Tiller Owners

How much steering torque is “normal” for a 90HP tiller? I know there are steering systems out there which make it effortless to drive, but I’m not going to fork out cash for that right now so I’m asking this to those people who are running a larger tiller with no steering system. I don’t know if it’s normal but it sure seems excessive on my boat. I know that by trimming it and finding the sweet spot that it operates a lot better, but for the most part it’s a bear to hold on to. I’m afraid of that one time where my hand is a bit slippery and the handle slips out of my hand….I’ll be launched to the moon. It takes everything I’ve got to keep on top of that thing and I’m not 110 lbs either. Is there anything that I can do to help reduce this? I was thinking of adjusting the trim tab some but I don’t know if that’s the cure-all for this. How about raising the motor? With a sharp keel on the boat and in some rougher waters, it’s a full-time job keeping the boat from taking a hard right as that’s the direction it wants to go. Just wondering if this is normal for engines this size or if mine needs some adjustment of some sort.

In the past I have had some experience with tillers and consoles pulling to one side or the other and some harder then others. I have fixed the problem by turning the trim tab on the bottom of the motor a little one way or the other.. Hope this helps you out..

HI had quite abit of experience with this problem–the answer is the trim tab–if the front of the boat wants to turn right standing behind the boat the tab should be adjusted so the rearward part of the tab is to the right. it is truly unbelievable what a difference this makes–change it about an 1/8 inch at a time–snagged

This hits home with me too!! Guess I’ll have to play with the trim tab.
Thanks for posting the thread, thought it was just me.

I went through this about 5 years ago as I have bad elbows and could not tolerate much torque steer on my tiller. Here is what worked for me on my boat & motor setup:

– Better distribute the weight by moving 3 batteries to the front of the boat. Also use front live well (not rear one). This will reduce your top end speed.

– Raise the motor as high as possible, just so it does not blow out in turns and is still picking up water into the water inlets at all times (this made a huge difference with the torque steer on my boat). This will increase your top end speed.

– Adjust the trim tab for no torque at about 20 MPH. You should still be able to trim up and down for varying conditions. I did not want any torque when I had to run in rough conditions at a slower speed. It took about 6 different adjustments until I got it just right. This will reduce your top end speed.

I frequently adjust the trim while getting up on plane, and while running as the winds, waves, and speed change. Top speed is not very important to me, but reducing torque steer is very important.

Dave Gulczinski

Used to have a older 85 hp evinrude tiller, she was a pig to steer unless u were gonna really slow, or up on plane and trimmed out right. Now i got a new yammy 90 tiller and she steers like a dream from going slow, plowing at half throttle, or up on plane running wfo. Completely effortless. I don’t know why it steers so good, but it does. I really like the steering tension adjustment on it.

Well, mine would be described as a “pig” as you put it. The last time I was out it was fairly breezy and I was putting the boat through the paces and the next day my left leg was very sore…just from bracing it so I could steer. It wasn’t obvious the day I was out that I was putting that much pressure on my leg for leverage, but the next day it was! I’ve played with the tensioner on the steering too which helps some, but I like it a little on the free side for agility. (90HP Yamaha)

I noticed yesterday that the tab is already cocked to the right some but I’ll give it some more and see what that does. I’m also contemplating raising the motor a touch to help get the boat on plane better. Is there anything that one needs to be aware of when raising the motor? It looks like four bolts/nuts and that’s about it. ??

Thanks for the replies. I wish it were nicer out so I could go out and play some more before the opener. I’m not looking to max out my top speed but rather better control and getting on plane better. Those are my primary objectives at this point. A different prop may be in order to help the plane problem too, but I think the first issue is the steering. Raising the motor helps get the boat on plane too, correct?

I raised my 60hp Johnson and you will need a hoist to lift the motor. It did help my torque problem alot.

Raising the motor can actually make it a bit more difficult to get the boat up on plane. But if you move more weight to the front, plus trim the motor all the way down BEFORE starting out, you should pop right up on plane.

Dave Gulczinski

Well, moving anything to the front isn’t a possibility in my set-up so I’m stuck with what I have for weight distribution other than filling my front livewell which I do time to time.

