DIY forward controls

[Saqa]

G'day fellas

I put this thingy together for my boat build here http://www.boatdesign.net/forums/boat-building/building-stitch-glue-boat-fiji-48653.html

I picked up some control cables in Syndney much earlier in the build and I had grabbed a used remote box from a local boatie here in Fiji which was a single lever types Mercury unit. While fitting this to my boat I could not find a balance where the gear would engage before the throttle crept any

I decided to make my own, here is a bit of work I am pretty proud of. Its is really difficult to find aluminum and stainless here in Fiji and really expensive where available so I made this using scrap aluminum scavanged from a local boat yard, an angle grinder and a lil Makita hand drill

I had a bit of 50mm x 50mm 4mm guage aluminum angle which I used for the base that will hold all the moving bits

First thing to sort out was anchoring the cables, without that I couldnt even begin to test lever loads and such. Working from imagination had to plan aprroximate shapes and sizes and then test to see if worky or need tuney Cut out this to be the cable securing base from a bit of rotton aluminum "T" section and cleaned it up a bit with the grinder
TooBads in Fiji 012 477b by jonny.toobad, on Flickr

Cutting out the throttle lever out of a 5mm plate scrap left over from the motor mount build
TooBads in Fiji 012 484b by jonny.toobad, on Flickr

The finished unit. Grips taken from a pair of pliers I havent been able to find a decent quality sanding belt for my belt sander. Only chinese crap in the shops here that break soon as you look at em. All rough cutting and shaping done with the angle grinder and finished of with a hand file and hand sanding. Really wish I could have done a decent job of sanding out all the gouges and polishing
TooBads in Fiji 012 489b by jonny.toobad, on Flickr

TooBads in Fiji 012 494b by jonny.toobad, on Flickr

I made it so the throttle lever is raised from the base using doubled up plate. The Gear select can then slot under the throttle somewhat and move in a close plane. Have given it a shape that will mean that the gear lever cannot be moved without backing the throttle all the way for safety
TooBads in Fiji 012 498b by jonny.toobad, on Flickr

The cable anchor mounted onto the base
TooBads in Fiji 012 499b by jonny.toobad, on Flickr

TooBads in Fiji 012 500b by jonny.toobad, on Flickr

I cut slots into a bit of stainless plate to fit the locking grooves on the cable collars
TooBads in Fiji 012 503b by jonny.toobad, on Flickr

How it goes together
TooBads in Fiji 012 504b by jonny.toobad, on Flickr

Locked in
TooBads in Fiji 012 505b by jonny.toobad, on Flickr

TooBads in Fiji 012 506b by jonny.toobad, on Flickr

Dirt intrusion boots on
TooBads in Fiji 012 507b by jonny.toobad, on Flickr

More views of the grips
TooBads in Fiji 012 512b by jonny.toobad, on Flickr

TooBads in Fiji 012 513b by jonny.toobad, on Flickr

I think it turned out well. Works the engine side spigots really well. Had to reverse the dicrection of pull inside the cowl so the levers work in the conventional manner i.e push forward for open throttle and foward gear

 

[whitepointer23]

looks nice, you have done a great job. the trouble with twin levers on an outboard is they destroy dog clutchs in the gear box if not used very carefully. because with 1 lever the engine always returns to idle before a gear can be selected. people tend to bump the idle speed up with twin levers if they are worried about stalling the engine or if the engine has idling issues. the old twin lever controls on Johnson motors were known for this. so just be careful when changing gears to avoid problems.

 

[TeddyDiver]

Great work!

 

[Saqa]

looks nice, you have done a great job. the trouble with twin levers on an outboard is they destroy dog clutchs in the gear box if not used very carefully. because with 1 lever the engine always returns to idle before a gear can be selected. people tend to bump the idle speed up with twin levers if they are worried about stalling the engine or if the engine has idling issues. the old twin lever controls on Johnson motors were known for this. so just be careful when changing gears to avoid problems.

Thanks fellas

The gear lever will not move unless the throttle lever is backed off all the way. Thats what I meant to say regarding the shape and nesting I gave the two levers. The pins for the cable rod ends (not pictured) are part of the locking group

 

[messabout]

A remarkably nice job, especially so when done with primitive tools.

 

[PAR]

I'd like to see the cam in it's various positions and how it interacts with the throttle lever. Very clever from the looks of it. Maybe bicycle handle bar grips would look better and be easy to find.

 

[Jammer Six]

I prefer Chinese gear.

 

[DriesLaas]

Beautiful. I love jobs like this. I was frankly expecting am crappy little job, but your handwork skills are very good man. Hats off.
Makes me feel crappy for being intimidated sometimes, in a place where I can get materials so much easier than where you are.

 

[Saqa]

I'd like to see the cam in it's various positions and how it interacts with the throttle lever. Very clever from the looks of it. Maybe bicycle handle bar grips would look better and be easy to find.

I'll take some pics of that in action soon. I might need to rethink the locking bit though. I am working on the finishing stages of the boat down at the in-laws farm and a few locals come by. Some prick has been forcing the levers and managed to entangle 4mm plate levers!! :/ Broken the rivets on the gear lever handle grips too. Will need to disassemble the unit and free up the levers and check for other damage. I think I might need to cut off the length on the cable connecter pins that also run on the curve of the cam to take the locking mech out just to keep it safe from idiots that walk by

Thanks for the positive comments fellas. Current project is a folding canopy that I am making from tube and plate alloy

 

[PAR]

Well, look at it this way, you've had some serious testing conducted and now know some of the weak links of the assembly.

 

[DriesLaas]

A quicker way (cheaper too 12 bore shotgun

 

[Saqa]

Lol, indeed. Although I might have to make one myself, cant buy them things here too