The Spoonpluggers Forum

Restomod ‘68 1/2 Elenore 1/2 Shelby

Very Nice

So many toys, so little time...

Fran

Terrific looking boat; guaranteed to impress the fish!!! Great job on equipping a Spoonplugger boat. A far cry from the little 13.5’ Spoonplugger Boat of days gone by. A heck of a whole lot better to handle the big water.

What’s the additional equipment around/on the tiller handle?? Power steering??

Good Fishing

TN. Dave

Hydraulic steering. I have a 90 on my Ranger and i think I would like some steering assistance

Thanks Fran,

Hydraulic steering sure would save a lot of wear on the shoulder. Let us know what you think about the assisted steering when you have spend some time on the water.

Great looking boat!

Good Fishing

TN Dave

Fran

What is your opinion of the hydraulic steering on the 90 Yamaha now that you have fished with the new Alumacraft for a while??

Good Fishing
TN Dave

Hello from Scotland!

I was just reviewing the past posts from this thread and I had to laugh. Especially the comment about saving the shoulder. There is definitely a difference between expectations and reality.

What I was expecting was 2 finger easy control even at high speed and be able to take my hand off the tiller and have the motor stay where it was. This was not to be.

The reality is that the steering isn’t a steering system. It holds the motor in place. Very well. In fact I have no problem taking my hand off the motor at 34mph. The problem is the steering is harder than driving the 90 without steering while trying to maneuver. This year has been a fishing opportunity lost. I only fished one week at/around Mille Lacs. Work, fires, work, etc. But I did learn that when I do start fishing next year, it won’t take very long for my left are to become like Popeyes and my left peck to require 1/2 of a triple D bra.
But I would still buy it. Being able to take my hand off the handle does a lot to ease my tension and allow me to remove my hand despite the hardness of the steering itself.

Lastly, the Yamaha 90 SHO is the smoothest, quickest, quietest motor I have run, especially after running the Yamaha 90 mid-range - which I thought was an awesome engine.

Fran

Thanks for the update on the new Yamaha. Yes, there is a big difference from expectations and actual experience. Or, there is a big difference from what is advertised and what is experienced when on the water.

Thanks again for the report and , as always, Good Fishing.

TN Dave

Fran, I have the Tim Merten tiller assist on my Yamaha F60 tiller. I bought this directly from Tim in 2007. Like you said, it's not a steering system but it does eliminate steering torque and when you stop moving the tiller handle it locks and holds the tiller arm in that position until the tiller arm is moved again.

My tiller arm takes a little more strength to move after the tiller assist was installed. And sometimes required more than a little. I called Tim to see if this was normal. Tim told me the problem was that sometimes the tiller assist gets more fluid on one side of valve compared to the other side. Tim said when this happens (gets harder to turn), cycle the tiller handle from one stop to the other stop a couple of times at a fast speed. Tim said movement will even out the fluid so both sides are equal which will make it easier to move the tiller handle. This helped but like you said it still requires a little more strength than my F60hp did before the tiller assist was installed. But like you, the pros outweighs the cons in my opinion.

If I ever buy another tiller boat, it will be the Warrior 1890 tiller with the Warrior Pro-Tiller II power steering system that you operate with your right hand thumb.

Question about hydraulic steering systems.
How does the Mercury Big Tiller operate??

Someone has posted about a Mercury Big Tiller on an Yar Craft Backtroller and spoke well of the system.

I did not find the post; apparently not searching correctly.

TN Dave

Update: I found the original post; didn’t quite search far enough.

My question is, does the hydraulic steering on the Mercury Big Tiller steering lessen the effort in controlling the outboard. The point of hydraulic steering is to make controlling the outboard easier, much like power steering on an automobile??

Thanks for the information

TN Dave

TN Dave,

Here's a video that shows the Mercury Big Tiller Power System in action.

I ran Frans system on his Ranger for a week and I wouldn't recommend it to anyone. The torque can be helped when planed out by trimming the motor up once you get up to speed. Yes you can take your hand off the tiller and it won't move but for me, it is not a fair trade for a sore shoulder at the end of a fishing day. I do like the idea of the power steering system much better. John

Thanks Gary! Thanks John!

Good Fishing

TN Dave