Newb question on types of tiller throttles

This is my first post and since I have only ridden in a few powered boats before I have to keep telling myself that everyone is born ignorant. However, I dislike being in that situation. I have almost zero experience with tiller controls but I have a 1995 Johnson which I am going to have to replace. The throttle is a design where you turn the throttle against a fairly strong spring which will snap the motor back to idle speed the instant you release your grip. My perhaps faulty impression is that most tiller controls did not do that but would have to be turned back to idle speed manually. So, if you were at half throttle and fell out of the boat the boat was long gone or maybe circling back to eat you. Now for the question. What is the correct terminology to describe the two types of tiller throttles (provided there are two)?

I've been 'tinkering' with old OB's for two years, and I don't know that answer, either LOL No question is stupid or dumb. I have two Corsairs and two Clintons with 'twist' grips like yours, although I'm not sure if they are 'spring loaded'......they're still on the work bench.

Also a Sea Horse and an Elto, where moving the magneto plate advances or retards the spark for speed control.

While I never thought about it to that depth, I'd say one type is a spring-return throttle and the other has a brake/friction adjustment, as the ones I've seen where you could set it to a constant speed had a braking adjustment or throttle friction adjustment, to keep it at those RPMs.

But if not mistaken, I believe (less 1960 & earlier motors) that the newer ones with a set or brake/friction feature also have the ignition kill lanyard. I've seen firsthand the results of getting run over by one's own OB and it sure wasn't pretty ...

Many a boater has fallen overboard due to a quick whip of the tiller steer.
Without a throttle spring return to neutral and/or a kill switch, many boaters have been
run over by their own boats.
Something all tiller steer captains should consider and take seriously.
BOTH aspects is good insurance. One or the other may save your life.
None of the above is definitely taking a risk of serious injury or death.

Jus my Dos Centavos





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It has a safety kill switch as well. It just seemed to me that a motor that I had seen at Bass Pro had a throttle that stayed right were you put it when you let go so I just figured that's the way they all worked. Are both kinds of designs common or was there something wrong with the one I fiddled with at BP?

Lets start with the basics on your 1995 Johnson. What horsepower is the engine?
What is the model number? That number should be located on the port stern bracket of the engine.

It is a 25 horse but I see from the original paperwork that I was wrong, the original purchase date was 1993. I bought it used. The model is E25RWLENB which is a commercial, there is a second note that says 1992 LSMFT (as best I can tell) commercial long shaft, split gearcase.

The owner's manual shows the throttle which has the trademarked name "Twist Grip".

MAN, I don't know why I wrote Johnson because its and Evinrude!

E25RWLENB, where RW = Commercial motor, L = 20" long shaft, EN = 1992 (from word 'introduces' for numbers 1-9, then 0), and B mid-year production run.

DaleH said:

E25RWLENB, where RW = Commercial motor, L = 20" long shaft, EN = 1992 (from word 'introduces' for numbers 1-9, then 0), and B mid-year production run.

Click to expand...

You know I thought I understood that lettering system but there is no "EN" in "INTRODUCES" so now I'm confused again. :lol:

Edit: Oh wait a sec, I see now where I made my mistake. The letters EN don't have to be sequential, each one is it's own seperate number. The time I saw it explained the numbers happened to be sequential in the word so I thought they went together. Ha I learned my something new for the day.

There should be no return spring that would snap the throttle handle closed. As a matter of fact on that engine there should be a collar at the base of the twist grip that has a thumb screw at the bottom of it. That thumb screw is used as a throttle friction device. Try it.

I tried tinkering with that screw some time back with no good result, I think the whole thing must be worn out or wrecked by salt water, this motor has seen a lot of it. The previous owner was not deceptive, I was (am) too ignorant to know what I am looking at when it is staring me in the face. The hull was exactly what I wanted and is in very good shape and I grabbed it w/o proper consideration of the whole package. I have dealt with machinery most of my life but never have had any exposure to boats. I live on the edge of West Texas so its kind of dry around here, not a whole lot of boats. Ok, well thanks, a little more learned.

Someone said, "If you think education is expensive, try ignorance."

Well...if the engine has good compression, gearcase oil is clean with no signs of water, the engine by design is just about bulletproof unless you forget to feed it oil with the gas or whatever.
Very good base engine to get you there and back again.