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Apr 15, '05 6:26 PM
by balladforever for everyone

I have bought an autopilot to my Ballad. It is a Raymarine st 2000+ tiller pilot. Any advice about pedestal socket mounting vs tiller bracket? Does anybody knew the size of the tiller bracket (pushrod below tiller) I should use? I have an original tiller on my boat.

Regards

Andreas Gullberg

Norway

Tags: steering

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10 CommentsChronological Reverse Threaded

msn-basinet wrote on Apr 17, '05

Andreas,

After stumbling over the tiller pilot and having it exposed to the elements, I mounted it internally.

It is mounted on a piece of 1" x 4" piece of hardwood with brackets; only the tip of the actuator protruds when in the stowed position. The 1" x 4" is set at 90 degrees to the tiller/boat and is fastened in with screws and glass.

To connect to the tiller, which works through an arc, I made a link from 1/8 " stainless sheet stock. The link is 1" wide and approximately 10" long. At the acutator end of the link is a 1/4 pin, welded in place, that fits through a hole drilled though the plastic cap At the tiller end is a quick disconnect pin for emergencies. The travel of the tiller on my installation is about 60 degrees to either side of center. Of course this will vary with the distance from the rudder post.

I regularly used this installation during both tacking and jibing. The only difficulty I encountered was the rendency for the the tiller to rise during course changes. This was an easy fix, drilled through the tiller brackets and installed a quick disconnect pin that is only in use while operating the auto-pilot.

If you are interested, I will send you photos, measurements, etc.

Reagards,

Dan Sullivan (Acqua di Vita)

msn-patentnick1 wrote on Apr 18, '05

Andreas:

I’m sending you a couple of photos of my tillerpilot installation. Mine is a Simrad TP-30, which is similar to Raymarine’s. Both companies make a variety of mounts to suit different boats. Basically, the instructions say that the pushrod should be horizontal and at right angles to the tiller. In my case, there was no bracket necessary as the pushrod clicks straight on the pin installed on the tiller. As for the bulkhead mount, I had a stainless steel U-shaped piece made and through-bolted it on the cockpit coaming. I’ve also made a wooden block with a couple of plastic clips that can hold the autopilot out of the way when not in use. If the photos aren’t clear, let me know and I’ll take some better ones.

-Nicholas

msn-vcjones wrote on Apr 19, '05

Nicholas, We're in the process of mounting an autopilot as well. Where did you mount your fluxgate compass? Thanks, Cathi Jones

msn-patentnick1 wrote on Apr 19, '05

Cathi:

Simrad tillerpilots (and most of Raymarine's) are self-contained units and don't need to be connected to a separate fluxgate compass.

It'd be a nice idea to connect your pilot to a GPS unit as well. It only requires one extra wire and you get the full benefit of the autopilot.

Another thing that I forgot to mention yesterday was that a neat way to protect the body of the autopilot is to slide the arm of an old

dive suit over the unit, making just a couple of holes to operate the buttons.

-Nicholas

msn-vcjones wrote on Apr 20, '05

Hmm. I got the ST4000 Raymarine tillerpilot, and it has a separate one, strangely enough. Thanks, Cathi

msn-patentnick1 wrote on Apr 22, '05

Lucky you. The ST4000 is a nice, powerful unit. Several months ago, there was an article in either Yachting Monthly or Practical Boat Owner about fluxgate compass installation. If I can source it, I'll scan it and send it to you.

-Nicholas

msn-patentnick1 wrote on Apr 25, '05

The article regarding fluxgate compass installation appeared in the April 2004 issue of Sailing Today magazine.

If anyone is interested, please send me your address and I can send you a B&W copy of the article.

-Nicholas

msn-vcjones wrote on Apr 25, '05

Hi, Nicholas--Before I bought the autopilot, I looked at the Raymarine weight recommendations, and the Ballad's weight seemed to be right in between the 2000 and the 4000. Therefore, I decided to order the stronger unit since our boat fully loaded for a trip down the ICW was actually quite a bit heavier than all the specifications say the boat is (based on a travellift scale). I bought it last year, and we're just getting around to installing it now. I'd really appreciate a copy of the article.

Cathi

Lyric

Anchorage Marina, Baltimore, MD

msn-patentnick1 wrote on Apr 27, '05

Cathi:

I thought along similar lines when I decided to install the Simrad TP-30. It's Simrad's largest tiller pilot and is rated for boats up to 6,3 tons.

Anyway, I've scanned the article on fluxgate compass installation and I'm enclosing it. If you can't make it out, let me know and I'll send it by snail mail.

-Nicholas

jespermilling wrote on Apr 27, '05

The power needed to
stear a sailboat, depends not only on the weight of the boat, but also on the
design og the rudder, and the balance of the sails at a given
time.

But to us it is
especially important to remember that we do not have a balanced
rudder. All of the rudder on a Ballad is on or aft of the rudder shaft,
where as on Magnussons later designs like the Mamba 34, there is no rudder
skeg, and part of the rudder is ahead of the rudder shaft, causing the stearing
to be lighter.

So with the Ballad
we are stuck with a sligthly old fashioned rudder design which in some
situations might need a stronger selfsteering
system.

Venlig Hilsen / Kind regards

Jesper Milling, Fiskerv챈nget 12, DK5600 Faaborg,
+45 6261 8713

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