Tiller is stiff

[Iain_S]

3 hours ago, Johny London said:

(snip) Not over keen on taking the weed hatch up if it's not that.

The weed hatch is the simplest and most obvious place to start looking for the problem.

If there is nothing obvious caught around the rudder, try to see or feel if anything looks wrong or out of place.

Is the rudder stock dead straight? Is it vertical? Does it stay in the same place when someone moves the tiller, or does it seem to move sideways? Can you move it backwards, forwards or sideways by hand?

[bizzard]

Perhaps all that Johnny London needs is to eat a can of spinach.

[tomsk]

8 hours ago, Johny London said:

My tiller has become rather stiff to turn (steer), I think after I'd been moored for a couple weeks. I assume that there is a procedure for lubricating? Hopefully without taking it all to bits. (I haven't yet checked to see if the problem could be something wrapped around underneath, I don't want to take the weed hatch of unnecessarily).

If anyone could tell me a procedure I'd be grateful, thanks.

I am ethically torn with regards to reporting this post as needlessly salacious.

 

[WotEver]

1 hour ago, Iain_S said:

Is the rudder stock dead straight? Is it vertical? Does it stay in the same place when someone moves the tiller, or does it seem to move sideways? Can you move it backwards, forwards or sideways by hand?

... is the bottom in the cup or alongside it?

[Dave_P]

On 5/30/2017 at 16:18, Onewheeler said:

I've opened mine three times in twenty years. Once in anger (fishing rod bag around the prop), twice to check prop dimensions. Have been in all sorts of dodgy places (like Birmingham).

I find this fairly amazing.  When you say Birmingham, do you mean just the Mainline, or have you experienced the fun of the Walsall Canal, the Dudley no.2, the Tame Valley etc? If I go a couple of hours on those without picking something up, I feel pretty pleased.

[David Mack]

On ‎30‎/‎05‎/‎2017 at 16:18, Onewheeler said:

I've opened mine three times in twenty years. Once in anger (fishing rod bag around the prop), twice to check prop dimensions. Have been in all sorts of dodgy places (like Birmingham).

Well that's three times more than we have on Fulbourne then, as we don't have a weedhatch.

Its perfectly possible to pull stuff off the prop standing on the bank and using a short shaft with a hook on it - some people favour a shunter's pole for this. In difficult cases you can lie on the deck and reach over the counter just enough to reach the propeller blades if you need to cut something off with a sharp knife.

[Onewheeler]

1 hour ago, Dave_P said:

I find this fairly amazing.  When you say Birmingham, do you mean just the Mainline, or have you experienced the fun of the Walsall Canal, the Dudley no.2, the Tame Valley etc? If I go a couple of hours on those without picking something up, I feel pretty pleased.

We've done quite a lot of them over the years, including a ot of the loops. Dudley canals were memorable as the water was gin-clear at the time and the bottom a solid mass of plastic.

A lot seems to depend on hull design at the back end: we've been in the company of boats where someone seems to be always down the hatch. A quick burst in astern gear seems to clear our prop.

[Bewildered]

On 30 May 2017 at 14:36, Dave Payne said:

My daily checks,

Is it floating

Does the engine start

Does it move

Does it stop

Is the fridge keeping the beer cold.

 

Sorry Dave I feel you have your priorities all mixed up

Daily checks

1. Is the fridge keeping the beer cold ?

2. Is the boat still floating ?

3. Does the engine start ?

4. Does it move ?

5. Does it stop ?

6. Is the beer still cold ?

7. Have I got enough beer ?

8. Is the beer still cold ?

[system 4-50]

My daily checks:

• Will my eyelids open?
• Do my extremities respond?
• Is there some old coffee left in the pot?
• Is the bank where it was when I went to bed?
• Is there water under the boat?
• Is the fridge empty?
• Is the the water tank empty?
• Is the clean laundry bag empty?
• Is the weather forecast good? (else go back to bed.)
• Does my name appear in an obit list? (final confidence check)

My monthly checks (allegedly):

• Is the diesel tank nearing empty?
• Is the gas bottle(s) needing changing?
• Is an engine service due?
• Is the poo tank nearly full?
• Is some painting necessary or is some painting necessary?

My decennial checks:

• Is the fit-out complete?

[David Schweizer]

On 01/06/2017 at 12:29, Dave_P said:

I find this fairly amazing.  When you say Birmingham, do you mean just the Mainline, or have you experienced the fun of the Walsall Canal, the Dudley no.2, the Tame Valley etc? If I go a couple of hours on those without picking something up, I feel pretty pleased.

We rarely ever had to go down the weed hatch on Helvetia, despite her having a deep daught. And that was probably the reason, we could have fittted a 27" prop with a couple of inches clearance top and bottom, but having a "modern" high revving engine, we only needed a 17" prop, consequently most stuff that would jam on a shallow boat just bounced through, banging the uxter plate on it's way through. Most modern shallow draughted boats only have a couple of inches clearance so a lot of the floating debris will jam, requiring the weed hatch to be opened.

[Onewheeler]

1 hour ago, David Schweizer said:

We rarely ever had to go down the weed hatch on Helvetia, despite her having a deep daught. And that was probably the reason, we could have fittted a 27" prop with a couple of inches clearance top and bottom, but having a "modern" high revving engine, we only needed a 17" prop, consequently most stuff that would jam on a shallow boat just bounced through, banging the uxter plate on it's way through. Most modern shallow draughted boats only have a couple of inches clearance so a lot of the floating debris will jam, requiring the weed hatch to be opened.

I think you're right David. We have a good 15 cm clearance, if not more (I must measure it). I believe the original owner of our boat tried fitting a chuggy chug engine driving a hydraulic motor, possibly at low rpm with a big prop, and it was less than successful.

[FadeToScarlet]

On 01/06/2017 at 12:55, David Mack said:

Well that's three times more than we have on Fulbourne then, as we don't have a weedhatch.

Its perfectly possible to pull stuff off the prop standing on the bank and using a short shaft with a hook on it - some people favour a shunter's pole for this. In difficult cases you can lie on the deck and reach over the counter just enough to reach the propeller blades if you need to cut something off with a sharp knife.

It is a lot harder doing it to a shallower drafted boat though, you have to go in at a very shallow angle. Tried using the cabin shaft to clear the blades on a friend's 2' 4" draft boat but could barely get near the prop.

[ditchcrawler]

2 hours ago, FadeToScarlet said:

It is a lot harder doing it to a shallower drafted boat though, you have to go in at a very shallow angle. Tried using the cabin shaft to clear the blades on a friend's 2' 4" draft boat but could barely get near the prop.

That is so true, all these people with working boats who say you don't need a hatch and do it with a pole dont realise that.