Tiller vs. Remote Steering?

I have a 14' Livingston - it's one with the windshield, hard plastic bow cover, and steering wheel that make it look like a regular old runabout. I've had it a couple of years, and have had nothing but headaches with the 20 hp Evinrude motor that I have - some of which involve the throttle and shifter controls, etc.

Last week I was at a fishing lodge for a day, and got to cruise around a lake in a 12' boat with a 6hp motor with a tiller handle. It was a lot of fun, and I enjoyed the simplicity of the motor.

However, here in Tacoma, a lot of the boating and fishing we do is in the Puget Sound - a lot bigger water than the little lake in NH that I was on.

I'm looking for opinions at this point - what do you think is best for fishing and pulling the kids around on a tube in the Sound.....a tiller motor, or the remote steering set up that I currently have?

Thanks for your input.

MIT

Re: Tiller vs. Remote Steering?

You can't beat a tiller for simplicity and weight saving.In 77 I bought a 18ft Crestliner Voyager bare utility and eventually ran it with a 50 Merc. tiller and then a 50 Evinrude tiller.If you picture a 18 footer with nothing in the way and no extra complication from a remote setup.
A remote setup adds weight,complication and maintenance. Dry weight of the boat is about 390 lbs. We often carried 6 to 8 people or
1000-1500 lbs of construction materials. When new with a 16 year old 25 hp Gale it planed easily with 6 adults aboard.

Re: Tiller vs. Remote Steering?

Most boats are rated for about double the HP for remote, compared to tiller. That matters a lot when towing kids on toys or skiers. I wouldn't go out in the sound with a tiller steered boat.

Re: Tiller vs. Remote Steering?

I prefer tillers for their simplicity, and if you were just going to fish and explore, I would suggest one, but if you're going to be carrying kids and ski equipment around, a side console is a better set up. It will leave the stern clear and open for skiing gear as well as allowing for a greater hp per JB's comment.

Re: Tiller vs. Remote Steering?

Stick with the console. You want to keep your weight forward. Better for towing kids around and for stability on bigger water. It's also more comfortable sitting behind a wheel when making longer runs...... Sounds like you just need to spend some time with the controls to get them working properly....

Re: Tiller vs. Remote Steering?

I crab and fish on Puget sound with a 14 foot Duroboat 20HP tiller. Even occasionally use it for towing teen-agers in a tube. So it can be done, but certainly is less than ideal. In my case, I'm willing to trade the conveniences of center console for simplicity, as I just don't have the time to mess with the boat much. The tiller arrangement also leaves much more of the boat open, which is important for crabbing, to give room for hauling and storing the pots. I can manage 4 pots and two people in a 14 foot boat this way.

For the sound, if I was going to move to a center console, I would want to step up in size, and to something with a roof, to get us out of the weather (which we have a lot of).

-dm

Re: Tiller vs. Remote Steering?

Stay with center console. I fish in Puget Sound with my 14'Livingston and have no problems with my 25hp Yami&703# controls. I still have lots of room for 4-5 crab pots, pot-puller, and other fishing gear. The windshield does really nothing for this type of boat as it takes up space instead of a open-bow were you can stack 3 pots. By having alot of wt. up front in the bow area and less in the stern area makes my boat plane faster. You might want to ck. out whats up with your motor&controls to make sure they work well because if your
main-motor/controls go out while your in the Sound your in trouble so at least bring your kicker/backup motor

Re: Tiller vs. Remote Steering?

Thanks for the advice everybody....I figure that I am destined to stick with the set up I have. Those tillers sure are sweet though - maybe I'll switch after the kids are grown and don't want to go out boating with me anymore! Mike