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Speedwheel controls....any help please?


TIZWIZ

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Lily moored at Bulbourne dry dock had a Seffle. Used to lay in the back cabin while Gary got it going then came up to the water point by the Junction Arms , filled up winded and went back again, lovely sound. Blimey that must be nearly 20 years ago.

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Lily moored at Bulbourne dry dock had a Seffle. Used to lay in the back cabin while Gary got it going then came up to the water point by the Junction Arms , filled up winded and went back again, lovely sound. Blimey that must be nearly 20 years ago.

I was the owner of Lily when the Seffle was fitted 1962 at Charity dock It served me well through carrying, &hotel boating,& was still performing well when I sold her in 1972 I visited Garry & Tracy in 2002 but by then Lily was powered by a 20HP Bolinder & Jem Bates had purchased the Seffle & was fitting/ had fitted it to his own boat [severn?]

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No-one's mentioned the other issue with traditional controls - smacking your head on the speedwheel when hurrying in or out of the cabin (I bear the scars of several too-close encounters). The odds of cranial damage being increased of course if your system uses two speedwheels.

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When we got our present boat,(with RN lump) the controls were speed wheel and push/pull for the gears, but only as far as the engine room ceiling. They then became cable operated, which meant no chains or rods dangling in the engine room. It all worked quite smoothly until 'we' decided that maybe a Morse lever would better. I've left all the original bits to enable a swift return to original if required, although I did remove the wheel and rods to save on scalp wear - all stored under the back cabin floor!

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When we got our present boat,(with RN lump) the controls were speed wheel and push/pull for the gears, but only as far as the engine room ceiling. They then became cable operated, which meant no chains or rods dangling in the engine room. It all worked quite smoothly until 'we' decided that maybe a Morse lever would better. I've left all the original bits to enable a swift return to original if required, although I did remove the wheel and rods to save on scalp wear - all stored under the back cabin floor!

 

Sacrilege ohmy.png

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No-one's mentioned the other issue with traditional controls - smacking your head on the speedwheel when hurrying in or out of the cabin (I bear the scars of several too-close encounters). The odds of cranial damage being increased of course if your system uses two speedwheels.

 

Post twelve old bean.

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funny I started on twin wheels,,, fluid drive gearbox, turn one way forward, reverse by 270deg end of travel.. so a quick turn

 

you can change direction without touching throttle wheel,,,

 

which has @ 3 turns from tickover to full belt.. @1200rpm.

 

the morse controls I have used have all had more issues re friction, engaging,

 

The kelvin K2 I used for a week was also twin wheels,, but a touch more interesting when changing directions,,,

 

 

I suspect that after the first two hours you will wonder what the issue was..

 

bit like swapping from manual to automatic cars....

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  • 1 month later...

More like automatic to manual?

I really like having the gear and throttle independent from each other; I feel it gives more subtlety and and choice over how I control the boat.

Which makes it odd that my car is auto - I didn't choose it for that reason, but I like it all the same. But I guess with the boat there are no roundabouts or hill starts.

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To all of those mentioning 2-3 turns of the wheel from tickover to full throttle, I'm rather jealous.

 

I have about 1/16-1/8 of a turn between 0 and full throttle. This was (until I fixed it the other day) made worse by stickiness and slack in the mechanism.

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  • 1 month later...

Our Kelvin J3 has two wheels, originally the 3" speedwheel was 1/4 turn from 0 to full bore, with an arm aching friction disc that constantly worked itself down to 0 again . Changed that for a nice chain drive brass worm box from Tony Redshaw that gives 6 turns to full with no friction at all and a secure position hold. Usually cruise between 1&3/4 and 3 turns up for passing/cruising speed. Fully turned down will often stop the engine, so you have to be careful on that one! The 7" gear wheel originally was 1&1/2 turns from front to back, but if you've ever changed gear on a Kelvin you know that makes for hard work. Maureen couldn't do it at all, and even I found it tiring on a big flight. So in goes a chain drive multiplier from Dick Goble which now gives 6 and 3/4 turns from F 2 R. Neutral is 3 & 3/4 turns back from forward, and 3 turns forward from reverse, knob at the bottom. M can now drive the boat in reasonable comfort. Both clockwise for faster or forward, speed on the left, gears on the right. And yes, I regularly nut the gear wheel or get hung up on it exiting the cabin! But I won't change them for a morse, oh no, not on any account. Might fit motor actuation tho, with a joystick and remote control box for single handing / weaker drivers!

 

Oops, accidentally gave myself a green ? At least I think that's what the little no1 is over there-->

Sorry! How do I take that back?

Edited by Peter & Maureen H
  • Greenie 1
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  • 1 month later...

Slightly hijacking the topic:-

 

My boat has morse controls but also a speedwheel and push-pull rod. The surveyor said the cables were still there but detached from the engine.

 

If I wanted to restore them, do you think much work would be involved? I haven't researched this as I haven't seriously thought about doing it - maybe I should.

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  • 5 months later...

Seeing as you've already learned to live with the gear still being there, you could de-rig your Morse and refit the originals. I would suggest however that you make a few marks with Tippex or something similar, on the existing control linkage that would help you to "line-up" the Morse stuff to help put it back afterwards. And before you do ANYTHING, look at others first to confirm that every thing is there to finish the job before you start. And take LOTS of pics. And try and include some help, to take the blame lol.

You may well have gone ahead and done it by the time you see this, going by the dates of posts. But good luck anyway and let us know how you get on.

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Seeing as you've already learned to live with the gear still being there, you could de-rig your Morse and refit the originals. I would suggest however that you make a few marks with Tippex or something similar, on the existing control linkage that would help you to "line-up" the Morse stuff to help put it back afterwards. And before you do ANYTHING, look at others first to confirm that every thing is there to finish the job before you start. And take LOTS of pics. And try and include some help, to take the blame lol.

You may well have gone ahead and done it by the time you see this, going by the dates of posts. But good luck anyway and let us know how you get on.

 

Not so much 'learned to live with' as covered the speedwheel with enough layers of scalp to provide a good cusion!

 

I'm still thinking about the change. A factor in favor is that the morse cables slightly foul the Epping stove and cannot be rerouted, reverting to the speedwheel would solve this issue.

 

It is largely a question of nerve, it would be a pity to screw up in a 'fixing it when its not broken' situation.

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Not so much 'learned to live with' as covered the speedwheel with enough layers of scalp to provide a good cusion!

 

I'm still thinking about the change. A factor in favor is that the morse cables slightly foul the Epping stove and cannot be rerouted, reverting to the speedwheel would solve this issue.

 

It is largely a question of nerve, it would be a pity to screw up in a 'fixing it when its not broken' situation.

 

Come on, be brave - you know it makes sense wink.png

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Our speed wheel was made from the guts of a G clamp.

 

The Acme screw part is in the engine 'ole and connected to the speedwheel in the hatches by a long rod, and the "nut" slides in a housing to pull on a cable connected to the governor lever.

 

It wasn't that difficult to make, so don't limit your choice of boats. Find the boat with the combination of attributes that are important to you.

Edited by jake_crew
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Our speed wheel was made from the guts of a G clamp.

 

The Acme screw part is in the engine 'ole and connected to the speedwheel in the hatches by a long rod, and the "nut" slides in a housing to pull on a cable connected to the governor lever.

 

It wasn't that difficult to make, so don't limit your choice of boats. Find the boat with the combination of attributes that are important to you.

 

Old hand drill gears offer similar speedwheel linkage opportunities.

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