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...
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...