Rebuilding Aries Windvane Worth the Effort?

[sneuman]

I have come upon an Aries (free!) that looks to be largely intact. The servo rudder needs a bit of repair and the wind paddle replaced - neither appear to be a big job. The bushings/bearings probably all need cleaning and/or replacing.

I can get a repair kit for about $300, which should provide most of the parts for to put it back together. I just need a source for some mounting brackets that are out of production.

Because of the weight, it might not be my first choice in self-steering. If I were buying new, I'd probably get a Hydrovane or Monitor ... but then, this is (nearly) free.

[Jim Cate]

No one can make that decision for you, mate, but I'm sure that if you opt out of the deal that there are a lot of folks here on CF who would jump at the chance.

So, if you don't do it, please post the details here,,, someone will surely want the vane.

Cheers,

Jim

[conachair]

My boat came with an old seized aries. After a few nights with emery paper and some marine ply for new vanes it's steered about 15,000Nm flawlessly so far. Though I need to do some work on the paddle.
What comes with the service kit? Never heard of that though mine is one of the old ones.
Great bits of kit. On my heavy long keeled tiller boat anyway.

[Mike OReilly]

Another happy Aries user here. Ours came with our Rafiki-37, and it has apparently already steered her around the globe at least once. Our journeys have been much smaller so far (Great Lakes bound for another year and a half), but we've used it extensively and love it. It is our main self-steering unit for both short hops and longer (three-night max.) cruises.

Our unit (a heavy aluminum frame with a fold-down rudder) was a little salt-siezed when we first got it. And I did have to completely renovate the rudder b/c the stock had separated from the blade. But other than that, it's been a great piece of equipment.

[roverhi]

I'd go with the Aries for the heading input system on that vane. The click system on the Aires is the best. You can put the course steering control lines almost anywhere and just yank on one or the other to change heading. The vanes with sheave heading control device require correct alignment of the control lines or they will jump the sheave. Was a real pain to constantly have to worry about whether the line would stay on the sheave.

[colemj]

Just a thought: you will be making quite a bit of modification to your stern by drilling holes, reinforcing and mounting plates, brackets, etc. If it turns out to be too heavy or large for your boat, you will be repairing all those modifications and making new ones for a future vane. So you may want to be more sure of the weight/size before proceeding.

Mark

[colemj]

Just a thought: you will be making quite a bit of modification to your stern by drilling holes, reinforcing and mounting plates, brackets, etc. If it turns out to be too heavy or large for your boat, you will be repairing all those modifications and making new ones for a future vane. So you may want to be more sure of the weight/size before proceeding.

Mark

[sneuman]

The weight is not going to be a problem, per se, on my Tayana. She's built like a tank and could carry one, probably. Just general concerns about weight on the ends.

Symbiosis circumnavigated with a PO and at the time was equipped with a Monitor. At some point, much to my chagrin, the windvane was removed and apparently sold, leaving only the brackets.

I do know of several Tayana 37 owners who have successfully and happily used the Aries, although the Monitor seems for unspecified reasons to be a more popular choice on my boat.

The rebuild kit is mentioned on the Aries website: Aries Standard Vane Gear Parts List

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by sneuman

The weight is not going to be a problem, per se, on my Tayana. She's built like a tank and could carry one, probably. Just general concerns about weight on the ends.

Our boats a are quite similar sneuman -- I usually describe mine in terms of a Tayana-37, since few people have ever heard of a Rafiki. We carry our Aries at the end of our boomkin, so it protrudes further aft than yours will. Even still, I have never experienced any problems with this set up. Heck, at 28,000# my boat doesn't even feel it when I crawl out onto the end of our boomkin, and I'm a lot heavier than my Aries .

I'd have no concerns about the weight balance for a Tayana-37.

[sneuman]

Originally Posted by Mike OReilly

Our boats a are quite similar sneuman -- I usually describe mine in terms of a Tayana-37, since few people have ever heard of a Rafiki. We carry our Aries at the end of our boomkin, so it protrudes further aft than yours will. Even still, I have never experienced any problems with this set up. Heck, at 28,000# my boat doesn't even feel it when I crawl out onto the end of our boomkin, and I'm a lot heavier than my Aries .

I'd have no concerns about the weight balance for a Tayana-37.

Thanks, Mike. This is reassuring. I have decided to go ahead with a rebuild over the winter - it'll be a fun project. I have long been fascinated by the simplicity and elegance of wind vane self-steering gear, so the prospect of getting this up and going is exciting.

The Rafiki is a beautiful boat, btw.