Tiller shifting

[woodsailboat]

I have been trying to find out the answer to this question since the first time my dad told me about his old motor so maybe someone can shed some light on this. Back in 85 my dad bought a 25hp mercury brand new from the store for his zodiak. He told me that to shift from F-N-R you just twist the throttle the opposite direction and thats all there was to it and for the life of me I cannot figure out why they do not make them like that anymore. Now you have to reach around to the side of the motor to shift gears and it just does not make any sense to me at all. Think about how much easier it is when you are docking to just twist the throttle to get in reverse. Can someone please tell me what the reason is for this.

 

[bassman284]

Re: Tiller shifting

I'm sure somebody will be along who knows more about this than me since I never owned one. My understanding from reading and talking to folks is that it sounded like a better idea than it turned out to be. Mainly reliability problems, I think. Safe to say, if it really worked well it would still be in wide use

 

[Mi duckdown]

Re: Tiller shifting

I thinking cost also. But I love mine, when picking up duck decoys.