Bow Thruster - Installation Cost - Estimates?

[Buccaneer]

OK, OK ...
So I have often been heard to say that bow thrusters are for pussies.
I know. I know.
Not kind.

AND, Karma - being the bitch she is - has come home to roost.

I'm looking at a 63, and while I pride myself on being good with my 48,
I'm thinking discretion is the better part of valor, and a (cough) bow thruster
might possibly sorta be a 'good thing.'

How much ought I expect to spend having one installed.
(Hydraulic -- if I'm gunna have one, I don't want to be limited to chincy little bursts)

And so, what sayeth the HattyHive?

 

[SKYCHENEY]

My advice when buying any boat is not to be in a rush to make any changes. Run the boat. Get a feel for it and then after a year or two, you'll know what is really needed/wanted.

 

[Pascal]

Sky nailed it.

I be seen this happen with electronics too many times as well, new owners upgrading everything spending a fortune on stuff they don’t need.

Unless your home slip is really lousy and tricky, hold on the grinder for a while. If anything a 63 is easier to handle than a 48

Hydraulics aren’t cheap… and aren’t really trouble free either. On a 63 you shouldn’t need more than a few burst… electric will be fine

 

[jmooney]

We have a 61 MY , similar to a 63 . I wouldn’t mind having a bow thruster, but I have had the boat for 22 years without really needing one . I would like a hydraulic system, but with 12V71 and Twin Disc 514C gear boxes , this can be a problem. There is no pads on the transmission for a hydraulic pump. The engine pads are not capable of much more than a small pump for stabilizers . That leaves the front of the engine and attaching to a generator. A pump on the generator can be smaller as they turn at 1800 rpm or greater . A pump on the nose of the engine has to work at idle , so it’s a lot bigger. One of the biggest reasons to have a thruster is to help if an engine fails. This makes the generator mounted pump desirable. So to have redundancy, you need a pump on each engine. The mounts , electric clutches, couplings and pumps could cost $10,000 per engine. Then you have to get the thruster and the hydraulic system. After this I came to the conclusion that the best system would be a Wesmar 48VDC system , 12 inch 23 hp ,with proportional controls . This allows constant running at reduced power. It was about $30,000 installed. Probably more now .

 

[Captain Ralph]

Buc'' We don't need no stinking thrusters.
Learn how to push your boat.
Save the money for fuel and better champagne.

Were 58 x 18, 12V71TIs. In 24 years, never needed a thruster.
I run deliveries, never touched the thrusters on hulls up to 80 x 20.

Thru many years on this and other sites I have preached the same all along.

 

[Bob Bradley]

Along the lines of Sky's comments, I bought my 45 with QSM11s a few years back. It has singles lever shift/throttles and I hated them. Been running standard setups with separate shifts and throttles for nearly 50 yrs. I said F this and bought new controls. 3 years later, I never installed them and have gotten completely comfortable with the new setups. I gave away the controls I bought.

Give it time and get used to it. If you can handle the 48, you can handle the 63. All that matters is what's behind you. The bow will follow the stern in. You'll be fine.

 

[Freestyle]

Get an electric thruster. Mine cost $17k twelve years ago so probably $25k now. It gives you more control of the boat. You will be safer and your guests will have more fun.

I docked an aircraft carrier and other large ships for a living and no one questions my ship handling skills. My skills are improved with thrusters just like everyone else.

My thruster didn't work for several weeks on cruise in the Bahamas this spring (Dead battery). I do a better job of docking without a thruster because I plan ahead more and go slower. I think that's a personality flaw rather than a comment on thrusters.

Bruce

Freestyle
1986 52 CPMY (54MY with ext)
Tampa

 

[jim rosenthal]

OK, OK ...
So I have often been heard to say that bow thrusters are for pussies.
I knows. I know.
Not kind.

AND, Karma - being the bitch she is - has come home to roost.

I'm looking at a 63, and while I pride myself on being good with my 48,
I'm thinking discretion is the better part of valor, and a (cough) bow thruster
might possibly sorta be a 'good thing.'

How much ought I expect to spend having one installed.
(Hydraulic -- if I'm gunna have one, I don't want to be limited to chincy little bursts)

And so, what sayeth the HattyHive?

I recall being advised that handling a larger boat is easier than a smaller one, because of inertia and things generally happening more slowly. Any truth to that?

