Steering for honda bf8d

I have a honda bf8d with remote controls, on a bracket on the back of a small (23ft) yacht.

When I bought the boat (engine came along with it), the outboard had been rigged up to be in a fixed position.

However, because of the way this is setup, with the propeller rear of the rudder, it makes the boat pretty tough to steer in marinas, tight spaces etc. You have to get a lot of way on the boat before the rudder will start to have any effect.

I’m looking to try and change the outboard so that it is steerable, either with a small wheel or with a tiller.

The problem with tiller is that because it has to be mounted on a bracket that’s pretty low to get right depth in water (even with it being a long shaft), any tiller mount to outboard would just jam into the transom, it just won’t physically fit. I’d have to make some kind of steel bracket, have a vertical up section, and then a tiller that could come forwards quite high up.

The alternative seems to be fitting a small steering wheel.

This is the main thing I’m looking for info on - I’ve only ever worked on outboards with tillers before, and not really sure what kinds of steering options are available.

From research, it sounds like there’s at least two types:
- ones similar to the control cables used for the remote
- hydraulics

I’m guessing the hydraulics are usually used for much heavier higher HP engine, and so wouldn’t really be necessary on a much smaller 8HP?

This is a picture of what I have today - there’s a steering bracket...then not much else.





Does anyone have any links to the kinds of parts / kit i might need to look at for the remote steering option?

It seems like there’s kind of something that slots through where the two black rubber nut heads are, then a bar which attaches onto where my bolt is currently sticking out of the steering plate?


I’m really not sure what I’m missing...

The Teleflex / Seastar Solutions ‘light duty’ package might be most of what I’m looking for?

But it’s seems like there’s some extra bits needed to actually tie that into the engine mount/steering bracket etc?

Hi jaziniho,

Looks to me that you're already pretty close. You will need the steering rod (item #1 in link below) bolted to the steering plate (item #18) which is already on your outboard. You may also need the bushings (#11 X 2) and miscellaneous stainless hardware you can source for much less cost from a good, old fashioned, hardware store.

You then select the the steering cable and remote wheel set-up of your choice and slide the cable end through the swivel case bushings, connect the cable end and steering rod together and you should be in business....I think.


https://www.boats.net/catalog/honda/outboard-by-hp-serial-range/8hp/bfp8d4-lrta-2004/swivel-case-2

Of course this is probably a bit of oversimplifying things and I've probably missed something about what you want to do but that's MY take on it.

I hope this helps you.

Good luck.

That helps a lot - especially as I previously found a metal bar in the bottom of one of the lockers that I didn’t know what was for...

Looks like the steering rod for the outboard that you mention i think?!



So this rod/bar screws into the steering bracket? I think I’ll need to remove the bracket from engine to screw this in, as there isn’t space to twist it through otherwise.

And then the end of the steering cable passes through the hole that’s in between the black rubber ends on the engine mount, and once passed through - end of the cable attaches to this steering rod?

Seems like I do actually have a good chunk of what I need already, and may mostly need the steering kit.

Also need to check as I’m a little cautious that the place i have in mind to mount the wheel might potentially snag the sheets as they come across with the boom, but I can measure that up and swing across a few times to check the angles first.

Cheers

Yes, that's the rod. It attaches to the steering PLATE, item 18 in the link I sent you.
If the PLATE is the "bracket" you refer to then, yes, you may need to remove it to hook up the rod. Otherwise, I'm not sure what "bracket" you are talking about??

It's pretty clear the outboard was hooked up to cable steer at one time since the rod and hardware look to be all there. I doubt that someone would have removed the PLATE to disconnect the rod and then gone to the trouble of remounting it instead of just storing it away with the rod BUT you never know.

You're just going to have to navigate your way through the puzzle on this one.

Good luck.

I’ve made good progress with this - got my steering kit, did a ‘dry run’ test with the steering cable passed through, the rod hooked up to plate and cable end attached to rod. Then had a play with the wheel in its mount on my knee, just to check whole thing end-to-end was basically correct before I started drilling holes and fitting.

Everything works OK, and I’ve routed the cable. I still need to mount steering wheel, put a hole in transom for steering cable, and fix it in place.

One thing I have found is that the steering is quite stiff/tight - specifically because of the remote control cables (accelerator/gear change).
There is plenty of spare cable inside the boat on these cables, but it seems as you steer to either side, it needs to pull/push some of this through and it’s just not passing through the hole very well. I did a test with the remote cables disconnected from engine, and it was much smoother.

Is this kind of setup normal? Would you expect the remote cables to need to slide in/out a bit as it moves off center?

If so, I guess it’s just a case of tidying up how they pass through transom, making sure they’re nice and free to move on inside etc.

Yes, there is going to be some movement of the control cables but it sounds to me that you may have such a limited amount of space in the set up for the "sweep" of the bends in those cables. Very difficult for me to judge from here or to offer any useful advice.

Make sure that the steering friction lever isn't adjusted too tight before trying any other solutions. See link below.


https://www.boats.net/catalog/honda...ge/8hp/bfp8d4-lrta-2004/steering-friction-kit

You definitely need to minimize the "sawing" action of the cables or provide for mitigating the friction between cables and through holes by installing some form of bearing surface to prevent undue wear.

I'm sorry I don't have a silver bullet solution for this issue.

Good luck.