# Anyone convert a tiller steer outboard to stick steer?



## IronOutlaw (Nov 23, 2013)

I have aquired an old Fisher Marine jon boat that my grandfather is no longer able to use. Its a great River boat and great for catfish and crappie. However,  I have become obsessed over angling for large mouth and I need to make some changes to the boat in order to more comfortably do that. Right now its got a great running electric start 25 horse power Mercury (mid 90s) on the back that is tiller steer. There is also a tiller steer trolling motor mounted back there. It's just really cramped and hard to fish around and troll. Im looking into converting it to stick steer and getting a foot controlled trolling motor mounted up front. 

I found these kits here that seem to do what I want minus throttle and cranking. 

http://www.nicksoutboardmarine.com/steeringpg6.html
I also found these same kits for over a hundred dollars cheaper on ebay, but if a local Ga company stocks them I will gladly buy from there  

Now I just need to find where I can get a throttle set up. Id love to do the conversion for under 800. It shouldn't be too hard because the boat looks like it was stick steer in the past. There's even a mount to stick a trolling motor on up front. 


Has anyone done this before and can give me advice? Id love to just buy a fiberglass bass boat but funds just won't allow that at this time, so I want to make what I have better.


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## littlejon (Nov 23, 2013)

Try this site,  www.tinboats.net


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## The Longhunter (Nov 23, 2013)

I've done this conversion.  It's not that hard to do, sort of plug and play as it were.  New stick steer kits are silly expensive in my opinion, but that's the way it is.

You need a ignition, throttle and gear shift unit.  You can find these pretty easily on fleabay, or a boat salvage yard.  Even I'm reasonably handy, I'd pay a mechanic to hook it up, because deciding what wire goes where will drive you crazy.

Depending on how big your boat is, you might find that a tiller extension and foot controlled elec. mtr. meets your needs.


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## IronOutlaw (Nov 23, 2013)

A tiller extension won't help me much. The boat has two pedestal seats in the center and I want to steer from the front one. I've found some universal shifter/throttle linkage I think I can get to work. Looks like about 200 for them and probably 300 for the steering. I think I can wire up an ignition pretty cheap. Im thinking 500-600 for everything if I don't hit any problems. Then I can focus on a trolling motor (will have to sell the tiller steer) and electronics.


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