New member with a motor question (imagine that)

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oldude

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Jan 1, 2016
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West Central Illinois
Hi all! new member here and am really liking what I see. I have a self inflicted dilemma I was looking for advice on. I haven't owned a boat in 30+ yrs and just bought a 1985 16' lund pro pike. It has a 1984 johnson 40hp remote steer motor on it and that is the problem. I would prefer a tiller steer so I could easily take it off and put on a smaller motor for the 10 hp and electric only lakes I want to fish. The motor is also bolted on thru the transom. I don't even see a way to mount a trolling motor to the transom because of the steering linkage on one side of the motor and the cable on the other.

I'm thinking either convert it to a tiller steer (if even possible) or sell it and pick up a tiller steer to replace it. What other options might I have?

198520Lund_zpse1qcqiki.jpg
 
I never thought about a kicker bracket. If I use a trolling motor only it wouldn't take much of a mount to handle that. I should be able to make one easy enough. My neighbor offered me an old 6hp Johnson (IIRC). I don't know what shape it's in but free is a decent price.

I haven't had the 40hp in the water yet (to cold). It ran good on muffs. slow idle, fast idle, forward and reverse all worked well. Compression in the top cyl was 150 bottom cycl was 148/149. It is a Johnson J40ELCR. If I were to sell it what would a fair price be? How about the steering console and all the linkage? I wouldn't want to cheat anyone but, I don't want to be cheated either.

If I decide to keep what I got I really like what rscottp did with his build https://www.tinboats.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=32534/
thanks for helping a new guy out.
 
I've gone the route of converting from remote to tiller steering on an old 75 merc 20hp. If I hadn't been planning on tearing the motor down completely for a partial restore, and the fact that I found the necessary conversion parts real cheap on ebay, I wouldn't have done it. From what I've seen, it looks like it would be an easier conversion on johnnyrude motors but I could be mistaken. I'd do a little research on what parts are needed and see if you can locate them at a fair price. Then make your mind up whether you want to convert this one, or sell it and buy a different motor.
 
thanks Mike. I found a web site that showed a parts list for an 84 tiller steer. I'll have to check it for other yrs and see what yrs are compatible
 
Is that a short shaft? Power trim would be a plus. It would be sweet with a tiller but tiller parts may be hard to find. I may be interested in it.
 
That power head is the same as the 60hp. Different carbs. Same engine used in the sst45 hydroplane class. That's a stock motor class and they get 70 hp out of them. Long story short the engine is a gem. Mod that biatch and you won't care about going slow as much.
 
Stumpalump said:
That power head is the same as the 60hp. Different carbs. Same engine used in the sst45 hydroplane class. That's a stock motor class and they get 70 hp out of them. Long story short the engine is a gem. Mod that biatch and you won't care about going slow as much.

That's interesting. There was a time when running that down the lake at wot would have put a smile on my face so big the corners of my mouth would have met in the back of my head. Come to think about it, they probably would today too. I'm not sure where my dentures would end up tho.
 

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