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Broken wood tiller... repair or replace?


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Shouldn’t cost much to get some timber to make a new tiller and put a piece of alloy or stainless plate either side for the pivot bolt to go through, that way it won’t break again. Trim down a tanalised pine fencepost and it won’t rot either.

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Sorry I was off the forum for a few days. thank you all for your good advices.

I think my first quick fix will be to cut it off shorter for the rest of the season then make a new one over the winter.

It seems hard to find hardwood timber of different shapes and sizes around. Is it only found at boat repairers?

Thanks again all for your input much appreciated.

I am sure I will be in touch soon for further questions!

Damien

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So it needs to be treated pine I guess. is it better to seal it with Linseed oil rather than varnish?

i am just thinking about what is easiest and lowest maintenance. Varnish may last a while if it is not always out in the weather, but once it breaks down you need to scrape or sand it off before starting again, oil you can just rub some more on with a cloth. Yes treated pine would be better if it is out in the weather, but most timber on boats is untreated.I made some curved tillers out of treated ply glued and sealed together with epoxy and then painted white. They were super strong. The original tillers were much lighter out of kahikatea ,white pine , but had rotted.. some boats have nice varnished tillers with covers to protect them from the sun, maybe your plan to cut it down is all you need to do.
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Grab some of the garden furniture that gets chucked out at the next inorganic recycling. There’s usually a few pieces that can be glued together and worked up into a nice hardwood tiller. Use epoxy or resorcinol.

 

Or do it KM’s way and use some light pine to shape a core. Wrap it in carbon and epoxy and go sailing.

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