Hinging the tiller

[GC - Coddiwomple]

I am thinking that I might cut the tiller tube and fit a hinge so that it becomes a safe tiller.

I have got my head around cutting squarely across the tube, but have yet to work out how to fit and secure the hinge.

I was thinking that it might need to be drilled and pinned, but would be grateful for any advice on doing that.

For example - what pins would I use ?

 

However, if there is a better approach - please do let me know

 

Thanks

[ditchcrawler]

If you bend down on the stern deck and come up too fast you could end up with a hole in the top of your head 

2 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

If you bend down on the stern deck and come up too fast you could end up with a hole in the top of your head 

Here is an old thread about fitting one  

 

[Stroudwater1]

They are £125 at Midlands Chandlers in brass 144 ish in chrome. It looks a bit more tricky than it seems to do yourself. Advantage is you still have a tiller that’s straight if you then regret doing it. 
 

I’ve never seen the need TBH but there must be one? The big danger with tillers is being swept overboard in the arc when steering the boat  which won’t change with hinges. You get used to a fixed tiller and better bash your side or head on wood than metal? 

[magnetman]

A hinged tiller bar is in fact a red herring.

 

If the vessel is a 'trad' then the tiller bar is removable so remove it. If you are afraid of dropping it in then just retune your brain while you take it off to the "I am not going to drop this" mode. It is not an arduous thing to handle and the time taken to refugee it and place beside the hatch while avoiding the grab pitfall is tiny.

 

If the vessel is a "cruiser" or "semi traditional" then the tiller bar does not present an obstruction.

 

While putting a hinge in it may seem appealing and some products have been presented to the market for this purpose it can be shown using basic reasoning that is in fact an entirely worthless concept.

 

I put it in the same box as brake lights on cars which show how quickly the vehicle is decelerating. Pointless.

 

 

 

[GC - Coddiwomple]

Thanks for the advice.

We have a cruiser stern, but also sail with a pram hood canopy up in the colder/wetter days.

This limits the swing of the tiller arm as it collides with the canopy poles.

I had seen the hinged tiller as being an alternative to fitting a shorter tiller.

I must admit, I hadn't seen the issue with the sharp edge of the hinge though.

 

.... oh and I don't have any fear of dropping the tiller - that doesn't feature on my radar.

In all of the 20+ years of sailing, I have never had a problem with removing/storing the tiller

[Stroudwater1]

1 hour ago, GC - Coddiwomple said:

Thanks for the advice.

We have a cruiser stern, but also sail with a pram hood canopy up in the colder/wetter days.

This limits the swing of the tiller arm as it collides with the canopy poles.

I had seen the hinged tiller as being an alternative to fitting a shorter tiller.

I must admit, I hadn't seen the issue with the sharp edge of the hinge though.

 

.... oh and I don't have any fear of dropping the tiller - that doesn't feature on my radar.

In all of the 20+ years of sailing, I have never had a problem with removing/storing the tiller

You may encounter slight difficulties in repeatedly pushing the tiller with a shorter tiller. The previous owner kindly left us three different sized ones. The shortest makes steering very heavy work after a while, not ideal when weather conditions are adverse with the pram hood up. Each boat differs and ours has a big prop and hefty rudder to manoeuvre . You will reduce the leverage nonetheless. 
 

I wouldn’t be wanting to steer with a hinged tiller up. I think their main use if any is to increase the size of area on a stern when moored, I’ve not seen one up when boating.