Ships Wheel/Shaft size on 43T

[scleary]

Folks,

I've seen a few HC's with great looking wheels, and others with the ordinary stainless spoke with simple teak 'cover'. Wondering if the elaborate ship wheels were optional or if people bought them after market? I think the traditional/elaborate wheels add so much character/old world styling to the boats...they just look great. I would love some info on where to acquire one, the shaft size on a 43T, and the max diameter that will work. If any of you have the more elaborate ships wheels, would also love to see some pictures for comparison.

Here is one of the traditional looking ones I like that is on a 43T, not a great angle, but you get the idea-wheel.jpg
Here is another, better picture, that I found online searching-shipsWheel.jpg

I think I would prefer one like the first picture that has the additional ring around the outside so I would have the option of a smooth outer ring or the individual handles.

Thanks!
Steve

[Bill]

Hey Steve,

We only have the boring stainless wheel but we gussied it up with leather on the outside. The shaft size is probably still the same at 1" OR 25mm. Don't know how much work the wheel would cause you in sunny California or the tropics but if you live up North, more power to ya.

[scleary]

Thought I would answer my own question here for anyone else that wants/needs this info:

The shaft size on the 43T cutter rig (1988) is 1" straight shaft (not tapered). The stock wheel is + or - 34" in diameter. The space between the center of the wheel shaft and the cockpit seats is just about 24"...so the absolute max diameter wheel that would fix in the space would be 48" or so. It appears there are 'standard' size wheels in 36", 38", 42", and 48" (there may be others, but I saw several for sale in these sizes). There are some that are made just for decoration, others that are made for use (but some people use them as decorations), and yet others that have been taken directly off ships/boats.

In terms of pricing, there is a craftsman on the South shore of Massachusetts, http://www.southshoreboatworks.com/ that makes them custom. I got a price for a 46" wheel with a 4" hub and 1" shaft, $4200. I'm just a working stiff and that's way more than I would ever spend on a wheel. Don't get me wrong, the wheels he makes are absolutely beautiful and I'm sure they are worth every penny..I just couldn't ever justify one.

I found/purchased one locally on Craig's list for $75 and I saw many others ranging in price from $100->$500 on Craig's and ebay. Most of the ones on ebay were 'local pickup only'.

One difference between the hand made $4k+ and most of the others I found is that the hand made wheels have an outer ring that encompasses the handles and the 'production' ones are lacking that. The one I bought is lacking that outer ring, and I think it would be much better with it...as you could either use the ring or the handles to grasp. Here is a picture of the one without the ring and a picture of one of the custom wheels with the ring.

Mahogany_Wheel.jpg

no_ring_wheel.JPG