Looking good. What are you covering the deck with?

 

Thanks. I had originally planned on aluminum decking but due to budget issues lol I have decided to deck it over with 5/8" plywood. I've got it cut and primed with two coats of oil based primer and two coats of exterior paint. Going to top the plywood with the exercise puzzle mats.

 

Got the deck frame back on the boat today. Lights have been wired and fired.

 

More pics

 

Good looking build. Nice clean wiring you'll appreciate that downs the road.

 

Thanks Shooter. I'm sure you are right. Got the light bar installed on the front and the steering linkage at the deck hooked up tonight. Trying to get it ready to put the flooring on it this weekend.

 

I haven't finished the steering linkage at the motor yet. It is still sitting just like it was two weeks ago. I hooked up the linkage at the deck tonight to see how much throw the stick had and the steering feels a little stiff. It is smooth throughout the throw but takes a little more pressure to move than I thought it would. Any ideas if I should be looking somewhere for a problem or should I wait until I test it on the water?

 

Make sure you don't have any sharp bends in the cable, take a picture of the cable hook up at the front of the boat.

 

Unhook it at the motor and see if it's still stiff.

 

I unhooked the motor linkage and it was much easier to steer. The motor swings by hand pretty smoothly so does that mean my diy drag link is crap?

 

Ohhh. Just re read that it was unhooked. Is it A new cable? If so I've found they're always stiff when brand new. They need a little lithium grease sprayed on them to lube them up

 

It was still hooked to the motor. I will unhook it and see if that makes a difference. It is a new cable. How do you get lithium inside of the cable sheathing?

 

Here are pics of the steering cable. Coming from the motor, where it comes out under the deck, the loop under the deck and up through the deck, and how it comes out of the deck and mounts to the steering stick.

 

Not sure whats going on with this pic but hopefully yall can open it

 

I think he is referring to the exposed portion of the cable. you don't want to attempt to open up your cable.

 

Make sure their isn't a friction adjustment on the motor.

 

Not sure what this is but I'll do a little research lol

 

Rock213, I think Bob_Esper is referring to the friction lever that some of the motors have to keep the motor from turning side to side. Since the motor turns freely disconnected from the kicker I believe that the bend radius back by the motor is the cause of your problem. Contact the manufacturer and see what the tightest bend radius is for that particular cable would be my suggestion. If you can straighten out the cable more prior to mating up with the motor it should help. The cable looks like a backwards question mark and I think this is the problem.

 

Eshaw, thanks for the response. I only disconnected the drag link and left the cable connected to the bracket (kept the radius in the cable) and it is smooth as silk. I believe Bob is talking about a tension bolt that is on the shaft of the motor itself that tightens the swing of the motor. I'm going to play with the drag link and motor tension this weekend and see if I can get this figured out.

 

I finally got an opportunity to get the boat out and test today. All and all it ran great. It pushes that heavy boat 6 mph. Another great surprise is it will turn inside of itself in both directions. Of course there are a few adjustments I need to make. The steering is stiff under power. Of course if I let off of the throttle it turns fine. The spring on the foot throttle is too tight and will wear your ankle out in a full night of fishing. I'll pick up a few different springs tomorrow and try them out. One problem I was worried about when I decided to go with a push pull steering is that it would be tough for others to learn how to drive but my 16 yr old daughter had no problem getting it figured out and could drive it pretty good. I've got to get the generator rack back on and add a few bells and whistles but other than that, its ready to get bloody.

 

Got any pics of how you rigged the throttle?

 

I'll get pics tonight when I get home.

 

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