Notice:
The advice given on this site is based upon individual or quoted experience, yours may differ.
The Officers, Staff and members of this site only provide information based upon the concept that anyone utilizing this information does so at their own risk and holds harmless all contributors to this site.
I was always annoyed with the factory steering provided on the 250. I removed the Edson arm and replaced it with the Edson bronze quadrant. The original steering had a turn of less than one revolution which just doesn't provide the sensitivity needed. Also the cables are really sloppy in tension because there isn't a quadrant. The results are a full two revolutions of the wheel and the tension on the rudder stays the same for the full rotation. The wheel steering now responds the way it should.
Installing the Edson quadrant is not a straight forward plug and play change. The factory arm is offset from the rudder and a centered hole was created and then the offset hole was filled. The thickness of the new quadrant was too thick for the factory plate and was machined to the proper thickness. Holes for the rudder mount had to be CNC machined for proper alignment. The rudder thickness had to be increased with layers of fiberglass to match the 1.75" bronze fork. A new aluminum bracket was fabricated to mount to the deck instead of the transom (CNC machined for vertical alignment and slots for fore and aft adjustment). The chain had to be replaced with a #50 chain that was about 6" longer and the cable housings were chopped 10" because of the need for longer exposed chain.
Regards, John Westlawn Institute graduate Yacht Design and Naval Architecture 04 Catalina 250 WK Standard rig w/wheel steering Yanmar 9hp diesel
Yes, the original Edson wheel steering system needs improvement. The early version had a single cable “Push/Pull”. The later version had two cables “Pull/Pull”. I haven’t seen the Edson quadrant modification before.
This is a pretty technical solution. Would you be interested in writing a more detailed document that can be posted in the tech tips section of the website?
Please contact me if you are interested. Thanks, Russ Johnson Commodore
It sounds like your design might be sufficiently unique to justify a patent. It would seem unfair if Edson would come out with a "new, improved" version that mirrored your design.
Steve Milby J/24 "Captiva Wind" previously C&C 35, Cal 25, C25 TR/FK, C22 Past Commodore
Notice: The advice given on this site is based upon individual or quoted experience, yours may differ. The Officers, Staff and members of this site only provide information based upon the concept that anyone utilizing this information does so at their own risk and holds harmless all contributors to this site.