Maintenance Of Bow Thruster & Manoeuvrability

[Andrewcook]

As to some Boats now have Bow Thruster do they need  Maintenance and do the Brake down very often? Are they very useful coming to Mooring up and coming away?  I shall be on a Boat fitted with Bow Thruster for the First time. I've always had a Boat with out and if you Judge on getting the Boat in by Tide and Wind Direction mind you Ranworth Staith is a Night mare Coming to Moor Stern on. What is the NBN Forum comment on this Topic

Yours Andrew  

[CambridgeCabby]

If fitted use them , they are an aid .

yes they’re reliable 

[tim]

I always now have a boat with bow thrusters, yup very useful at Ranworth and other moorings

I drove a car for years without cruise control abs air con heated seats etc etc, 

I wouldn’t buy one without those goodies now!

Maybe I just got lazy!  😉

[Smoggy]

Use them but don't overuse them, they are very useful but the sound of long blasts always fills me with dread when moored nearby.

[grendel]

just remember they are not normally needed to get around corners under normal conditions, manoeuvring in tight spaces, fine.

[Vaughan]

You will probably be told this on the boat hand-over, but you only use the thruster when the boat stationary.  It is for moving the bow into the bank when mooring up, or moving it out from the bank when leaving a mooring.  It is also very useful when doing a 180 turn in the river.

It is not for steering.

[andyg]

5 minutes ago, Vaughan said:

You will probably be told this on the boat hand-over, but you only use the thruster when the boat stationary.  It is for moving the bow into the bank when mooring up, or moving it out from the bank when leaving a mooring.  It is also very useful when doing a 180 turn in the river.

It is not for steering.

I was told exactly that by Brian at summercraft, I asked him why he hadn't fitted them to all his boats. His reply was they were a pain in the bumb to fix and one of the common problems he was having was twigs and small branches getting stuck in the thruster snapping the pins inside the motor. That was a few years ago so I guess technology has improved since then. 

[Oddfellow]

6 minutes ago, andyg said:

I was told exactly that by Brian at summercraft, I asked him why he hadn't fitted them to all his boats. His reply was they were a pain in the bumb to fix and one of the common problems he was having was twigs and small branches getting stuck in the thruster snapping the pins inside the motor. That was a few years ago so I guess technology has improved since then. 

A good thruster is expensive to buy, a challenge to fit to many vessels (it's actually quite large and needs a lot of space under the front berths) and a pain to maintain. Most are also electric and so you probably need more battery power which means uprating the charging systems too. All-in-all, it's a very expensive upgrade to an existing vessel and unlikely to get a return on investment for a hire fleet. 

Shear pins are easily accessible by design, but having to replace them regularly is not fun, especially if you get called out to a boat to do it with any frequency. We still see people way over-using them which really amounts to abuse of thousands of pounds worth of equipment. 

[marshman]

If you think about it, you can see how useless they are when moving as the water flow is tearing passed the hole. 

Yes they are brilliant when stationary, or nearly so - very helpful when reversing as quick blips swinging the bow are the way to go - backwards anyway!!!

[andyg]

I sat outside the ferry in horning one afternoon having a pint with my son. All of a sudden you could hear this high pitched rumbling noise coming along getting louder. It's was moores brand new boat supa Moore, Great big alpha dual steer job now at barnes. The guy was using the thruster to steer the boat along the river lol. You could hear it for quite some time after he passed. I wonder how long that motor lasted? Hire yards do give instructions on how to use them but easily forgotten whilst trying to take everything in on hand over. I'm sure Clive mentioned some time ago that they had fitted a hydraulic thruster to his boat supreme when it was refitted. I wonder if they are more durable and a better option for hire boats then Purley electric? 

[Bytheriver]

Clearly some hire craft need a "10 seconds Max" sign near the button as I'v seen several doing full turns without even using the engine to help.

[oldgregg]

45 minutes ago, andyg said:

 I'm sure Clive mentioned some time ago that they had fitted a hydraulic thruster to his boat supreme when it was refitted. I wonder if they are more durable and a better option for hire boats then Purley electric? 

They'll be more durable in terms of the motor not burning out, and it removes the problem of the heavy battery discharge. I suspect the control system and the (motorised) valves for the hydraulics will be the bits that go wrong, though.

But in terms of a Broads cruiser you're taking the power from the hydraulics, so when in use they're giving you less propulsion power (which in a tight spot you may need lots of) and you need decent engine revs on to get decent thrust. 

I've seen lots of people using them and not understanding how they work (admittedly, why should they). With low engine revs they're crap, and you do have to plan in advance how you're going to use them.

[DAVIDH]

Andrew, i would say once you've had a boat with bow thrusters, every  other type of boat will appear to be lacking. Prepare to be seeking them out on your future trips. 

