Wheel to tiller conversion and electrification

[pogen]

[QUOTE=mike cunningham;26017]

My old boat was a wheel to tiller conversion, the shaft tube top was barely above the waterline. The lower bearing is flooded. The solution was to make a sock out of neoprene that sealed at the shaft tube/bearing housing and up to the rudder stock itself (it was tapered) and to seal it with large hose clamps at each end. The whole thing twisted as the tiller was turned. I think this was a creative solution by the boatyard that did the original conversion, because when it came time to replace it (at Svend's) no one had any idea what it was or how to replace it, so I had to find a lady in Monterrey that did wetsuit repair to fabricate a new one for me.[/QUOT


So there was no bearing or flange at the deck other than the neoprene boot? Boy, something like that would be pretty simple. Basically the emergency tiller on steroids in my case. I am not sure it would be wise for me to have a 36 inch unsupported shaft from the top of the existing stock to the aperture on the transom though.

No the upper bearing was up at the deck, set in just below where the base of the tiller was attached. So the upper and lower bearings (Jeffa roller bearings I think) were pretty far apart, which is good.

I did have an issue where the new rudder I put on was carbon fiber , and was pretty buoyant, and so tended to push up against the lower bearing, and even nearly pushed it half out, so I had to get an additional Delrin spacer/stop made up and installed to prevent this.

[MORE] My boat was 34' and 10500 lbs and I loved having a tiller, even more so for shorthanding. From my cold, dead hands etc.