[omc-boats] Shifter preferences?

Hi,

Hope everyone had a nice summer boating season and you are now getting ready for winter?

Over this past summer we did a ton of water-skiing lessons and that involved doing a lot of docking (every 45-50 minutes to drop off/pick up students). It got me to thinking and I wanted to get the group's feedback on the following issue:

One of the few areas that OMC permitted Evinrude and Johnson to "customize" the engineering (outside of color and trim) of their products was their unique, respective electric shift-controller technologies:

Johnson & OMC adopted the single-motion/lever "ELECTRAMATIC" control; while Evinrude had the push-button "SELECTSHIFT" gearshift with separate, independent throttle. These control units first appeared on 1962 75hp and 40hp high-line outboards, as well as all electric stringer sterndrives built from 1962 - 1976. Both controller designs use small switches to engage the shifter electro-magnetic coils, located on the lower unit propshaft. On these designs, the "default" no-power position is neutral. Power is applied/maintained to engage either FORWARD or REVERSE.

I grew up around (and thus "favored") the Evinrude push-button type, but after this summer, I have found its designed "flawed," from several viewpoints compared to the Johnson design.

1) As far as I know, our 1962 - 1970 EJ/O boats DO NOT feature a "in-gear" safety lock-out. Somebody correct me but I think this important safety feature was added to all OMC sterndrives in 1971. This is a very simple and cost-effective wiring modification that prevents power from reaching the starter switch if the shifter (push button or single-level) is left in gear when you hit the starter. Check you shifter's wiring connector, if it has 5-wires you have the safety lock-out feature, 3-wire units DO NOT. The boating industry later adopted this safety requirement on all engines above a certain minimum power level. (Probably after being faced with liability law suits, where a swimmer got injured, when a motor and prop were accidentally started "in-gear.")

  2) a) I mentioned that I thought the Evinrude push-button shifter is "flawed." Here's why: The unit contains an adjustable mechanical (adjustable) lockout panel, located just under the cover for the push-button switches. This panel features "keyholes." When adjusted properly, the keyholes slide forward as the throttle is advanced. Once past 700 RPM (factory recommended throttle "mechanical" adjustment point), the panel prevents the operator from shifting. This was done to protect the lower unit from operator abuse. Problem is, in a vibration-prone environment this adjustment can get out of whack and prevent the operator from shifting at all.

    b) When shifting to reverse, it's bad ergonomics to move the throttle "FORWARD" to increase speed. It's ergonomically counterintuitive and doesn't follow established industry standards. Push AHEAD to go FORWARD, PULL BACK to go in REVERSE, as in the Johnson/OMC control.

  c) When I'm doing close-in manuneurving around docks, I often find myself looking down to move my right hand from the throttle to locate the shift control button. This takes my eyes off the "prize" if even for a moment. Not good.

3) The Johnson/OMC shifter avoids the above problems, at the expense of having to add a small red, START/WARM-UP throttle override. If you are an Evinrude owner you may not know that this lever allows the operator to move the single lever control to advance the throttle without engaging forward or reverse gear. Some of the later versions of this style control also incorporated a REVERSE lock-out button into the throttle knob. So the Johnson/OMC throttle control lever has a slight cam action resistance "feel," when compared to the Evinrude throttle, but I know believe these are superior to the Evinrude design.

In short, I suppose the original Evinrude push-button control has more "Space-Age retro" historic appeal, but I've actually decided in the interests safety and of making my Evinrude boat more "turn-key" user friendly, I'm going to convert it this winter to the more widely accepted single-lever style, and while I'm at it I'll incorporate the "no-start-in-gear" safety lockout. If there's interest from the group, I'll do a write-up with pictures and post it on my or Phil's website. I'd hate to see anyone get hurt or have a bad experience.

Lee Shuster
Salt Lake City

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Received on Wednesday, 26 October 2005