Danno just try and adjust that trim tab a bit you will most likely find a comfort zone for steering with that alone…

I have similar issues, and my trim tab is a bit off.. keep forgetting to move it. I can relate to *pulling hard* and afraid to lose grip!

When the trim tab is set properly, the steering effort should be minimal even waith a 90 hp(I run a 50). The steering tension might be too tight if you still have issues when the trim tab is set properly.

I turned the trim tab to the right and gave the boat a ride tonight after work and it seems to handle real nice now.

When I get up to WOT and start trimming it gets real stiff though and wants to go left, but this is at the point of just trying to squeak out that last few mph and RPM.

Right now with that 90 I’m getting about 5200 RPM and around 35 MPH. The prop is a trophy plus 17P and I’m not sure what raising the motor will do. I know it’ll increase my speed and RPM some, but how about the handling? I can turn pretty sharp and not blow out, so I think that there may be some room for adjustment. Not sure how it’ll affect handling though. ???

I saw that some are running a 3-blade Vengeance 16P with this motor and that should get my RPM’s up a little as well. Getting on plane is a dog and the 4-stroke is somewhat to blame, but how will that 16P do and/or raising the engine to the overall performance??

what rpm is your motor supposed to be running at WOT?

If your getting 5200 now I suspect its not going to be much more for rpm’s for the max on your motor.

By dropping a pitch you should get a little more for rpm if your motor isnt maxed and has a rev limiter.The lesser pitch will help get the boat on plane to an extent. If your motor is 5400 max rpm and you achieve that with 1 less pitch on the prop, you will probably still be running roughly the same speed, but should help slightly in the hole.

If you really want more speed, your going to need more motor. Save your money on buying 15 different props to get 2 mph.

Motor is rated for 5-6000 RPM (yeah, that vague) and is the max HP for this boat. I’d like to go down in pitch to free it up a bit if it helps get a little more speed without trimming it up into the range where it’s tough to steer if thats possible. A slightly better holeshot wouldn’t be bad either to help it get on plane.

What does raising the motor do in all of this?

Thanks.

Raising the motor 1 hole should increase the RPM by about 200. It should also lessen torque steer substantially.

Correct! It can also cause the boat to porpoise due to undue stress on your cavitation plate if you go too high. Personally, I would raise it one hole, and see if that changes anything before changing props. The speed you are getting is pretty good for a tiller. You kust may not see much more than a couple MPH regardless of what you do.
Another thing about pitch as long as we are on the subject..Not only pitch, but diameter has a lot to do with it as well. You could drop pitch, and increase diameter and you could drop or remain the same on RPM and increase speed. Just dropping the pitch and remaining the same in diameter often times increases RPM, but does not afford any additional speed in most cases. But dropping pitch, and increasing diameter most often does. We have found that to be the case in the last couple years over a variety of motors.

Thanks for the info. I think my prop is as big as you can go as far as diameter is concerned…not much room between the cavitation plate and the blades right now. I’m not sure of the diameter and it isn’t stamped on the prop (just a prop #).

I should be a little more clear on the top speed…I can do 32-33 mph comfortably but anything more than that is just for a few seconds and in relatively calm water due to the torque steer reducing control of the boat.

As you mentioned, it’s a decent speed for a tiller and although I’m not trying to win any races, it’d be nice to be able to trim up a little more, get some more RPM’s out of the motor, and still have some better control with that few extra MPH. I think a little more could be had yet. I’ll probably try bumping the engine up one hole and see what that does, and then I’m on to a 3-blade prop with a slightly reduced pitch.

Got a Vengeance 16P prop put on my 90 Yamaha/618T so I thought I’d bring this thread back. Wow, what a difference over the 4-blade Trophy 17P! As soon as I cracked the throttle it was immediately evident that this was a much better prop for this set up. The motor spools up instead of bogging down at 3200 RPM until the boat gets on plane. With getting more RPM’s on take off, the boat planes much better instead of plowing water with the nose up struggling for a few seconds. Now I get a good 5600-5700 RPM at WOT and around 35-36 mph. I need to go back a tad on the trim tab and maybe get a little more out of it, but there is noticably less torque steer than there was with the 4-blade. The boat is much more fun to drive after a few tweaks compared to the first time I unloaded it. Now I can concentrate more on where I’m going rather than fighting the boat. Thanks to the boys at Frankies for helping me out!