Fitting Tiller arm to an outboard on a 22ft springer

[billeddupp]

Hi All

First time poster , Long time reader lol 

Has any one any experience in fitting a tiller on a narrow boat which has an outboard ?

is there an outlet that sells ready made generic  brackets / mounting fixings that will allow a traditional swan neck type style tiller arm to be directly attached  ? other than a bespoke  Fabrication being called for ?

Any advice or guidance is greatly appreciated ,

Boat is a 21 ft springer , 

Engine is 2018 short shaft  9hp Tohatsu which has a  cable type steering bracket fitted

many thanks 

Phil

 

 

[RLWP]

Hi Phil, welcome to the forum

 

Is this your engine?: 

 

http://www.tohatsu.co.uk/outboard-engine-s-9point8hp.html

 

Richard

[billeddupp]

Hi mate , thanks for quick reply , 

yes that looks rather like it 

 

[RLWP]

The manual has lots of stuff about the standard tiller, not a lot on the cable steering system:

 

http://www.tohatsu.co.uk/manuals/MFS6BZ - MFS8B - MFS9.8B - 2016.pdf

 

Richard

[David Mack]

Years ago my father and I made a narrowboat style tiller for a small outboard-powered cruiser. We used a length of steel electrical conduit which with a bit of heat we could bend into a Z shape. At the engine end we squeezed the tube flat(ish) to lie against the engine casing. Holes were drilled through the flattened tube and the engine casing. Dad brazed two nuts to small squares of steel plate and we araldited these to the inside of the casing, to form captive nuts, so the tiller could be unbolted.  I then painted the tube in a barbers pole spiral.

The whole thing worked well enough.

[Mad Harold]

1 hour ago, billeddupp said:

Hi All

First time poster , Long time reader lol 

Has any one any experience in fitting a tiller on a narrow boat which has an outboard ?

is there an outlet that sells ready made generic  brackets / mounting fixings that will allow a traditional swan neck type style tiller arm to be directly attached  ? other than a bespoke  Fabrication being called for ?

Any advice or guidance is greatly appreciated ,

Boat is a 21 ft springer , 

Engine is 2018 short shaft  9hp Tohatsu which has a  cable type steering bracket fitted

many thanks 

Phil

 

 

There was a small Springer moored near me with an outboard with a tiller (15hp Honda) It had a long swan neck tiller tightly hinged on the motor to allow tilting.

I had a Norman cruiser and made a bracket from 3/16 steel plate bolted under the engine and attached a pickaxe handle (stained and varnished) to the bracket.

As all outboards are slightly different and boats too, a one off arangement will need to be fabricated to suit your engine/boat.

The Springer I referred to had what looked like a standard swan neck,but the way it was attached and the throttle/gear arrangement I can't remember.

[Tom766]

Hi all.

Ive been offered the option of either a 15hp or 30 hp outboard conversion for mt 26' springer.

 

Any thoughts re' power output, is 15 enough?

 

Thank you

[Alan de Enfield]

17 minutes ago, Tom766 said:

Any thoughts re' power output, is 15 enough?

Yes.

 

Plenty of bigger canal boats use 9.9 / 10 hp outboards.

[Murflynn]

ideally you should look for an outboard marketed as 'saildrive' .......  several of the top brands offer them.

 

the reduction ratio and propeller size on the average outboard is designed for driving a light boat fairly rapidly.  You need the opposite - slow turning low pitch and large diameter prop.  That will also help with stopping power, which is the Achilles heel of many outboard driven canal boats.

[Jerra]

I saw the IWA Trail boats at the Crooklands Country Fest on the Lancaster canal a week or so ago.   A number of the wilderness boats had tillers which seem to fit your needs perhaps contacting them and asking may help.