[Rhodes22-list] best motoring setup?

[Peter Nyberg]

I have a 2016 model 8 HP Mercury outboard.  The feature about that I most like is that both throttle and gear selection are integrated in a single control on the motor’s tiller arm (if that’s the term).  Start in neutral gear. Twisting in one direction puts the motor in forward. Continuing to twist increases the throttle.  Twist the other way to decrease the throttle, eventually returning to neutral.  Continuing to twist puts the motor in reverse, and again the further you twist the greater the motor speed.

I have Stan’s motor tiller link, and I find it really helps when maneuvering in tight spaces.  But when I don’t need that level of control, I don’t bother to connect it.  In this case, I lock the outboard so it won’t turn, and I steer with the boat’s rudder.  I find this works fine.  It has never occurred to me to raise the rudder and try to steer the boat by turning the outboard.  I can see how this might be a useful trick in very shallow water.  Other than that though, I don’t think it would be my preferred approach since the main tiller is much easier to work with than the outboard.

People on the list have often said that if your rudder has been properly pulled forward (using the line that connects to the forward edge of the rudder), it will not hit the propeller.  I can’t say that I know for sure that this is universally true, but it definitely true in my case.  If the rudder has been pulled forward, it won’t hit the prop; if it hasn’t, it will.

Peter Nyberg
Coventry, CT
s/v Silverheels (1988/2016)

> On Mar 16, 2018, at 11:02 AM, Silver Bay <Wjf at me.com> wrote:
> 
> I am looking to replace my motor with one that features best steering control
> and gear change. I do not have or want the extra gadgetry of linkage between
> rudder and motor. It may be a shaft-length issue, but my prop will hit the
> rudder if steering is not coordinated. But biggest problem for me is that
> the motor-tiller is almost vertical and difficult to reach when underway.
> Two questions: Are there any recommendations for a "best motor" for control,
> and are there any recommendations for "best" steering arrangements when
> motoring? In other words, does anyone have experience raising the rudder
> when motoring or locking the motor in fixed position with steering with
> rudder down? Or any other variation?
> 
> 
> 
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