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End of the tiller, showing the bolts. The center one doesn't have the nut. |
We made a repair to the tiller. The three inches closest to the rudder had rotted out and the laminated wood had split at a seam about six inches down the length. A new tiller costs about $130, so we decided to try to repair the tiller we had. We removed the plates that hold the tiller to the rudder, which is held on by three bolts and nuts.
We then glued the split with Elmer's Carpenter's Glue and clamped it with C clamps. After it dried, we then cut four inches off the end of the tiller. Finally we drilled two new holes further down the tiller and reassembled the whole thing.
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| The repaired end |
The tiller is four inches shorter, which means there is a little less leverage on the rudder, and it will require a little more effort to move the rudder around. Eventually, we will probably buy a new tiller. But for the moment, this saved $130 and it is almost as good as new. We still need to slap some varnish on the end or by next year we'll have to whack off another four inches!
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| The rotted end after being cut off |
