I have cable drum steering on my boat, but I cannot work out how it is supposed to work. I cannot figure out how to attach the outboard, as when I attach it to the solid bar type thing at the stern (see photo), it will not turn because there is not enough slack in the cables. However, if I slacken the cables they fall of the drum that they are supposed to be wound around.
Any help would be greatly appreciated
PS. Ignore the transom (or lack of), its been fixed now
Attachments
Someone once told me:
"A boat is a big hole in the sea you throw money in to"
My dad once told me:
"Boating is like standing in the shower, fully clothed ripping up 5 pound notes"
As I understand it, 'they that know' recommend only one spring is used not two. The bottle screw you show shouldn't be needed (& it certainly doesn't connect to the engine), but some do like to use them to tension the cables. If you do use one put it in the cable run under one of the side decks where it is clear of any obstacles. If you put a couple of cable ties through the spring(s) to compress it/them you can the rig your cables up & get the slack out of them, then when you cut the cable ties & release the spring(s) the system will be tensioned.
Fergal's (Sean-nos) illustration shows how it should be rigged & there will be two pulleys on the engine. If you connect the steering direct to the engine without the pulleys you will have direct steering which can be heavy & make the boat very twitchy at speed, Fergal's geared down system is the way to go.
As Fergal says, make sure the cables come off the correct part of the drum (top or bottom) or you will reverse your steering!
Mercs are like women, no 2 are exactly alike. That's what testing is about. In general it is safer to test motors and props than women!
This bolts onto your outboard and you connect the cables to either side either with a thimble, if direct or 2 pulleys if indirect. Most manufacturers have their own type of bracket.
