Reply To: saildrive

Steve, re Hydraulic drive;

This is simplicity itself. Anglian diesels removed the gearbox and bell housing, fitted a replacement housing with a large flexible coupling driving a fixed swash hydraulic pump. I fitted a ganged pair of pilot valves on to a bracket on the engine support frame. (This frame sits on two rails in the engine pod allowing the engine to be withdrawn into the cockpit for maintenance). Two motor units (each the size of a family tin of beans) are fitted to the drive shafts (one in each hull…. obviously!). The pump and motor units are identical giving a 2:1 reduction as per the original gear box.

The hydraulic pipes were made up by a man from Pirtek with a van and connected to give “handed” drive , ie one rotates to port and one to starboard, obviating any paddle wheel effect when going astern. To ansure minimum vibration, I bolted each motor coupling to its shaft and the motors to dwarf mounting bulkheads, fitted the shafts into glass fibre stern tubes and glassed the whole lot as one unit into the boat, ensuring perfect alignment. I then split the coupling and inserted flexibles but these are probably unnecessary.

Anglian diesels provided all the hydraulics and Sillette the propellors, shafts and stern tubes.

er…thats it. DavidH