thrusters

[cdburns]

Hello,
Looking to install SideShift Stern Thruster.

Has anyone added this and if so, at what cost including installation?
I'd need the ST350 and already have a bow thruster.

Thanks!

 

[Cartouche]

hello,
looking to install sideshift stern thruster.

Has anyone added this and if so, at what cost including installation?
I'd need the st350 and already have a bow thruster.

Thanks!

what's the boat

 

[cdburns]

It is a Sliverton 41.

 

[Cartouche]

It is a Sliverton 41.

I installed an external imtra Sleipner 50 on the stern of our 390, I set it up with it's own batteries and charger and then integrated it with a dual Joystick control at upper and lower helms, and then added the wireless remote, Helped tremendously in locks and at the Fuel/Pump out dock, was a great DIY project and instructions and parts were flawless from Sidepower

 

[Cartouche]

I installed an external imtra Sleipner 50 on the stern of our 390, I set it up with it's own batteries and charger and then integrated it with a dual Joystick control at upper and lower helms, and then added the wireless remote, Helped tremendously in locks and at the Fuel/Pump out dock, was a great DIY project and instructions and parts were flawless from Sidepower

Imtra Sleipner and Sideshift are all the same company

 

[Cartouche]

Imtra Sleipner and Sideshift are all the same company

Sorry Sidepower not side shift

 

[Comodave]

I put SideShift bow and stern thrusters on our current boat. They are simple to install. My wife and I did the bow in about 1.5 days. My neighbor and I did the stern in a day. Cost for both was $9K plus batteries. I have the 24 volt thrusters so 2 batteries per thruster. One of the nice things is the wireless joystick and remote controls. No need to run wire to the helm.

 

[cdburns]

Thank you!
I got a quote for just the stern thruster and it was 9,550, 1200 of that was
for labor so I thought that was really a high price since I can get the thruster and dual wireless for about 5600.

 

[Comodave]

If you have basic electrical skills and some DIY skills it is a straightforward project. My boat has extremely tight access to the transom so it was a bit more challenging but all in all not bad. I spent about 2 hours making a plywood frame for the batteries and the electrical components. I couldn’t do the wiring in the boat due to the tight quarters. We lifted the batteries and electrical components in and then drilled the 6 required holes, 4 for the mounting bracket and 2 for power. Bolt the bracket to the transom above the waterline and feed the power cables in and hook them to the batteries. No control wires to run. I had contacted a mobile thruster installer and was quoted $25K for 2 traditional thrusters. But when I actually took possession of the boat I realized that there wasn’t room for them so I went with the SideShift thrusters.

 

[Pete Meisinger]

A bow thruster is really nice to have, a stern thruster is not so important. If the boat is fairly new to you why not wait a couple season, you may determine you do not need it.

pete

 

[cdburns]

I may just do that. I know they are something you should never have 100% faith in so it may be best to wait. The boat is new to me. It being a LOA of 46 had me a little worried about getting in tight places though.

 

[Mischief Managed]

Stern thrusters are really nice, but putting the wheel hard over in the direction opposite of the way you want the stern to move and putting the engine on the side that the wheel is turned toward in reverse and the other engine in forward will do the same thing as a stern thruster. The boat may creep forward a bit but a little extra throttle on the engine in reverse or digital modulation of the transmission in forward gear will arrest that.

 

[Cold Duck]

I installed an external imtra Sleipner 50 on the stern of our 390, I set it up with it's own batteries and charger and then integrated it with a dual Joystick control at upper and lower helms, and then added the wireless remote, Helped tremendously in locks and at the Fuel/Pump out dock, was a great DIY project and instructions and parts were flawless from Sidepower

Have you got any pictures of your installation? Very interested for my MS350

 

[Bmarler]

I love having a stern thruster. Mine is surprisingly effective compared to the bow unit. Can I handle the boat without it, sure, but it’s much less stressful in tight spots if you can just give it a bump this way or that.

 

[Cartouche]

Have you got any pictures of your installation? Very interested for my MS350

yep I will dig them up and post them very easy DIY Project

 

[Cartouche]

have you got any pictures of your installation? Very interested for my ms350

1St Picture is the external unit mounted and second is under the aft Hatch in the cockpit over the rudder, the batteries are in there with the I Box Shut off and all connections there is a separate Charger for the Thruster batteries and the Generator battery. If we had used the stern thruster a lot when out (Locking etc.) Joanne would turn on the generator that would charge the thruster batteries and have them ready to use when we came back to the dock. worked real well and gave us so much more control when it is windy around the dock. total cost including batteries was about 8K Last PDF is the Install Diagram I created myself with costs, which are in CDN dollars

 

[Comodave]

Here are photos of the stern thruster that we installed on our last boat. Woops, the photos uploaded out of order…. The second photo shows the thickened epoxy I put on to make the curved transom flat there the thruster was installed.

 

[Pappi]

I had a Sideshift ST340 stern thruster installed on my MS 34 and the total cost was about $6200 in 2022. Bought the equipment at a Cyber Monday sale for ~$4200 USD. Installed a battery bank (Two X2Power BCI Group 27M 12V 930CCA AGM) for ~$1000 USD and had a boatyard (Cobbs Marine in Norfolk, VA) install the stern thruster for about $1000 USD.

