G'daySailors, I am interested in talking to anyone who has used the BCS constant running , steering motor.

The model i'm using is model CO8- 24. It is now approx. 1000 hours and is running well. My issue is that it is such a critical feature of steering that I need to know about, " what could go wrong " ! Ramona, what type of steering motor did you use on the Trawlers ?

Cheers, Bob

Hello BobFord, I also have an Octopus on my TMQ AP4 auto pilot. I have never had a problem with the TMQ AP4 or the hydraulic ram except for a small oil leak.
1. But the previous owner/s of my boat had the internal webbing break where they had attached the steering ram to the steering quadrant.
2. I also had the shaft of the ram undo where it connected to another fitting which attached to the steering quadrant. (Not much fun when sailing alone)
I have fixed these issues and also realigned and repositioned the ram so that it is not mounted at an angle to the steering quadrant ensuring the full effort of the ram is used to turn the rudder and not drive the quadrant thought the bottom of the boat (the alignment wasn't really that bad). I also attached stoppers to the quadrant so that the rudder could never be turned too far resulting in the ram bottoming out in both directions.

Happy Sailing

Thanks for sharing your experience with Pilot Motors. Clearly , if it is set up right then reliability is guaranteed ! My BCS which is marketted by Twin Disc , is so reliable that I rely on it to keep on!! This is how I arrived at the " what if ", syndrome. It seems to me that besides seals in the rams and general plumbing, the only weak spot is the brush gear on the motor. Twin Disc state that the new brush is 20mm long. After 5000 hours mine are approx. 16mm long. To sum up, the whole shooting match seems to be very reliable with minimum inspection. Cheers, Bob