Outboard. tiller or steering wheel

lets not get into a my tiller is longer than yours argument, there is always someone out there with a longer one. if your worried about it you may be able to get a couple of inchs added to it.

 

Frank, Par,
I bought the e-tech in Alaska and most everybody on the bay was using tillers. Didn't want to look like an ignorant city slicker so went for the tiller. They work really well as most of the skiffs are 16' and the distance traveled is usually short. One retired FS man has a 50hp Merc w the tiller on an 18' Crestliner utility like my 16'.

To get a neutral helm often I need to hold back on the tiller because the prop is so big. Other times I bring the tilt to the spot where the helm is neutral. And then there's the safety and the sore neck looking to stbd.

So I'm going to put a hydraulic helm on the stbd side. Get my CG fwd and isolate the tilt from the other variables. It's gonna cost me though. I may go hydraulic on my other OB too.

White, No one would want one longer than the e-tech.

 

The fad is that everyone follows, what everyone else is doing. This is the purest definition of the term. Sometimes this is justified, as in a good idea, while other times it's just trying to fit in, with the old timers who refuse to see the advantages of other helm styles, influencing the newbies what don't know any better. This is a fairly common trait in an industry steeped in as much tradition and folklore as ours. Those that have good neck circulation, can have their tiller steering systems - me, I'm too old to be looking over my shoulder constantly, just to see straight ahead, which at the very least, seems counter intuitive, much like having standing headroom over a berth.

This isn't a dig Frank, just a preference form one that's used both setups and made a more comfortable choice.