I chartered an Island Packet three weeks ago, and the throttle and shifter were on the same control. This is preferable to having the two controls on either side of the pedestel like on my H34; I wondered if anyone has looked into the conversion, or would you have to change the whole pedestal ? Thanks
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I looked into it
on my H34 and found that it would be incredilibly expense and I have an Edson pedestal. There is a Morse single handle control for sailboats that is about $160.00. However, mounting it and everything that was needed from Edson was about $800. I decided to stick with the dual control.
on my H34 and found that it would be incredilibly expense and I have an Edson pedestal. There is a Morse single handle control for sailboats that is about $160.00. However, mounting it and everything that was needed from Edson was about $800. I decided to stick with the dual control.
I did it on vacation to our '85 H34
A couple of years ago we were just the first day out on a month long cruise and the shifter plate broke. What I thought was metal was plastic and should have looked into it because the shifter was really loose. Well, it irrepairably broke out on the lake so we stopped at Waukegan and it took four days, but with help from Edson and Larson's in Waukegan, I replaced the dual shifters with a single handle unit. It bolted right in and attached to the ped guard. And you are right, it is a good upgrade because the admiral can dock the boat no problem. It is a good time to replace both cables and I did not think that it was difficult. I can't remember exactly, but the cost was around $4-500. And you can get a housing to put on top of the shifter to hold a knot or depth meter. I did that and glassed in the old ones that were on the bulkhead. As you can see in the picture, I took the time to redo all the wires in the ped. It was a huge mess that needed replacing and organizing into a bundle. If you can do it at your home port and order all the parts you can do the job in less than three or four hours.
A couple of years ago we were just the first day out on a month long cruise and the shifter plate broke. What I thought was metal was plastic and should have looked into it because the shifter was really loose. Well, it irrepairably broke out on the lake so we stopped at Waukegan and it took four days, but with help from Edson and Larson's in Waukegan, I replaced the dual shifters with a single handle unit. It bolted right in and attached to the ped guard. And you are right, it is a good upgrade because the admiral can dock the boat no problem. It is a good time to replace both cables and I did not think that it was difficult. I can't remember exactly, but the cost was around $4-500. And you can get a housing to put on top of the shifter to hold a knot or depth meter. I did that and glassed in the old ones that were on the bulkhead. As you can see in the picture, I took the time to redo all the wires in the ped. It was a huge mess that needed replacing and organizing into a bundle. If you can do it at your home port and order all the parts you can do the job in less than three or four hours.
Attachments
Single control lever
I posted an article on this subject a few months ago. My 35.5 uses an Edson helm with two levers, a horizontal arm for transmission selection and a vertical one for throttle. Edson offers a single lever conversion kit, which does not require any additional hardware or assemblies outside the original Edson helm. Edson lists the conversion for ~$800 and will only sell to an authorized Edson dealer/distributor for installation. The conversion is viewable on their web site.
I posted an article on this subject a few months ago. My 35.5 uses an Edson helm with two levers, a horizontal arm for transmission selection and a vertical one for throttle. Edson offers a single lever conversion kit, which does not require any additional hardware or assemblies outside the original Edson helm. Edson lists the conversion for ~$800 and will only sell to an authorized Edson dealer/distributor for installation. The conversion is viewable on their web site.
Volvo Shifter Failure
All is not gold that glitters. Before converting I recommend one checks out the potential failure mode. Last summer I was helping a couple dock their Beneteau that had a single lever throttle-shifter and they were trying to get into a tight space behind a large power boat. I had one of the bow lines and they were manuvering into position when they shifted into reverse and nothing happened - the boat kept going forward under power headed straight for the stern of the Ocean Alexander. I was able to throw the line around the cleat and stop the forward motion just feet before things would have got expensive. The stern started to swing out and another guy on the the dock was able to grab the stern line and throw it around a cleat. The owners got the engine stopped and that evening we took things apart and found the problem. The shifter was a Volvo shifter and apparently a metal part in the shifter deformed and couldn't push-pull the cable enough to cause the transmission to change gears. The same failure compromised the throttle and they couldn't change the engine speed. We also found signs that the shifter had been "worked on" some time previously due to the same problem. The Volvo single lever setup has a lot of sliding arangements which put a fair amount of stress on the components parts. The failed part was stamped out of heavy sheet metal. The failure was at one of the bends in the metal. Thicker metal or a casting would probably have prevented this failure and/or perhaps better lubrication. There was a lot of metal shavings indicating metal-to-metal wear. Since the discussion is about an Edson system, I know they put out a good steering maintenance paper and with any system the manufacturers recommendations for maintenance, including inspection and lubrication, should be followed. Unfortunately for the Volvo situation, the unit is very difficult to access and, frankly, my Edson helm (two levers) isn't a heck of a lot (if any) better. The couple had only owned the boat for about a year and this was all new to them. Also, their engine shut-off was inside the boat in a hard to access location. Hunter dual-lever setups aren't immune to failure either. My Hunter has the shut-off near the helm and I had a gear shift failure a couple years ago. The screw in the gear shift lever sheared and I lost the ability to shift - also while docking in a similar situation. Fortunately I had a lot of help with the lines and was docking at idle speed when the failure occured so there was no mishap. Replaced the screw and everything was fine. The good thing about a two-lever system is only one thing can fail at a time.
