Tiller Assist Review

There’s been chatter off and on over the past several months about the viability of Tiller Assist. I spent some time chatting with John Thelen of Backtroller Boats/Tiller Assist a few weeks back. After chatting with him a couple times, I decided to take a leap of faith on the Tiller Assist. I want to take some time to share my experience after putting it to the paces this week on Sabaskong Bay on Lake of the Woods. We drove up to Morson on Monday and were on the water by 12:00 noon. We fished till dark on Monday, then all day Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, finally leaving Friday morning.

A little of the specifics of our trip and my set up – my buddy’s cabin is on an island six miles east of Mylie’s Place Resort in Morson. It is fourteen miles west of Nestor Files. We regularly make runs to Nestor Falls, Miles Bay, Dawson Island and this trip, we made it to within five miles of Oak Island.

My boat is a Larson FX1850TL with an Evinrude ETEC HO90. The boat is 2200 pounds dry before motor, gas, gear, passengers, livewell, etc. The ETEC HO has the gearcase from the 115, and it creates some real torque. We installed the Tiller Assist on my HO, and placed the foot button on the console area of my boat. When I run, I always run with my left foot against this console area, so I put the button there for easy activation with my toe. I ran my boat with big boots this trip. I worried that I might have a hard time feeling the button, but it was no problem to find the button with my boot and to keep my foot on the button, even in big chop.
This week over three and a half days of fishing and the run back to the resort, we put on 177 miles (see the picture showing 168 miles – I set the trip odometer after we had made the run to the cabin and then headed three miles to our first fishing spot). We had wind conditions of 5 mph to close to 30 mph. At one point, we made the run from Rabbit Island back to the cabin in 3 foot rollers. Here’s where I’ll start my review.

On the run back to the cabin in the 3 foot rollers, I had to trim the nose down to keep from bouncing badly. I was experimenting as I went. I tried without engaging the hydraulic lock, slowing down and managing the waves on my own. I couldn’t do it without either bouncing badly or getting down to 15 mph. Very difficult to manage without engaging the hydraulic lock. Without the Tiller Assist, holy cow was the torque and pull on the tiller heavy. One push on the button for the Tiller Assist, and I was able to stay at full throttle and buck my way through the waves very easily.

For the long runs in average/manageable waves, I especially loved the Tiller Assist. I was able to trim the boat up to the max with the hydraulic lock engaged and just let it buck. No torque. No fatigue. My longest run was from Dawson Island to Split Rock Resort, over 40 minutes. I’ve made the run with both this boat and my old Alumacraft Tournament Pro 175T with a 90 HP Yamaha tiller. By the midway point of that run, my hand was going to sleep and my shoulder was tired. Yes, I do know how to work the trim to minimize torque, but I also hate going any slower than needed. So I trim up, and until now, in anything except easy, glassy conditions, I’ve battled the torque and hated it. Now I truly love my ride.

I realize there is no perfect hydraulic system for tillers. I can say this. I prefer having the motor steering unlocked and moveable during my fishing and driving, unless I choose to lock it in place. I troll muskies a lot, and the variable needle valve allows me to adjust the tension for trolling or for running short distances in easy conditions.

While I was previously skeptical of the Tiller Assist design with the button, after spending time talking with John and now using it extensively over the week in a variety of conditions, I can absolutely say that I love it. I won’t be getting any other boat without it. I would recommend it to anyone. And I would offer test drives to anyone who is skeptical. Drop me a line if you want to chat more.

Quick fishing report…we slayed the walleye, crappie, and perch for the week. Brought home limits of 13″ crappies. Unreal. Spent most of the week in our Ice Armor, but on the way out of the cabin going home…I ran in my shorts. On November 4th, no less! Crazy!

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Nice report. You and me will be talking soon.

No Muskie?

Couldn’t find the baitfish. No muskies while trolling. Buddy caught a 44″ muskie jigging for walleye.

Can you compare this to Merc’s Big Tiller power steering, by chance? I think Etec’s are the best out there, Yam second and Merc third, but I also think power steering for a tiller would be huuuuge. I understand how this hydraulic system works and I think it would work for what I want, but it sure sounds like Merc’s power steering is the cat’s rear-end.

Sorry, FG. I have not had the opportunity to run a Mercury system. The only thing I can compare is cost. When I was pricing out my boat and deciding between an ETEC or Mercury, the Titan Tiller system (not the power steering) was quoted at more than twice the cost of the Tiller Assist.