[andyg]

Oh I've used them, I still enjoy the challenge of getting out of a tight spot using the rudder and engine. Backing out of thurne dyke being a personal fav 👍 but yes totally get it. As boats have got bigger and higher they are a good bit of kit to have. 

[dnks34]

Electric thrusters usually have a safety cut out to protect the motor.  The model on our old boat gave you about 45 seconds of continuous use (according to the manual) then it would shut off for a period of time before it could be used again.  Thrusters are best used in short bursts as we know.  Wind or current could warrant slightly longer use but in much more than a gentle breeze most thrusters used on broads boats probably wont be much help anyway.   
 

Other than cleaning the propellor at lift outs the unit required zero maintenance in 8 years of ownership, according to the manual it was a maintenance free sealed unit. 

[annv]

Electric bow thruster motors are basically a starter motor driven and not designed for constant use as they aren't cooled and can over heat easely and take a  long while to cool down unlike hydraulic ones that are cooled by the oil and can be used for longer periods with out harm, there is no reason why hydraulic ones cant be used for steering in tight places and for turning unlike electric ones that need care. John

[Bytheriver]

I doubt if the hydraulic version screams like an electric one  though?

[dnks34]

My experience of hydraulic is it produced a slight whine from the engine and a thud when engaging either direction.  

[stumpy]

I've found bowthrusters very useful when moored up relaxing below. The scream, usually accompanied with full throttle forward and reverse means its time to meerkat up ready to fend off and offer helpful advice or take a line!

[WherryNice]

Only ever had one short-break's worth of experience with a bow thruster equipped boat (we didn't choose to have it, our original boat broke down and we were 'upgraded' to a 'posh' one) and I have to say that I was impressed with it. It was a very rainy break and it minimised having to be on deck letting ropes go etc, made stern on in crosswinds a cinch and was just generally very handy in tight spots. It and the decent heater were the best part of the 'upgraded' boat tbh.

I won't be rushing to fit one on my Safari but they definitly have a place I think.

 

[OldBerkshireBoy]

3 hours ago, dnks34 said:

My experience of hydraulic is it produced a slight whine from the engine and a thud when engaging either direction.  

Would that thud be down to worn components in the drive? 

[OldBerkshireBoy]

6 hours ago, annv said:

Electric bow thruster motors are basically a starter motor driven and not designed for constant use as they aren't cooled and can over heat easely and take a  long while to cool down unlike hydraulic ones that are cooled by the oil and can be used for longer periods with out harm, there is no reason why hydraulic ones cant be used for steering in tight places and for turning unlike electric ones that need care. John

My understanding is that they can`t push effectively if moving through water hence being almost stationary works best.

[annv]

My Hydraulic thrust-er works very well when moving forward and in reverse and is all most inaudible. John

[Vaughan]

20 hours ago, oldgregg said:

They'll be more durable in terms of the motor not burning out, and it removes the problem of the heavy battery discharge. I suspect the control system and the (motorised) valves for the hydraulics will be the bits that go wrong, though.

But in terms of a Broads cruiser you're taking the power from the hydraulics, so when in use they're giving you less propulsion power (which in a tight spot you may need lots of) and you need decent engine revs on to get decent thrust. 

I've seen lots of people using them and not understanding how they work (admittedly, why should they). With low engine revs they're crap, and you do have to plan in advance how you're going to use them.

This is why boats with hydraulic thrusters usually have the tick-over set at 1000 revs, to stop them stalling when thrusting in neutral.  This high speed is not a problem as hydraulic drive has a very soft gear change. 

You will get a bit of a "thump" which comes from the electric control valve on the hydraulic pump.  The thrusters make a grating noise from the prop gearbox but then so do electric ones!  The big advantage is that there is no overheating and no current drain on the alternator.  If you wish, you can sit in the middle of a basin all afternoon with your finger on the switch and go round in ever decreasing circles - a bit like the Rare Japanese Oozlum Bird!

Building a boat with hydraulic drive is expensive but very well worth it, especially if you are operating hire boats on rivers and canals with a lot of locks.  All of the boats built by Crown Cruisers and Port and Haylett (Connoisseur) were hydraulic.  Once you have the drive installed, you can then tap off it for a bow thruster, or an anchor winch.  We were even experimenting with a fridge freezer, powered by a hydraulic heat pump.  Peachments also make a hydraulic generator, for powering 220V air conditioning when the engine is running. In the evening, you plug the aircon into the shore power.

I agree with Andy that it is very difficult to retro-fit a bow thruster to a boat already built and on some designs, such as the Bounty 37, it is almost impossible, although I have seen it done!

[DaveRolaves]

fitted a Vetus bow thruster on our boat in 2002 its been reliable and trouble free