Elaine and I were having enormous difficulties backing the boat (H26) out of our dock or making tight turns in critical situations. The solution was to hook the outboard and the tiller together.

First we got a stick and held it over the motor and over the tiller. With both of us working, we moved the tiller and motor back and forth looking for a good pivot point. That is, we wanted a spot on the tiller and on the motor so that when both were pivoted, the stick could remain at the same position on each.

Since the rod needed to be higher at the tiller side, I drew up a little bracket and took it to a local welding shop. For around $10 they provided the stock and made me the aluminum bracket. I drilled it out and assembled it with rivots. The bracket is held to the tiller with small bolts. I drilled 3 holes in the top of the bracket to give me some flexibility in choosen a good pivot point. I put a grommet through the hole in the bracket to protect the aluminum.

$2 rod connecting the tiller to the motor

The steel rod is 1/4 from the hardware store. It has a right angle at the tiller end formed by beating on it while it was in a vice. The other end has 2 rights angles beat into it so that it will sort of lock into the motor without falling out. At the tiller end, once inserted into the bracket, we slide a grommet up from the bottom to keep it from popping out. Since the rods is $2, Ive made a couple in case I drop one over board.

We take put the rod in before we start the engine, and remove it after the engine is turned off and we
want to tilt it up.

With this rod we can turn on a dime in either the forward or reverse direction.

Here is a better look at the bracket