Tohatsu tiller lock not good for my Suncat

[oceanroadus]

Hi all, hopefully this will save someone else the $25 for the lock.  I decided to try the aftermarket lock bracket which is a piece of aluminum with 2 holes drilled in it that lines up with the factory holes on the motor. It is designed to be bolted permanent.  However I found 2 major issues that had me go back to my old method which is low tech and works great, yes a bungee is involved, haha.  I will explain the home method later.  First with the lock bracket the holes in the bracket and the motor line up to have the shaft and prop off the centerline of the boat and thus you get a strong force to fight with the rudder which is horrible.  Next the fact of the motor head being fixed to the lower shaft so tight makes the cowling shake like heck and open up enough with the back and forth so it increases the noise level beyond belief.  The rudder force issue could be fixed by drilling custom holes probably but being fixed also limits the options when tiltilng so another inconvienece.  I do this instead- I tighten the friction knob pretty tight but not gorilla grip.  Then I have a bungee, cut the hooks off of both ends of and old one and run them through the holes in the motor head, tie a couple of knots on the tops of the bungee sticking up skyward and the u that hangs down should tightly go around the knobs that tighten the motor clamps to the bracket plate.  Then when you are ready to motor for a while with boat tiller only (for me basically anytime I am off the dock) pop bungee on to clamps and she will stay straight.  It has even worked in some big seas so far.         

[ChuckD]

Pics, please, oceanroadus!

[oceanroadus]

ok have attempted to attach the photo, I have not attempted the photobucket move yet, and having an isssue with pc not letting me paste it in.  Will read/attempt photobucket it if attachment doesn't work.  Also here is the link to the bracket I am talking about that didn't work for me. 

http://www.defender.com/product.jsp?path=-1%7C215570%7C1794283%7C1825671%7C2348994&id=2658952

[ddg23]

Looks like you have some serious spider problems judging by the web.

[patfurr]

I like it!  And if it works like you say it does I like it a LOT!!!   Brilliant.  I cant wait to try it out.  I need to turn my Tohatsu tiller full left when I raise it on the mount to clear the transom when under sail, and I don't see how the factory solution would allow that.  I like your fix.