Tiller wear strip

[Indrek Aavisto]

I have a one year old alumimium tiller that has a groove worn into it by the traveller. What kind of material do people use as wear strips on their tillers?.

Cheers,

Indrek Aavsito
#181136

 

[glasky]

Indirek,

The cheapest and most straight forward way to protect an aluminium tiller from wear from the traveller is to cut a 5 to 6 inch piece of plastic electrical conduit of appropriate diameter - then slit the tube lengtwise and force it over the tiller.

Conduit needs to be stiff plastic and UV resistant type. The plastic will add a couple of milimeters to the tiller height (which is the only drawback) but if positioned correctly will take all the wear. This can be end-for ended as the plastic gets a groove, but is cheap an quick to replace (especially if you have a spare). As long as the slit tube is a tight fit it will not rotate or need to be taped into position.

Carbon tillers use 'titanium' strips but these also wear and are more expensive and difficult to replace. Some have tried 'roller' type fittings recessed into the tiller but I have not seen any that are trouble free, i.e. do not increase the effective tiller height less than the plastic or remain sand or grit free. They also potentially reduce the strength of the tiller and add more weight.

Grey electrical conduit is stiff, stays in place, is cheap and lasts at least 2 seasons - it also doesn't seem to create any corrosion problems or wear the traveller line excessively.

GL

 

[49208]

Not sure what country the original poster is from, but in the US, our milk comes in plastic jugs. Cut a piece of the plastic off the jug, duct tape it on and it lasts for a couple of regattas easily. Cost is free and it does not add any significant additional height to the tiller profile. This is what I have been doing with the old wood tillers and the newer alum ones.

My ACME tiller has the titanium plate and after 4 years of use shows no appreciable signs of wear. I don't anticipate having to replace it unless it falls off.

 

[Indrek Aavisto]

Thanks for the feedback.

I ended up using some 3/4 inch internal diameter plastic water supply pipe (1 to 2 mm thick) It was a tight fit to the 1 inch diameter tiller after I had cut out a thin strip of material from the pipe to allow the plastic to be snapped on. This worked well until the first heavy air gybe. The force of the lower mainsheet block whipping across the tiller was enough to send the plastic strip flying into the drink.

The Mk II version is the same except that I have used black electrical tape to secure the plastic to the tiller. Stand by for the next excitng installment.

Cheers