All is not gold that glitters. Before converting I recommend one checks out the potential failure mode. Last summer I was helping a couple dock their Beneteau that had a single lever throttle-shifter and they were trying to get into a tight space behind a large power boat. I had one of the bow lines and they were manuvering into position when they shifted into reverse and nothing happened - the boat kept going forward under power headed straight for the stern of the Ocean Alexander. I was able to throw the line around the cleat and stop the forward motion just feet before things would have got expensive. The stern started to swing out and another guy on the the dock was able to grab the stern line and throw it around a cleat. The owners got the engine stopped and that evening we took things apart and found the problem. The shifter was a Volvo shifter and apparently a metal part in the shifter deformed and couldn't push-pull the cable enough to cause the transmission to change gears. The same failure compromised the throttle and they couldn't change the engine speed. We also found signs that the shifter had been "worked on" some time previously due to the same problem. The Volvo single lever setup has a lot of sliding arangements which put a fair amount of stress on the components parts. The failed part was stamped out of heavy sheet metal. The failure was at one of the bends in the metal. Thicker metal or a casting would probably have prevented this failure and/or perhaps better lubrication. There was a lot of metal shavings indicating metal-to-metal wear. Since the discussion is about an Edson system, I know they put out a good steering maintenance paper and with any system the manufacturers recommendations for maintenance, including inspection and lubrication, should be followed. Unfortunately for the Volvo situation, the unit is very difficult to access and, frankly, my Edson helm (two levers) isn't a heck of a lot (if any) better. The couple had only owned the boat for about a year and this was all new to them. Also, their engine shut-off was inside the boat in a hard to access location. Hunter dual-lever setups aren't immune to failure either. My Hunter has the shut-off near the helm and I had a gear shift failure a couple years ago. The screw in the gear shift lever sheared and I lost the ability to shift - also while docking in a similar situation. Fortunately I had a lot of help with the lines and was docking at idle speed when the failure occured so there was no mishap. Replaced the screw and everything was fine. The good thing about a two-lever system is only one thing can fail at a time.
It is a Morse shifter
Edson has it in their 2003 catalog on p 39. On the link below look at the second page, not p 38. The unit on p 39 will work with Yacht Speciaties peds. Call Edson tech, they will lead you through exactly what you need. You will need to order through a dealer.
Edson has it in their 2003 catalog on p 39. On the link below look at the second page, not p 38. The unit on p 39 will work with Yacht Speciaties peds. Call Edson tech, they will lead you through exactly what you need. You will need to order through a dealer.
Price listed as $650
in the price sheet with the catlog. Did you get your at a discount. I haven't been able to get any dealer to sell for less than the Edson published price.
in the price sheet with the catlog. Did you get your at a discount. I haven't been able to get any dealer to sell for less than the Edson published price.
I did it three years ago
Looks like the price for the unit is higher and now that I look at the "new" shifter housing, there is not a place to mount an instrument on top of it. I mounted my AutoHelm instrument on top of the shifter so it was in a really convenient place. The dealer I was working with (Larson Marine in Waukegan)did discount the total amount from Edson. Larson was a great help letting me use a phone to call Edson. I think they discounted because I did all the dirty work to line up the order and spec the parts and they just had to call in the numbers. Pretty good considering I never dealt with them before. When I sold the H34 last year (using Hunterowners.com) one of the major selling points was the shifter. And I had the boat for 6 years and sold it for more than I paid for it originally. If you can add something with that improves value and makes for everyday ease of use, I find the funds to make it possible. Also, we were kind of thinking about converting the shifter eventually because I knew it wasn't quite right. However, we didn't plan on doing it in a strange port the first day out on a month long cruise. Another day, another $500-1000. Why do we buy boats anyway?
Looks like the price for the unit is higher and now that I look at the "new" shifter housing, there is not a place to mount an instrument on top of it. I mounted my AutoHelm instrument on top of the shifter so it was in a really convenient place. The dealer I was working with (Larson Marine in Waukegan)did discount the total amount from Edson. Larson was a great help letting me use a phone to call Edson. I think they discounted because I did all the dirty work to line up the order and spec the parts and they just had to call in the numbers. Pretty good considering I never dealt with them before. When I sold the H34 last year (using Hunterowners.com) one of the major selling points was the shifter. And I had the boat for 6 years and sold it for more than I paid for it originally. If you can add something with that improves value and makes for everyday ease of use, I find the funds to make it possible. Also, we were kind of thinking about converting the shifter eventually because I knew it wasn't quite right. However, we didn't plan on doing it in a strange port the first day out on a month long cruise. Another day, another $500-1000. Why do we buy boats anyway?
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