Hydraulic Bow Thruster, what size Hydraulic Pump?

[rustybucket]

Exploring possible bow thruster options and I REALLY like the idea of hydraulic (rather than electric). With 8v92's what size hydraulic pump would be needed to drive a reasonably sized bow thruster on my 52c?

Is something like this all that is needed: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Detroit-8v...831629?hash=item1cd03e5a8d:g:2yEAAOSw7HhcvgAg

For a hydraulic thruster system, I'm guessing there will need to be a reservoir mounted somewhere and hydraulic lines (2?) ran to the bow thruster area. Anything else I'm missing?

 

[racclarkson@gmail.com]

Considered a PTO on your generator?

 

[krush]

Anything else I'm missing?

Lots of $$$, leaks, and maintenance?

 

[rustybucket]

Considered a PTO on your generator?

I have not, didn't realize that was an option. Not positive I have enough room off the front of it, will have to check.

I probably have enough room on the front of the mains to add a pto as long as it's a smaller unit.

 

[racclarkson@gmail.com]

I have not, didn't realize that was an option. Not positive I have enough room off the front of it, will have to check.

I probably have enough room on the front of the mains to add a pto as long as it's a smaller unit.

Wouldn't that be on the backside and gear driven?

 

[rustybucket]

Lots of $$$, leaks, and maintenance?

I mean, whether you go with electric or hydraulic all three apply right? lol.

 

[Cricket]

You must be getting close to the finish line if you're thinking about new projects.........
Do agree hydraulic thrusters are interesting but people tell me there's a ton of overhead (pieces and parts) and additional maintenance compared to electric.
After using the one on our outboard center console has taught me you really only need it for short bursts around the dock, your boat handles way better than the outboard.

 

[doc g]

Having a hydraulic thruster for the last 20 years , I will say the only maintenance I did was to have a seal replaced in the hydraulic motor. I took it to local hydraulic shop and it was done fast and cheap. When you need a thruster you need to be able to "lean" on it not worry about blowing a breaker if you use it too long, at least in a bigger boat. I would go hydraulic over electric anyday if you take $$ of the equation..........Pat

 

[Scarlett]

I am cruising right now on a friends 65 Pacific Mariner with Naiad hydraulic bow and stern thrusters which use the same engine driven hyd. Pump that the stabilizers use. This boat has a pump on each engine as backup seems like a lot more thruster power than any electric thrusters I have seen and the pump has plenty of power to run the bow and stern thrusters at the same time, nice to come up to a dock 10 feet off with a 15 knot beam wind and thrust the boat straight into the dock. John

 

[Cricket]

Big difference with windage issues of a 52 convertible and a similar sized motoryacht.

 

[rustybucket]

You must be getting close to the finish line if you're thinking about new projects.........
Do agree hydraulic thrusters are interesting but people tell me there's a ton of overhead (pieces and parts) and additional maintenance compared to electric.
After using the one on our outboard center console has taught me you really only need it for short bursts around the dock, your boat handles way better than the outboard.

lol, getting closer everyday but still a ways out. Thruster would be a next year project (maybe later).

 

[Dontburntheday]

lol, getting closer everyday but still a ways out. Thruster would be a next year project (maybe later).

Curious if you you moved forward with your hydraulic pump.

I am at the stage of deciding if I should PTO / piggy back on the NAIDs pumps as I am planning to add bow and stern thrusters or just go electric.

I like the idea of leveraging more of the hydraulic power and existing PTO / manifold instead of adding 4 more batteries, 2 chargers and only a few minutes of run time.

Open to thoughts and especially any regrets from those that have hydraulic thrusters.

 

[scottinsydney]

We did the mathematics on this and needed 50 litres per minute as the flow. This could have been supplied off the 12v92, but the hose runs were too long and too thick up to the bow.

In the end we have ordered a 200amp 48v lithium battery that will sit in the genset room and power the house side of the boat and any future 48v bow thruster.

 

[Pascal]

I don’t have a thruster in my 53 but I have used both electric and hydraulic on boats I ve run.

I think my preference would be a slightly oversized electric. Obvious issue with electric is the motor running hot and shutting down. If the thruster is oversized this is less likely to happen at least if you know what you’re doing.

Hydraulic on the other hand can be used continuously for as long as you need. Besides the complexity of the hydraulics the biggest issue is that if you need to use the thruster to adjust a line or fender when pinned by wind you can t just flip the switch, you have to start one of the engines.

if the boat already has hydraulics for the stabs, It may seem easy to go with hydraulics

We had a electric Side Power on the 84 I ran for 5 years. Great service from Imtra. Only failure I had was the gear box and it wasn’t that expensive although it had to be done on the hard. I never had the motor got hot enough to shut down. Now on the 116 we have ABT Trac thruster and stabilizers with a fairly complex hydraulic system with a pump on each 16V2000 plus on the starboard gen for at rest stab. The long runs from the ER to the bow do not use hoses but SS pipes.

 

[rustybucket]

Curious if you you moved forward with your hydraulic pump.

I am at the stage of deciding if I should PTO / piggy back on the NAIDs pumps as I am planning to add bow and stern thrusters or just go electric.

I like the idea of leveraging more of the hydraulic power and existing PTO / manifold instead of adding 4 more batteries, 2 chargers and only a few minutes of run time.

Open to thoughts and especially any regrets from those that have hydraulic thrusters.

I have not moved forward with it, still cleaning up the loose ends from all my other projects. It would be nice to have and I do believe I will add one someday, just got a few other projects in front of it.