Tiller up

[matty40s]

A few weeks ago whilst winding north of newbold tunnel, my tiller caught on a submerged obstacle, it pushed the tiller up from it's stock by about an inch. Now whilst coming down the stoke bruerne bottom lock, it caught on the sill and is now 2" higher than it should be. there is no loss of steering , if anything it has improved, but obviously needs to be sorted if possible.

I have smacked it with a mallet to no avail, are there any other solutions without the expense of getting a boatyard to sort it??

[Strads]

Matty, sounds (from yr description) that you have lifted the rudder out of its socket on the skeg and that the end of it is now resting on the skeg - probably ahead of the hole. by an inch...

 

does the angle of the tiller bas appear to have changed??

 

until something changes - probably best to do nothing !!

 

but should it "clunk and drop the pin will probably drop down one side of the skeg - leaving you with a turnig ability on one side and not alot in the other direction.

 

You can re-place your self - if you have strong legs and back..

 

basic method is to put the till par on but no pin (it would hurst yr back) stand under the tiller bar (facing astern) withit in the ahead position and try and get as far bar as possible, get the tiller bar on yr shoulders and then take the strain - then lift. the raising should allow it to centre and then carefully lower into the hole.. it takes me 6-8 goes, and a friend giving the tiller a push in the right direction can help - or a rope through the hole in the rudder blade also can work..

 

short answer dont panic

[Tomska]

Good advice from Strads. It's also possible that you may have bent the skeg upwards slightly when you grounded on the cill, so the rudder pin will not easily drop back into the cup on the skeg. If that's the case, getting in the drink with a car jack may do the job. Otherwise I'm afraid the best bet is to put up with it until you next get her out for blacking. Then heat up the skeg with a torch and sledge it back into position.

[Chris Pink]

A few weeks ago whilst winding north of newbold tunnel, my tiller caught on a submerged obstacle, it pushed the tiller up from it's stock by about an inch. Now whilst coming down the stoke bruerne bottom lock, it caught on the sill and is now 2" higher than it should be. there is no loss of steering , if anything it has improved, but obviously needs to be sorted if possible.

I have smacked it with a mallet to no avail, are there any other solutions without the expense of getting a boatyard to sort it??

 

The no loss of steering indicates that the rudder is still in the cup - if it had fallen out the steering would be more difficult and the tiller would likely be a lot lower with the rudder blade hanging down the side of the skeg.

 

It does sound like the skeg may be bent.

 

the only alternative i can think of is if the bottom of the rudder stock was balanced on the side of the cup, thus raising the tiller, but it would not be stable in this position, it would either fall back into the cup or off to the side as above.

[David Schweizer]

I guess that either case suggested could be true, I ran a boat for several days once with the rudder pin resting on top of the skeg, and it did not fall off, Probably more to do with the top bearing design than anything else.

 

One way of viewing the skeg bush without getting wet is to knock up a viewing tube. a longish piece of drain pipe with a thick piece of glass adhered to one end, put the end with the glass into the water and look down the tube, adjusting the position until you can see the skeg bush. you will quicly be able to tell what has happened.

 

If the rudder has been bounced out of the skeg, the back under the tiller arm method will work, but will be greatly assisted if a piece of rope is threaded through the hole in the top of the rudder, and a second person takes the strain with that and helps you to manouvre the rudder (that is what the hole is there for) I once helped refit the rudder on a Big Woolwich this way, so a recreational boat should be quite easy.