Seagull remotes

[Charles uk]

Sorry Pat can't help I never take pictures, as a racer we're not there to educate the competition, but they take lots.
They are all over the place, facebook, everywhere.

[headdownarseup]

Pat
Your boat's transom looks to have a similar rake to mine with a similar construction. Looking at the way your engine is currently set up in the thrust block, even with the motor set to its furthest outward position within the thrust block probably isn't quite getting the engine to a dead vertical position.
My first time out at Cholsey a few years back i let my eldest son take the tiller for a few minutes while i went for a pee over the side (as you do) . It wasn't until we were chugging along under the willows getting closer to the bankside that there was an almighty "kerthunk" as we hit a submerged tree root and broke part of the thrust block off. It was then i realised that something needed to be done with my boat's motor set-up on the back.
I've cut a length of 6x2 hardwood block into a triangular "wedge" to counteract the offset of the transom and used this along with the original mounting bracket for a better installation. My bracket will be bolted directly through the wedge and the boat's transom so that everything will rest in a much better position. Think of it as though the boat's transom is now perfectly vertical instead of leaning outwards like yours and mine.
If i'm using a long shaft motor i can quickly swap over another block of wood that is slightly higher than the boats transom along with the wedge and so give everything a bit more of a "lift" instead of using a height adjuster block. The motor's gearbox sits in just about the right position now so it's not completely covered by the keel (but allows for some protection at least) and there's plenty of room for it all to move without hitting anything on the back, just as your merc would have been before.
It tilts as far as the motor will allow when its fitted into the mounting bracket, which when you look at it seems to be quite a bit more than what you have at the moment. Having enough slack in the cables for ample movement side to side as well as any tilting is important with this.

At some point in July i shall be giving my boat a test on the local reservoir, but apart from the prop getting wrapped up in weed (which it probably will do in the shallows) i can't see it causing any major problems with this set-up.
But Chas. is right. You'd be surprised at what can end up in the canal over the years. Tree trunks, abandoned cars not to mention the odd shopping trolley, literally all sorts of hidden obstacles that will make a hell of a mess to a boats rear end and motor set-up. Having a chunk taken out of your prop is one thing, but having the aft end of your boat ripped off the back is a pretty major headache.

As and when i can get my camera working again it will become clear what i've been talking about.


Still looking for some affordable "push-pull" cables for the gear selection and a lever of some sort at the helm which is going to need a bit more thinking but i'm happy with how it's working out.

Jon

[Charles uk]

Jon the Seagull model 90 gear lever is designed for a 2 pull cables 1 to pull it backwards & the other forward.
I'm sure I've seen Seagull illustrations on here many years ago, good luck with finding them.

Just about every question you can think of, has been answered several times in the past on here.

[Hugz]

How you load/trim your boat also depends on how you wish set the trim on the motor. Sounds as though Pat has some boating experience.

[pat777]

Sounds as though Pat has some boating experience.

Ah, well I'm not sure that's a very accurate statement there Hugz, but thanks for your confidence in my abilities anyway!

[pat777]

Thanks for the input Jon, Yes I think I have a good idea in my mind what you are saying based on your description, obviously a picture paints a thousand words and all that, (maybe we should start a "crowd funding" campaign to get Jon's camera fixed!, it would save him a lot of typing anyway)

To be honest for what I'm doing chugging up and down the canal at 4 mph, I'm not sure if it would make much difference if the outboard was perfectly vertical on the transom. I'm kind of happy when the outboard starts and keeps running for a few minutes without giving trouble! So are you saying that because the propeller on my boat is likely to be pointing slightly downwards that I have less control over the direction of my boat.

I had assumed, perhaps mistakenly that the boat manufacturer had designed the angle of the transom to suit the displacement of the boat? Also with reference to what hugz said about the trim of the boat, will angles not depend also on how many people are on board and where they are sitting etc. I do usually have a few concrete blocks on board for up front balancing purposes.

Underwater propeller action.

[pat777]

Sorry Pat can't help I never take pictures, as a racer we're not there to educate the competition, but they take lots.
They are all over the place, facebook, everywhere.

That's okay Charles Uk, no worries, I wasn't actually looking for you to show me a picture, but just wondered if you might have remembered which race meets that you had seen people with seagull steering systems set up to help narrow down my search. I've looked through a good few topics in the racing section and watched a good few youtube clips, and so far all I've seen with regard to aiding steering is long handled tiller extensions.

[pat777]

Just for anyone else who does not know what a "thrust block" is, here is a picture.

[Nudge]

Does anybody bolt there seagull transom bracket to the transom also instead of just relying on the thumbscrews?

Yup! ME!!
Take a look at this!
viewtopic.php?f=15&t=5913

I will see if I can get some more pics tomorrow... How the steering hooks up to the motor

[pat777]

Thanks Nudge, a lot of ingenuity went in to the construction of that steering system. Fair play to you, any niggles with your system or does it work perfectly?

[pat777]

Lots of steering systems in this clip.

[Nudge]

A few pics to help you out! The green 20'er in that is in that video is the same type of boat as mine. The Blue boat in the video is "Mine"

The steering has worked 100% (once I got it wrapped round the drum the correct way )

Not a good pic, The motor is a good 300mm higher than the bottom of the boat

As the motor is lifted the cable goes a little slack, that is why the steering has a continuous loop.

Remote throttle: Stiff stainless wire, through fibre optic ducting to a lawn mower throttle

Removeable steering wheel, It can be pushed in and out depending on who is driving (the kids have shorter arms)

[pat777]

Thanks for the photo's Nudge, great pictures, they give a good view of how things are set up with your system.