Outboard Control conversion

[Terry R]

We have a 23.5 Hunter with a Honda BF8A outboard mounted in the Motor well ... at issue is this boat is fairly tricky to manuver when you have to fumble around for the gearshift and throttle ... Honda has a conversion kit 06170-881-812 which provides a way to supposedly connect 33C cable to control this motor.

Just wondering if anyone has added controls to this boat and could share pics and possible products ... I am contemplating mounting a UFLEX B89 controller to one of the Starboard seat uprights (sport package stern seats) ... what I am concerned about is how flexible the cables are with regards to tilting the motor out of the water for both sailing and trailering.

Thanx in advance for any wisdom.

 

[Crazy Dave Condon]

Terry;

If you will address me in a week to davecondon@mindspring.com as I will be working on scouts' sailboats and I will be glad to help when I return. I probably would be the best to answer this for you. I am the godfather of this boat

crazy dave condon

 

[Bob 04 H260]

I had a Hunter 260 with wheel steering and controls but owned a 2005 Honda 9.9 with tiller controls. The dealer told me to trade it in. I found the microfiche for the motor on line and ordered the parts needed to change it over, cost about $100. It was easy and worked well.
You could also probably look at a remote control system from Power Tiller, they are made to do just what you want to do.
Also do you have the tiller/rudder connected to the outboard ? makes a huge difference in close quarters maneuvering.
good luck, Bob

 

[Paladin27]

I did this exact conversion last year on my 1987 Hunter 23. I replaced the old outboard with a Honda BF8A. I bought the BF8A from a friend cheaply because the control arm had been broken during storage. So I decided to put a remote control on it. I purchased a control similar to what you are looking at on Ebay for about $75 and it even came with two 16' (WAY too long) cables. But I went ahead and just used the cables it came with by looping them around once inside the lazarette. You can see the control that I mounted on the starboard side of the cockpit in the photo below.



Here is an identical control to the one that I purchased on Ebay (About the same condition too). Ebay Link

Then I purchased the Honda control kit for the BF8A. Control Kit Link

Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures of the engine and the control cables. I will have to go out and take some this week. What I did was create about a 2' loop with the control cables before going into the transom so that when I tilt and raise the engine, they don't get pinched off. I tried going directly into the transom but the cables are too stiff and short to allow flexibility during tilting.

This has been a GREAT improvement to my boat. The Honda has the extra kick I need on the bigger wave days to get back back into the channel from Lake Michigan over that old Nissan 4HP 2 stroke. The cockpit controls allow me to continue looking forward while navigating into my slip rather than doing the turn, adjust, turn, adjust repeatedly. Plus, since the control does both shift and throttle, I can do the "PANIC" slam into reverse much more quickly! :dance: