bypassing old tiller style throttle

Hi all. Anyone have any clever ideas or solutions for fixing an old ('66) twist throttle on a tiller drive. The gears which are supposed to sync together just don't do so anymore, and when they did they didn't work very well. I would have to twist the heck out of it. Is there a way to fix/bypass the old gear mechanism? I've tried adding washers to tack out slack in the linkage, but it didn't help much. All of the hardware for adding cables is on the motor is present and in good shape so I was thinking about getting a cable control, but it would only go 2 ft. or so, which seems silly. Any thoughts? Thanks.

Re: bypassing old tiller style throttle

The tiller gears used in 1966 were very good and should not be giving you headaches. That is if they are not broken/worn out or the bushings and spacers are good. Inspect everything and replace whatever is worn out and it should be good to go for another fourty years.

Disclaimer: if what you have is not really 1966, but pre-1956, they had stamped gears that weren't as good. The newer style cast gears will replace them, so do that if that is what you have.

Re: bypassing old tiller style throttle

Glad to hear they're basically a good system. I did find one brass gear with one broken tooth, so I guess that's enough to keep the gears from syncing :/ Although, the spacing still seems a bit off, but I'll play with some more washer and see if that helps.
Are these gears highly specific to year and hp? I only ask b/c I have a '66 33hp, which seems to be a bit of an odd bird when it comes to parts, etc..... I seem to come across lots of 20, 30, 35, 40hp. Are these models likely to have interchangeable throttle gears with my 33? thanks for all the help.

Re: bypassing old tiller style throttle

Actually, the gears and the shafts they are on are matched parts. The gear itself is probably the same as your 33, but won't fit another shaft unless you get real lucky. The shafts are definately different. The proper way to do it is buy the part number (xxxxxx), gear and shaft assembly for your particular motor.

Re: bypassing old tiller style throttle

I just transfered a tiller from a 60's 25 Viking to a 55 Johnson 25 (both 35.7 cu in engines) and it meshed nicely. The '54 J25 has a stamped gear but the '55 J25 has the cast gears. It seems odd that they would make them all slightly different. It'd be easier to make them the same.

The '66 J33 is the 40.5 cu in engine which is the same as the '57-'59 35's so my guess is that the tiller would interchange.

Re: bypassing old tiller style throttle

The "Big Twin" Series motors all use the long one-piece tiller. 22 cubic inch and smaller motors use the split, two-piece tiller. They are not interchangeable between basic types, but each fits a multitude of motors.

I am not certain of the year without researching it, but the gears were changed from stamped to cast around 1956. The subject actually is moot because many of the older motors with stamped gears got retrofitted with cast ones. I've probably done a small ton of them myself.

Re: bypassing old tiller style throttle

what i did to solve the problem for mine was to use 3/8" ID fuel tubing as a washer, the fuel tubing is slightly longer than the estimated length i would need to push the gears together. the cir-clip that is there to make sure the assembly doesn't fall out will get in the way, remove it, then use the piece of fuel tubing going between the gear and the tiller. if you like after you do that and get a good tight fit, you can mark and cut a new groove for the cir-clip to ride in....either way the gear and shaft shouldn't fall out as they are held on by the tiller handle assembly. I posted this a while back, and have failed miserably to post the pic to go along with it.

other things that help, since your taking apart the tiller clean everything in the tiller and relube, also clean and relube the rest of the linkage, it makes a difference as to how much effort is needed to rotate the parts. so far my fix has worked very well for me. I will try to get off me buttocks and take a few pics to clarify it.

Sean

Re: bypassing old tiller style throttle

Thanks for all the info and suggestions. I'll be sure to take the rod and gear with me when I try to find a part,so I don't get,well, shafted, so to speak Funny how the gears are the same,but the rods are different. I wouldn't have noticed that unitl it was too late. Thanks for the heads up.