boat length for tiller steer

[yamp]

after members opinions regarding boat length you would still go with tiller steer,I currently have tiller steer 4 m hornet and like the instant response and open floor area,thinking about upgrade in boat size to 5 or 6 m longboat,Old man has hooker 5m centre console I find the console a bit of a pain for creek trolling,also any advice on the deadrise on boats and effect on ride,shallow water running load carrying i think the hooker are 22 were the other longboats are 11 degrees or so cheers Yamp

[Nathan Tuskes]

i think you find what limits most people going up in size with a tiller is discomfort from the torque steer in rough water, mercury outboards have thier "big tiller" which is pretty much power steering for a tiller steer, but the price i could imagine would be right up there. Anything over 75hp would be a killer and for a 5 - 6m boat you would want a 90 atleast...

[Kondo 1]

I have an F70 and its good, you do need to trim the torque out of it but its fine. Certainly notice a big difference between the F70 and F50, I think principally due to the prop size.

If I was going any bigger I would be going a merc with the power steering on the tiller without a doubt.

[yamp]

thanks for feedback,I hadn't really thought to much about the steering torque on the bigger outboard,I was keen on the yammie 70s as the specs sound great so it would probably mean keeping the boat length at 5m max or go to console with bigger motor

[myusernam]

mate if it is a tiller boat they are a lot lighter and a lot less windage. Lots of them get around with much less horsepower.

[yamp]

just had a look at the merc big tiller system on you tube, looks really good,it too bad some of the other manufacturers don''t run similar setups for their mid range outboards

[Linedropper]

I've got a 4.6 platey with Yamaha F60 tiller. Goes all right but I can get a slow build up of torque steer over a journey if it is trimmed wrong. A quick adjustment of the trim either way sorts that out quick. I would be happy with a 70 or 75 tiller but any bigger and it would get too heavy.

I know on some of the 90hp plus tiller installs some guys were using a hydraulic steering ram to take the torque out of the equation. Not sure on the exact details but it involves installing a steering ram and looping the lines back to the ram in a closed loop.