[Rhodes22-list] repowering Fretless

[Bob-Leslie Fletcher]

Lou,

I have a 9.9 four stroke Tohatsu with Tohatsu remote controls.  A little 
larger than yours but I suspect the control configuration is the same.

I first did a "trial" mounting by hose clamping a board on the port gunwale 
between the stern rail and the aft cleat, then side mounting the control on 
the board.

Pros:  Very intuitive, not in the way of seats.

Cons:  A really clean installation would require building and bolting 
through the gunwale a metal mounting bracket, and then drilling another hole 
in gunwale to route cables.  Also, can only use from port side of boat; it 
looks a little "motorboatish" for my taste and mounting position is really 
critical to avoid interference with captain's chair.

I decided against holes in the boat so instead mounted the control on the 
front of the lazaretto, with a spacing block that also adds rigidity. 
Cables run to port seat then into transom through space already there, then 
through gasoline boot in the transom to the motor.

Pros:  Very clean and unobtrusive; easily reachable from port or starboard 
seat; can even be "fine tuned" with foot from captain's chairs; There is 
plenty of room for some "slack" in the cables where they run under the port 
seat and that accommodates changes in the "effective" cable length when I 
raise the motor or turn it side to side.

Cons:  Not quite as intuitive as a gunwale mount

With either of the above systems the first cable bend out of the motor is 
very tight.  When I switched to the transom mount I needed a different cable 
length and went with the "premium" version.  I think that's probably 
necessary.  For some reason those cables were much more affordable from 
Defender than other sources.

ALTERNATIVES:
Tiller Tamer  - Has been mentioned here before.  You'll easily find the web 
site.  It's an after market tiller mounted control.  I first dismissed it 
because of interference with Stan's standard top mounted tiller extension 
but later realized you could remount the tiller extension on the bottom of 
the tiller.  (That would require a stronger retaining clamp but the original 
will break soon anyway and a standard garden tool spring clamp hanger seems 
to work well as a replacement.)

Mercury "lightweight" motor - I chose the Tohatsu because of the 20+ pound 
weight savings over Yamaha and Honda and factory remote control.  I later 
learned, however, that Mercury markets a Mercury branded Tohatsu with one 
significant difference... the Merc. has that company's (proprietary?) tiller 
handle with built in reverse/forward and throttle controls.  The advantage 
is that you could fairly conveniently control forward/reverse, throttle and 
direction from a single 'location" without a remote set-up.

I have found times when I would have been much better off being able to 
"steer" with the motor and not the rudder.  With a "turnable" motor you 
don't need headway to steer as with a fixed motor position and tiller.

If I had known about the Mercury earlier I might have skipped the remote 
control for simplicity and cost savings.  As it is, one of my winter 
projects is to fabricate a foldable "arm" going from the motor up over the 
transom so I can steer using the motor with the rudder up.

While I'm on the Tohatsu... one quirk I noticed is that although it is 
theoretically manually startable with a recoil starter, there is no 
"external" choke.  The choke is activated by a solenoid controlled from the 
ignition switch, so if the battery or solenoid dies, you can't start 
manually without removing the cover and holding the choke lever open. 
However....  I think I can run a cable from the choke control lever through 
the front of the motor by the starter handle with so you could easily start 
manually. Another winter project...

I'll be curious what you decide

Bob Fletcher




----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Lou Rosenberg" <lsr3 at nyu.edu>
To: "The Rhodes 22 mail list" <rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org>
Sent: Wednesday, October 03, 2007 10:31 AM
Subject: Re: [Rhodes22-list] repowering Fretless


> Joe
>  I am the project boat contingent of this list, currently stripping
> off paint on my hull and barrier coating it hopefully soon.
>  I have a new  (4Strk) Tohatsu 6hp and bought the T handle remote
> for it which I intend to mount on my port side seat edge.  I am going
> to run the cables under seat then into the Laz where I have not
> replaced my portside U bolt since painting the topsides last July.
> The purpose is use those holes for the cables.
> Just wondering if anyone has done anything like this on the Rhodes
> for remote control of an outboard?
>
> Lou
> s/v Miracles
>
>
>> Hello Mary Lou,
>> I am very interested in what you think about the Yamaha T8 as that is
>> the one I had been thinking about for our recycled Rhodes we are
>> getting
>> next spring.  I am also interested in your remote control
>> installation.
>> Where have you located your controls and are you happy with their
>> location?  Stan has told us that unfortunately Yamaha chose not to
>> continue with the remote tiller controls that he has been mounting on
>> the Rhodes tiller.  So We are considering the "standard" remote
>> control
>> units like the one we have on our fishing boat which is a T handle
>> affair that shifts forward or reverse and controls the speed as
>> well as
>> having the key ignition switch.
>> Best Regards,
>> Joe
>> __________________________________________________
>> Use Rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org, Help? www.rhodes22.org/list
>
> __________________________________________________
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