice any voids in the fiberglass where it broke?To answer your question... my 1999 H260 has the same setup, 1" or so washers on the blocks mounted either side of the inside of the helm seat.Let us know the root cause of the failure when you find out. Thank you and fair winds...Tom

 

[Corky Trotter]

emergency tiller

Did you use your emergency tiller? How did you get in?I have not been able to look at my boat sonce seeing this. I sail in some 30+ winds occasionaly in order to get home.ct

 

[Paul]

My experience...

My steering failed in a similar fashion on my 336, though not so spectacularly. On the 336, there is a stainless steel plate embedded in the fiberglass that the turning blocks were screwed to. In my case, the plate is misaligned, so one of the bolts was only screwed into glass. I fixed it with a nut and a fender washer.I'm always telling people to find their emergency tiller and practice with it. Glad you made it back,Paulsv Escape Artisth336

 

[Ric Hoerz]

Wheel system failure

Exact thing happened to me on my '99 Hunter. I was sailing back to pick up a swimmer when a puff caused me to start rounding up. I steered away and "Bang" blew out the fiberglass in the same place. Would have run over the swimmer had I not released the main sheet.The emergency tiller did not fit the rudder. We had to hammer on it for about 30 min. to get it to "sort of" fit. I recommend everyone try the emergency rudder before an emergency.Hunter replaced the whole stern section in question with a reinforced version.Ric

 

[Chuck]

Teething...

I have a 2X4 bolted through the transom, and glued. 4,1.5 inch screws hold the pulleys in place. I popped two cables before I sprang for the $25.00 pulleys (the others chafed the cable) Now it's great. There are some serious loads invloved, definately make sure your system is up to snuff. Check your gear regularly and keep the emergency tiller handy.There are some pics of my rig under H22 pictures. Good luck.