Sorry I couldn’t give you any more.

FG,
I spent years running the Mertens “Titan” system, the Tiller Assist is very similiar, both are hydraulic locking devices, to hold the motor in position when needed. Neither one provides any steering assist, your left arm still provides the torque to move the tiller handle.

Mercury’s Power Steering system utilizes a hydraulic pump & cylinder, with a moveable actuator (the twist grip) that functions as the control valve handle, kind of like a log splitter. The Mercury system actually provides the power to move the motor left/right, as well as holding the motor in position when the actuator is not moved.

IMO, the Tiller Assist is all you need up to 115hp, but if you’re looking at 150hp+, a power steering system, like Mercury’s or Warrior’s, is the way to go.

HRG

Spot on, HRG.

Right on! I appreciate the input of both of ya’s very much.

Does Mercury own the Titan steering Assist?

Titan Assist is owned by Merc.

Tiller Assist is owned by Jon Thelen of Backtroller Boats.

koldfront kraig wrote:

Does Mercury own the Titan steering Assist?

Hey Kraig!

Mertens sold the Titan to Uflex a couple of years ago. It’s only for Mercury Big Tiller handles.

http://uflexusa.ultraflexgroup.com/easystore/schedevedi.asp?schedaid=1382

HRG

Does anyone make a tiller assist to fit a 97 merc 125 ??

I loved the Titan on my Skeeter/Yamaha right.

I sold my boat and have been without one for a couple of years now.

It’s time to buy another one. No need for assisted tiller though. Plan on finding a 16 ft Lund boat with benches in it.

Ski Junkie, the Tiller Assist should fit on your motor. Give John a call at Tiller Assist. Look him up online at http://www.tillerassist.com. He is very helpful. Very down to earth dude to chat with.

fishinfreaks wrote:

Ski Junkie, the Tiller Assist should fit on your motor. Give John a call at Tiller Assist. Look him up online at http://www.tillerassist.com. He is very helpful. Very down to earth dude to chat with.

Thank you Sir !!!

Great catch, do you ever ice fish up there?

The ice fishing is fantastic there. We go out of a buddy’s place across the bay from Pelican Landing.

Hey fishinfreaks. Couple questions, how you like the larson boat? Is the larson dry for a tiller, hows it handle both driving and back trolling and just overall review? How do like the evinrude?

Love the ride of the Larson. Very dry. Very smooth. Compartments still need to be improved upon for dryness. Backtrolls very nicely for the Larson side. Not as happy with the backtrolling on the Evinrude. But there is an adjustment I need to have done to the Evinrude when I pull it out of storage. Right now it doesn’t idle down very far. An Evinrude dealer can hook it up to the computer and dial down the “in gear” idle. I think that once that is done, I will be much happier. On the hole shot an driving, the Evinrude is absolutely awesome.

Thx. What kind of speed does it troll down to forward and reverse? Really like the storage space the larson has compared to my skeeter but my skeeter is a 98. Just debating on upgrading just motor on my boat or just get whole new rig. Like the larson setup and price.

Thx again for the info

I honestly can’t remember what it got down to. Sorry. I just know it was faster than I wanted. I needed to switch in and out of gear a lot.

If I had known about having the motor tuned down for the in gear idle when I bought it, I would have had that done before I left the shop with it. I’m curious how much of a difference that will make.

Ok FishingFreak you go out of Buddys which I think is a restaurant. Can you reccomend a lodge or accomodations? Anywhere near Musky Bay Lodge?
Thank You.

Mylie’s Place is a great place in Morson. Musky Bay Lodge is 6 miles east of them. Justin does a very nice job at Mylie’s.

What speed are you getting out of that Larson boat and the 90HO ETEC?

34 MPH. I’m re-propping this spring in hopes to pick up a couple more MPH.

Answer the ICE fishing question please-2ft of ice out there and you guys are still gassing about your tiller(and prop)
Thanks

tim hurley wrote:

Answer the <strong class=”ido-tag-strong”>ICE fishing question please-2ft of ice out there and you guys are still gassing about your tiller(and prop)
Thanks

Uhhh…whuuut?

Tim, if you were asking for a place to stay for ice fishing, Pelican Landing is the only option in Morson or Vic and Dot’s just north of Nestor Falls. Robert Tolen at Vic and Dot’s is top notch.

Thanks FF