 

[firbanks]

I’ll eventually put a bow thruster in my 67’ CMY for two reasons. 1/redundancy in case a main engine is down and 2/ resale. Notice I don’t say resale value…with dockage harder and harder to come by, and slips getting tighter and tighter, I think demand for a big boat without a bow thruster will be much lower in the future (when my kids sell the boat ou haha). I’d love a hydraulic but the complexity of adding to both mains or a genset plus piping plus more maintenance makes the $20K verbal quote (assumed boat was hauled on my dime) I got from Florida Bow Thrusters at FLIBS pretty appealing during the next haul out.

 

[pmurphy]

I had a 53' MY for over 15 years and took it many places. It didn't have a bow thruster and was never an issue. I now have a 63' CPMY and the first thing I did was add a bow thruster. I'm glad I did. I find myself making minor corrections while docking that are invaluable. I too opted for the electric version. The 63' is a lot more boat than the 53'......

 

[bostonhatteras]

Saw a big sport fish with Maxwell windlass type deck mount foot switches on the tower that operated the bow thruster. No need to occupy one’s hands with another task when already fully occupied. Genius.

 

[Pascal]

I recall being advised that handling a larger boat is easier than a smaller one, because of inertia and things generally happening more slowly. Any truth to that?

Yes that has been my experience. The bigger the boat the easier it is as the wind won’t affect it as much. That said, without a thruster you may need to rely on conventional techniques like pivoting off a piling or using a spring line which can put a lot of stress on the dock and its hardware as the boat gets bigger. If I was to lean on a piling to pivot off the dock with the 110 I run, I m pretty sure I’d break the piling

65/70 is pretty much where you need a bow thruster. Stern thruster are useless with twins, never had one on any boat I ve run

 

[zigzag930]

You might want to send a PM to JD. He just had a thruster installed on his 58LRC. $$$ from what I recall. I'm pretty sure there is a thread on here about the install with pictures, etc.

 

[Captain Ralph]

Seems nobody around here enjoys the better champagnes.

Keep us up on what you decided and fill in lots of pictures and notes please.

I keep thinking stabilizers would be more important but my admiral and bank keep telling me not....
So I have also learned how to hold my coffee(?) while operating in poor seas.

 

[Freestyle]

I’ll eventually put a bow thruster in my 67’ CMY for two reasons. 1/redundancy in case a main engine is down and 2/ resale. Notice I don’t say resale value…with dockage harder and harder to come by, and slips getting tighter and tighter, I think demand for a big boat without a bow thruster will be much lower in the future (when my kids sell the boat ou haha). I’d love a hydraulic but the complexity of adding to both mains or a genset plus piping plus more maintenance makes the $20K verbal quote (assumed boat was hauled on my dime) I got from Florida Bow Thrusters at FLIBS pretty appealing during the next haul out.

Florida Bow Thrusters installed my thruster 12 years ago for $17,500 on a verbal quote that held. Add a little work and a yard may haul for no charge.

Twelve years later I thought my unit needed refurbished brushes. Florida Bow Thruster came over from the east coast to Tampa, inspected the unit, and taught us we don't know how to use a voltage meter correctly because the unit just needed a new battery. They only charged me an hour for this and I haven't spent a cent with them in 12 years. One of the techs was the same from the intstall. So Florida Bow Thrusters continues to rank in my top 5 boat service companies.

Bruce

Freestyle
1985 62 CPMY (54MY with ext)
Tampa

 

[JD5652]

You might want to send a PM to JD. He just had a thruster installed on his 58LRC. $$$ from what I recall. I'm pretty sure there is a thread on here about the install with pictures, etc.

For clarification, I just installed stabilizers. My boat came with a Vetus thruster and I love it.

 

[Buccaneer]

Seems nobody around here enjoys the better champagnes.

Bull dookey.
I *love* good champagne !

 

[Captain Ralph]

Bull dookey.
I *love* good champagne !

Outstanding tude brother. Keep us up on your projects.

 

[zigzag930]

Damn, memory is worse than I thought..... LOL Sorry JD

For clarification, I just installed stabilizers. My boat came with a Vetus thruster and I love it.

 

[ToddH]

I just received a quote from Florida Bow Thruster for my new to me 1999 '52 Sport Deck. It came in at $20,000 and included AGM batteries, 24V charger, joystick controller. Haul out is extra (in NC).

With respect to whether to thrust or not to thrust.....It will take me a long time to get to the experience and skill level of many of you on the forum. In addition, we will travel a lot and therefore, slip difficulty will be unpredictable. I am sure the extra capability of the thruster will come in handy and offers a lot of peace of mind. All this being said, I fully intend to be able to operate with only the sticks. It would be a mistake to become too thruster dependent...