It works great. Saves me lots of worry when docking. The folks at Sideshift are very helpful.

 

[Senojev]

Bought our exturn from Yachtthruster in 2016 at boat show. Ended up costing about $6000 for everything including batteries. Installation took a long day DIY so $1000 a $1200 for a yard is not out of line.

What lead us to this choice.

Simple installation

Depth of thruster is far more efficient than a transom mount. In our NT, the thruster would barely be below surface

Water cools motor allowing for longer runs. We could if needed run thruster until battery dies but have never come close

Lower cost overall even for DIY

 

[Cold Duck]

View attachment 139739

1St Picture is the external unit mounted and second is under the aft Hatch in the cockpit over the rudder, the batteries are in there with the I Box Shut off and all connections there is a separate Charger for the Thruster batteries and the Generator battery. If we had used the stern thruster a lot when out (Locking etc.) Joanne would turn on the generator that would charge the thruster batteries and have them ready to use when we came back to the dock. worked real well and gave us so much more control when it is windy around the dock. total cost including batteries was about 8K Last PDF is the Install Diagram I created myself with costs, which are in CDN dollars

Have you got a better P/N for your system? I cannot find anything that looks like your thruster on Impra Sleipner website. I'm very interested for my MS350

 

[Cartouche]

Have you got a better P/N for your system? I cannot find anything that looks like your thruster on Impra Sleipner website. I'm very interested for my MS350

I believe it is now the 50 External that has replaced the 40 looks a little squarer

https://imtra.com/products/product-...73?filterbrand/category=dc+electric+thrusters

this the link to the exact replacement

 

[Cartouche]

I believe it is now the 50 External that has replaced the 40 looks a little squarer

https://imtra.com/products/product-...73?filterbrand/category=dc+electric+thrusters

this the link to the exact replacement

one last thing you will see I offset it to port this is because the centre chamber in the platform contains the swim ladder with no access

 

[J.T kearney]

one last thing you will see I offset it to port this is because the centre chamber in the platform contains the swim ladder with no access

going to install a sliepner/ side power stern thruster next month on my mainship 350. Saw your posts but looking for more detail. Wiring through ad on swim step to stern bulkhead? Mine will be 24 volt so will have 2 grp 31 agm's in series. Is there a preference to port or starboard mounting. Any info will be greatly appreciated
Cheers J.T.

 

[Cartouche]

you need to clean out the swim platform of the foam and ours was offset to port (would not make a difference either way) Batteries I had 2 plus the generator battery in the aft cockpit locker and The I Box shout off and control were all back there I installed a stand alone Charger for the Batteries and when doing the Rideau would fire up the generator to start the charger to keep the Stern thruster batteries topped up. The stern thruster was not integrated into the Engine charging system, worked well for us

 

[J.T kearney]

you need to clean out the swim platform of the foam and ours was offset to port (would not make a difference either way) Batteries I had 2 plus the generator battery in the aft cockpit locker and The I Box shout off and control were all back there I installed a stand alone Charger for the Batteries and when doing the Rideau would fire up the generator to start the charger to keep the Stern thruster batteries topped up. The stern thruster was not integrated into the Engine charging system, worked well for us

Thanks for the quick response, We have about 1 month to get every thing together. Purchase a sleipner es 55c on closeout from imtra for 2100 us dollars and I box, dual controller and bits and parts. We're only out of the water for 5 days, so need to get the thruster mounted and bottom paint on. The previous owner already had the foam removed and a automatic bilge pump installed. Is that as close to center as you could get? I see the ladder, but was there structure issues when mounting? I'll probably mount on the starboard side to add weight with the new batteries because of lighter lipo4 house batteries where recently installed and lost 200 lbs of starboard weight.

 

[Cartouche]

For the out of water yes that's all you need, the wrench I needed was 1"13/16" to mount the unit, all the rest can be done back in the water, drill through Transom Make sure you oversize and glass the hole, and the re drill smaller hole, as the transom is cored.. I had a Connection in the swim platform to extend the control wires that I shrink wrapped. Pic 1 shows the 2nd Charger and picture 2 is a wireless unit that allows you to run both thrusters from the dock and the upper helm without having to run wires. I did a Year later take the time to get cables up to the Upper helm, but not necessary.

 

[J.T kearney]

For the out of water yes that's all you need, the wrench I needed was 1"13/16" to mount the unit, all the rest can be done back in the water, drill through Transom Make sure you oversize and glass the hole, and the re drill smaller hole, as the transom is cored.. I had a Connection in the swim platform to extend the control wires that I shrink wrapped. Pic 1 shows the 2nd Charger and picture 2 is a wireless unit that allows you to run both thrusters from the dock and the upper helm without having to run wires. I did a Year later take the time to get cables up to the Upper helm, but not necessary.

Edward, thank you that is great information that I needed to know. I'll try to get the wire extension crimped and heat shrink tubing put together before haul out. How much additional wire did you need to connect to the control box and I believe there's a heat senor wire that will need to be extended also? Did you try to increase your wire gauge or keep it the original size?
Thanks again J.T.

 

[Cartouche]

Kept the wire the same size but Crimped and shrunk as you say, it was about 3 ft the original wire gets about 1/2 way across the swim platform, and the Ibox I put on the shelf in the lazarette.