single lever control upgrade/conversion

[RoyS]

Greg, all you do is pull the lever away about 1/2" from the unit and move it forward a bit. It will stay disengaged and you can move the throttle up to full speed or down to idle. Moving the lever back to exact center will result in the lever snapping back to normal operation. Unit is simple and intuitive in operation.

 

[Tally Ho]

Greg, all you do is pull the lever away about 1/2" from the unit and move it forward a bit. It will stay disengaged and you can move the throttle up to full speed or down to idle. Moving the lever back to exact center will result in the lever snapping back to normal operation. Unit is simple and intuitive in operation.

Got It. On my Hunter, there was some sort of collar under the ball on the shifter. When you wanted to add throttle in neutral, you squeezed the collar up to the ball, which disengaged the transmission lever.

For sure, the single lever is probably easier on the tranny as it is harder to shift with much throttle. I guess you can jump quickly from FWD to REV before the engine winds down, it still harder to do than with independent controls.


Greg

 

[Terry Cox]

Edson pedestal is so un-precise- is this likely to be caused by a worn cable- it seems so , if I have understood clearly????

Hi Eian, had a similar problem when we took possession of Belle-Vie in 2002. Eventually the shifter mechanism broke due to an improperly installed connection inside the pedestal. When we did our sea trial the broker had considerable difficulty shifting. Took him several tries to get it into or out of gear. Shortly after taking possession went out for a day sail and upon returning, as I slowly entered the slip, just as I changed to reverse to stop the boat the lever fell slack. No idea whether this was a factory install or PO, but now ours is fixed.

I made that repair back in 2002 and since then shifting has always been smooth, precise and trouble free. Check it out and let me know what you find.

P.S. I've used the single lever system before on another boat and it is okay, but I still prefer the two levers. The skipper of that boat was often having to adjust it for whatever reason.

 

[artboas]

Thank you for your detailed explanation. I will proceed with replacement now on my 1997 Hunter 376. I am also replacing the shifter with a new aftermarket assembly. It appears I will have to install the new one 90 degrees off from vertical to horizontal because of my pedestal design and the new shifter array is not square, but rectangular. I found that the cables need to be 21' for the throttle and 24' for shifting, after I drug two cables (18' and 21') through the pedestle base, into the stbd stern lazerette, over the fuel tank and then down past the rudder post enclosure and then under the bed through a chase that only has one cut out, through the dripless area and into the rear of the engine compartment.

Respectfully, I find the Lewmar single lever control to be an excellent piece of engineering, and has never failed.
Once every 2 years I run a slight bit of WD 40 down both cables

if anyone is interested, I have a brand new Lewmar unit which I purchased as a second throttle location on my 49. Never been out of the packaging.

It was the only project I decided to not go ahead with. Just didn’t make sense.
I have the full stainless front plate as well.
I will save you some money on this, if interested.
Please PM me