I was digging around looking for a cheaper 12 volt linear actuator
(for remote steering outboard motor) and came across this site..

https://www.surpluscenter.com/home.asp

http://www.surpluscenter.com/prodIndex.asp#LL

enjoy!

--

Richard Lamb

On Thu, 09 Sep 2010 23:22:09 -0500, CaveLamb
wrote:

I was digging around looking for a cheaper 12 volt linear actuator
(for remote steering outboard motor) and came across this site..

https://www.surpluscenter.com/home.asp

http://www.surpluscenter.com/prodIndex.asp#LL

enjoy!

Great company. been getting stuff from them for years. Buy from them
and you'll get sale catalogs

karl

http://www.surpluscenter.com/prodIndex.asp#LL

Whole buncha toggle clamps.

http://www.surpluscenter.com/prodIndex.asp#LL

Whole buncha toggle clamps.

On Thu, 09 Sep 2010 23:22:09 -0500, CaveLamb
wrote:

I was digging around looking for a cheaper 12 volt linear actuator
(for remote steering outboard motor) and came across this site..

https://www.surpluscenter.com/home.asp

http://www.surpluscenter.com/prodIndex.asp#LL

enjoy!

Sounds like an interesting project.

Don Foreman wrote:
On Thu, 09 Sep 2010 23:22:09 -0500, CaveLamb
wrote:

I was digging around looking for a cheaper 12 volt linear actuator
(for remote steering outboard motor) and came across this site..

https://www.surpluscenter.com/home.asp

http://www.surpluscenter.com/prodIndex.asp#LL

enjoy!

Sounds like an interesting project.

Interesting - as in "may you live in interesting times"?
Or maybe more to the point...
"Necessity is the mother of some really strange kids"?


I suspect most of us here have some control freak in our nature.
Therefore, I suspect most of us expect a machine to be controllable (well Duh!).
So a 6000 pound boat that ISN'T under control is pretty scary.
Especially in really tight quarters, surrounded by a bunch of way more expensive
other-people's boats! With people watching every move!

My motor is mounted on the transom (or what there is of a transom) about 3 feet
port of the centerline of the boat.

The transom itself is a "walk-through" type (aka Sugar Scoop) and has a cute
flip-over boarding ladder in the center. There is 2 or 3 inches clearance
between the motor and ladder.

Add to all that, the motor is turned just a bit so that it compensates for the
off-center thrust at cruise. (vectored thrust compensation) It works
beautifully - at cruise.

So the motor's thrust, being offset to port, tends to make the boat turn to
starboard.

In smaller sailboats the motor can be steered just like a fishing boat. But
larger sailboats, for some traditional reason unknown to modern man, usually
have he motor locked down and use remote controls for gear shift and throttle.

So, just like her diesel powered sisters, she tends to go where she wants to go
rather than where I want her to go. Left to her own wiles, she will _not_ back
to starboard (period), and getting going from a dead stop will usually involve
some amount of turning to starboard.

Newton trumps Einstein!

So...
Did I mention that there is no tiller on a remote-throttle motor???

It doesn't matter, because all outboard motors have the tiller mounted on the
port side (way out of reach if the motor is hung on the port side!).

Anyway...
I've removed the lock pin from the motor so that it can be rotated.

My one-man Keystone Cops routine consists of stepping out on the boarding deck,
laying both hands on the motor cowl and turning the motor to point as needed,
then putting it in gear and slowly (EVER SO SLOWLY!) backing out. (The rudder
rotates 360 degrees on this boat, so it can help some, but no way the rudder can
overpower the motor). It doesn't look too bad from the pier (neighbors have
commented on the apparent smooth control of the boat when undocking. But they
are not aboard doing this funky Texas Two-step)

Once 3/4 clear of the pier, select neutral, step back out on the back porch and
twist the motor the other way, back to the controls in the cockpit to shift into
forward, stop the turn, back out back again to straighten up the motor...

And woe be unto anyone in the cockpit who accidentally gets in the way!

There are several possible obvious solutions here.

One might be to install a normal outboard "thru-the-tilt-tube" steering system.
But the catch there is that all of those systems stick out ot the tilt-tube a
foot or more(!) and foul the boarding ladder.

