Merc 5hp outboard - tighten steering

[Dorsilfin]

Hey All!

I purchased a new 5hp sailpower Merc outboard and am using it on my Hunter 22 sailboat. The Engine is pretty wonderful but I like to have the steering very stiff to the point of almost staying in 1 direction so I can set the throttle and use my tiller on the boat to steer the craft.



Ive tightened the wingnut on the back of the shaft to the point that I actually snapped some of the plastic off the side of the wing. Doh! However even at full tightness the outboard still has some looseness to it that if i'm not right on the outboard tiller it will slowly vibrate/move off to the side turning the engine.

Any thoughts on what I can do? The goal is to lock it in a forward position so i can just kinda set and forget while motoring.

[thomm225]

My hi-tech method to lock the engine in place is an old piece of line I found someplace on the boat one day.

I have the line tied to the tiller base and the tiller is against one of the vertical sections of the stern railing. The other end is tied to the stern railing forward a bit.

The good thing about this is that you can untie the line when docking so you can use your tiller and the outboard.

In the video, the wind suddenly came up due to a passing cloud line. Before that, there had been no wind and I was motoring home. I unfurled the jib when the wind arrived but left the main down since I was only about 5 miles out from my creek. Autopilot is driving.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jz9x5oRthfk

[Dorsilfin]

Yours is staying pretty steady in those rollers! My boat unfortunately does not have a stern rail. but maybe ill make some sort of arm off of my mounting plate to reach up and hold it in place.. ill have to dig on this. Thank you for the feedback tho!

[hobopacket]

Take a photo of how your setup is now and post. Then we can get creative

[Dorsilfin]

Tho I've since moved that mount lower on my transom to get more of the prop into the water.




This one is looking down the back of the transom at the mounting location that I moved down.

So basically, Marine ply sandwiches the transom with this mount on the back with carriage bolts.

The outboard sits on the mount, but its a little difficult to get off the outboard tiller since it will eventually swing

[Dorsilfin]

this was before I dropped the mount 6 inches. but you get the idea

[hobopacket]

Hmm I can't see them, maybe on my end?

[Dorsilfin]

Originally Posted by hobopacket

Hmm I can't see them, maybe on my end?

Might not be linked correctly.

Try this link

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/6xtg850gg...KHLCq0lHa?dl=0

I've put them into a shared folder that you should see some different pics of the setup

[hobopacket]

So it looks to me I would try and figure a way to take that grab handle in the front of the outboard and make an easy to remove bracket or system to attach that to the bracket the engine sits on.

Maybe use snaps and a piece of webbing drawn taught?

[mike d.]

If that is your final height, your cavetation plate is not in the water enough! It should be about 2 inches under. As to the problem with steering I would loosen the clamp all the way, and then insert a thin piece of rubber, neoprene, latex, anything like that in any part of the collar, and shaft. This will lock it up, once you put a little tension on the lock nut!

[Dorsilfin]

Originally Posted by mike d.

If that is your final height, your cavetation plate is not in the water enough! It should be about 2 inches under. As to the problem with steering I would loosen the clamp all the way, and then insert a thin piece of rubber, neoprene, latex, anything like that in any part of the collar, and shaft. This will lock it up, once you put a little tension on the lock nut!

Hey Mike, thanks for the input! Ill give the rubber filler idea a try. Those pics were from before the drop. Its 6 inches below that now. they were just the pictures i had available of the setup.