Or

Adapt a steering tiller to the starboard side?!? (very possible)
(a bent bracket bolted to the motor and a hickory stick - pretty simple)

Or

Move the motor to the starboard side (and replace the old mount with a new
swing-up mount - oh yes, and swap the back stay to port (where it should have
been in the first place!) And, relocate the throttle control to the starboard
side of the cockpit...

Or

Figure out a more compact steering mechanism. There are several electric
systems on the market (Panther for instance) but ALL mount off-center of the
motor. Won't work here. Bummer

So, noticing a 12 volt _POWERED_ scissor jack on a new car (WTF?!?!?!), I
wondered if such a drive might be available to solve my silly problems..
A couple of bent steel brackets and a 12 inch actuator?.
Hmmm....


In the end, I'll probably wind up moving the motor to starboard this winter.

But electric steering??? Way cool!

Next thing I'll probably want wireless remote control too!

(Honey! Where's the remote???)

--

Richard Lamb

CaveLamb wrote:

But electric steering??? Way cool!

Next thing I'll probably want wireless remote control too!

(Honey! Where's the remote???)



Just for reference...

http://www.vermontficks.org/seatalk_..._remote.d.html

--

Richard Lamb

On Fri, 10 Sep 2010 13:51:38 -0500, CaveLamb
wrote:

Don Foreman wrote:
On Thu, 09 Sep 2010 23:22:09 -0500, CaveLamb
wrote:

I was digging around looking for a cheaper 12 volt linear actuator
(for remote steering outboard motor) and came across this site..

https://www.surpluscenter.com/home.asp

http://www.surpluscenter.com/prodIndex.asp#LL

enjoy!

Sounds like an interesting project.

Interesting - as in "may you live in interesting times"?
Or maybe more to the point...
"Necessity is the mother of some really strange kids"?


I suspect most of us here have some control freak in our nature.
Therefore, I suspect most of us expect a machine to be controllable (well Duh!).
So a 6000 pound boat that ISN'T under control is pretty scary.
Especially in really tight quarters, surrounded by a bunch of way more expensive
other-people's boats! With people watching every move!

My motor is mounted on the transom (or what there is of a transom) about 3 feet
port of the centerline of the boat.

The transom itself is a "walk-through" type (aka Sugar Scoop) and has a cute
flip-over boarding ladder in the center. There is 2 or 3 inches clearance
between the motor and ladder.

Add to all that, the motor is turned just a bit so that it compensates for the
off-center thrust at cruise. (vectored thrust compensation) It works
beautifully - at cruise.

So the motor's thrust, being offset to port, tends to make the boat turn to
starboard.

In smaller sailboats the motor can be steered just like a fishing boat. But
larger sailboats, for some traditional reason unknown to modern man, usually
have he motor locked down and use remote controls for gear shift and throttle.

So, just like her diesel powered sisters, she tends to go where she wants to go
rather than where I want her to go. Left to her own wiles, she will _not_ back
to starboard (period), and getting going from a dead stop will usually involve
some amount of turning to starboard.

Newton trumps Einstein!

So...
Did I mention that there is no tiller on a remote-throttle motor???

It doesn't matter, because all outboard motors have the tiller mounted on the
port side (way out of reach if the motor is hung on the port side!).

Anyway...
I've removed the lock pin from the motor so that it can be rotated.

My one-man Keystone Cops routine consists of stepping out on the boarding deck,
laying both hands on the motor cowl and turning the motor to point as needed,
then putting it in gear and slowly (EVER SO SLOWLY!) backing out. (The rudder
rotates 360 degrees on this boat, so it can help some, but no way the rudder can
overpower the motor). It doesn't look too bad from the pier (neighbors have
commented on the apparent smooth control of the boat when undocking. But they
are not aboard doing this funky Texas Two-step)

Once 3/4 clear of the pier, select neutral, step back out on the back porch and
twist the motor the other way, back to the controls in the cockpit to shift into
forward, stop the turn, back out back again to straighten up the motor...

And woe be unto anyone in the cockpit who accidentally gets in the way!

There are several possible obvious solutions here.

One might be to install a normal outboard "thru-the-tilt-tube" steering system.
But the catch there is that all of those systems stick out ot the tilt-tube a
foot or more(!) and foul the boarding ladder.

Or

Adapt a steering tiller to the starboard side?!? (very possible)
(a bent bracket bolted to the motor and a hickory stick - pretty simple)

Or

Move the motor to the starboard side (and replace the old mount with a new
swing-up mount - oh yes, and swap the back stay to port (where it should have
been in the first place!) And, relocate the throttle control to the starboard
side of the cockpit...

Or

Figure out a more compact steering mechanism. There are several electric
systems on the market (Panther for instance) but ALL mount off-center of the
motor. Won't work here. Bummer

So, noticing a 12 volt _POWERED_ scissor jack on a new car (WTF?!?!?!), I
wondered if such a drive might be available to solve my silly problems..
A couple of bent steel brackets and a 12 inch actuator?.
Hmmm....


In the end, I'll probably wind up moving the motor to starboard this winter.

But electric steering??? Way cool!

Next thing I'll probably want wireless remote control too!

(Honey! Where's the remote???)

Keep us posted!

Don Foreman wrote:
On Fri, 10 Sep 2010 13:51:38 -0500, CaveLamb
wrote:

Don Foreman wrote:
On Thu, 09 Sep 2010 23:22:09 -0500, CaveLamb
wrote:

I was digging around looking for a cheaper 12 volt linear actuator
(for remote steering outboard motor) and came across this site..

https://www.surpluscenter.com/home.asp

http://www.surpluscenter.com/prodIndex.asp#LL

enjoy!
Sounds like an interesting project.
Interesting - as in "may you live in interesting times"?
Or maybe more to the point...
"Necessity is the mother of some really strange kids"?

mega-snip

(Honey! Where's the remote???)

Keep us posted!

Thanks Don, but I'll not pursue that one.

I'm a charter member of the "keep is simple and stupid" fan club.
(Ed Heinemann was my favorite hero - "Simplicate and add lightness!)

Sailing is not always blue blazers and white duck trousers.

All the things we do on the boat have to be "do-able" in 30+
knots wind, with the boat pitching and rolling, green water
washing over the deck, in pitch dark, while trying to do something
else at the same time.

So my boat systems tend to be simple, manually powered where possible,
and take as little training to operate as I can arrange.

We have GPS and an autopilot. But they don't get used very much.

This winter, when I pull the boat (gads! in a month or so???).
We'll pull the motor off and move it to the starboard side (and
swap the back stay to port - where it should have been in the
first place).

We have a slight list to port because all the heavy stuff is installed
on the port side. So moving the motor over will make a big difference.

That puts the motor's tiller side where it can be reached from the cockpit,
and a hickory stick about 2-1/2 feet long will solve all my silly problems -
as far as steering the motor goes, anyway.
It's pretty hard to get any simpler than that.

I'd like to do away with the swing up motor mount as well. It's an extra
step required to deploy the motor and it can't be done from the cockpit.
(BEsides, the girls simply can't do it. (or won't - not that there's much
difference)





There are two pics of the mount I'd like to find at the bottom of the
page...
http://www.home.earthlink.net/~capri26/motor.htm

But it seems like nobody makes that simple mount any more (not even China).

I think it would be pretty simple for a real metal smith to make.
Heavy stainless steel sheet, cut, bent, welded.

If anybody knows where to find one, I'll email your favorite libation
for a link!

Or, if anybody would be interested in making one, I'd pay gladly for it!

--

Richard Lamb

On Sun, 12 Sep 2010 00:28:54 -0500, CaveLamb
wrote:


There are two pics of the mount I'd like to find at the bottom of the
page...
http://www.home.earthlink.net/~capri26/motor.htm

But it seems like nobody makes that simple mount any more (not even China).

I think it would be pretty simple for a real metal smith to make.
Heavy stainless steel sheet, cut, bent, welded.

Your thought is correct. That would indeed be an easy peasy job if
all the details were known.

If anybody knows where to find one, I'll email your favorite libation
for a link!

Or, if anybody would be interested in making one, I'd pay gladly for it!

Since you don't have a dimensioned and detailed drawing and
specification that a metalworker could "build to print", you'll need
a local artisan who can look at the job, discuss it with you until all
of your wants and preferences are defined and understood, and then
design and make what you want.

Perhaps you'd prefer a metalworker that has some experience with
handling a rolling, pitching sailboat in 30+ knot winds in pitch dark
with green water washing over the decks while trying to do something
else. That might narrow the field a bit.