Forward :/ Astern control question.

[Wandering Star]

I have a Beta 20 installed in my Sadler 29. I recently launched the boat and needed to move it to its mooring. Now, on every boat Ive owned and Ive owned many, pushing the single lever Morse type control forward takes the boat ahead whilst pushing the lever back takes the boat astern. So I was startled and caught on the hop when on this boat I pushed the control forward and promptly shot astern, I was momentarily disorientated but pushing the control backwards ended up moving forward and I recovered.

To me this felt like I imagine what it must feel like crossing your legs over to drive a manual car with thee left leg working the accelerator & the right on working the brake/clutch. It just doesn’t come naturally. It was blowing a hoolie at the time and I just wanted to get home so haven’t investigated the possibility the possibility the control cable is set up correctly or whether I can easily modify the action by (say) reversing the cable bracket or whatever. Or does the Beta transmission work on this (for me) principle which I won’t be able to change?

I’m going to the boat for the first time since, tomorrow, I’d be pleased to hear from anyone to confirm or offer advice.

 

[Tranona]

Nothing wrong with the gearbox. The control cable is not connected correctly at the lever end so it is pushing when it should be pulling and V/V

 

[alan_d]

Not perhaps strictly relevant, but I have recently changed my car to a newish LR Discovery (automatic). I have had a number of previous Discoveries and Range Rovers with automatic transmission. but this latest one is the first one I've had where you push the lever forward to engage reverse and pull it backwards to engage drive, and I keep getting it wrong. The boat seems much more intuitive.

 

[Egret]

Look at the back of or inside the single lever morse controller - you may see the throttle cable in the centre and the gear cable attached to a circular bit, either top or bottom. Changing direction of lever for forward may simply be a case of re-locating the gear cable from top to bottom or vice versa, without changing the 'adjustment' on the cable - but may be worth while getting a local mechanic to check the tension/adjustment as on mine there is no slack so has to be set correctly. Yours might be different of course. Back for forward and forward for reverse is like an old fashioned car gearbox and as on our automatic,

 

[Refueler]

I have a Beta 20 installed in my Sadler 29. I recently launched the boat and needed to move it to its mooring. Now, on every boat Ive owned and Ive owned many, pushing the single lever Morse type control forward takes the boat ahead whilst pushing the lever back takes the boat astern. So I was startled and caught on the hop when on this boat I pushed the control forward and promptly shot astern, I was momentarily disorientated but pushing the control backwards ended up moving forward and I recovered.

To me this felt like I imagine what it must feel like crossing your legs over to drive a manual car with thee left leg working the accelerator & the right on working the brake/clutch. It just doesn’t come naturally. It was blowing a hoolie at the time and I just wanted to get home so haven’t investigated the possibility the possibility the control cable is set up correctly or whether I can easily modify the action by (say) reversing the cable bracket or whatever. Or does the Beta transmission work on this (for me) principle which I won’t be able to change?

I’m going to the boat for the first time since, tomorrow, I’d be pleased to hear from anyone to confirm or offer advice.

You'd love my Progress4 speedboat then ... that has exactly same !! Back for Ahead .. forward for Astern.

Why ? Its not just a matter of wrongly connected - its because the cables are too short to allow connection other way round. The Throttle lever and mechanism can be connected from either side ... but this means that the cables have to be longer to accommodate the extra curve to connect. I could easily buy longer cables to correct it ... but TBH - I am so used to it now .. I'll save the money !

I suspect that you have just acquired the boat ? That previous owner may have installed the cables ? You may be lucky and find that gearbox cable can be long enough to swap to other side of lever ..... only you can see this by unmounting the lever and checking ...

 

[Rappey]

As egret has started, it may be as simple as swopping cable position A to B or similar.

 

[Refueler]

As egret has started, it may be as simple as swopping cable position A to B or similar.

Yes - true - but it MAY be like mine - the cable is short and not able to make the extra curved route to the other side connection. The length difference for me would an extra 2ft ... to get a decent gradual curved approach to throttle handle.

 

[Wandering Star]

Well, thanks everyone, it was in fact a Vetus control not a Morse but the principle was the same as the schematic Rappey posted above. A fairly easy fix of you ignore my bleeding knuckles & working in the confined space of the quarter berth. Anyway, done now and tested so thanks again.

 

[DownWest]

Glad you fixed it, had the same prob swopping a Yanmar for a Beta; Access was a little easier.. so no bloody knuckles;

 

[jbweston]

I have a Beta 20 installed in my Sadler 29. I recently launched the boat and needed to move it to its mooring. Now, on every boat Ive owned and Ive owned many, pushing the single lever Morse type control forward takes the boat ahead whilst pushing the lever back takes the boat astern. So I was startled and caught on the hop when on this boat I pushed the control forward and promptly shot astern, I was momentarily disorientated but pushing the control backwards ended up moving forward and I recovered.

To me this felt like I imagine what it must feel like crossing your legs over to drive a manual car with thee left leg working the accelerator & the right on working the brake/clutch. It just doesn’t come naturally. It was blowing a hoolie at the time and I just wanted to get home so haven’t investigated the possibility the possibility the control cable is set up correctly or whether I can easily modify the action by (say) reversing the cable bracket or whatever. Or does the Beta transmission work on this (for me) principle which I won’t be able to change?

I’m going to the boat for the first time since, tomorrow, I’d be pleased to hear from anyone to confirm or offer advice.

Car foot pedals.

Quite often I drive a 1920s car which has the pedals in the order (from left to right) clutch, accelerator, brake. It was quite common back then.

The thing that struck me as remarkable is that some people have no trouble at all driving it within minutes of trying for the first time. Others are completely flummoxed at first and take some time to get used to it. It doesn't seem to be about how much experience the driver has, but more about how our brains work differently.

It's the same with knots. Some people learn them easily. A dear friend of mine can never retain how to tie a bowline - do it with him half a dozen times, then straight afterwards he'll try and get it right and wrong randomly. And he's one of the most intellligent people I know, and highly practical in lots of ways.

But I think 'push forward for ahead and back for astern' has a lot going for it.

 

[DownWest]

Car foot pedals.

Quite often I drive a 1920s car which has the pedals in the order (from left to right) clutch, accelerator, brake. It was quite common back then.

The thing that struck me as remarkable is that some people have no trouble at all driving it within minutes of trying for the first time. Others are completely flummoxed at first and take some time to get used to it. It doesn't seem to be about how much experience the driver has, but more about how our brains work differently.

Thing that worries me is a crash stop, when reaction is ingrained.

I drove a car with steering connected the 'other way', weird;

.

 

[Refueler]

Well, thanks everyone, it was in fact a Vetus control not a Morse but the principle was the same as the schematic Rappey posted above. A fairly easy fix of you ignore my bleeding knuckles & working in the confined space of the quarter berth. Anyway, done now and tested so thanks again.

Well done ... maybe one day I will buy a longer cable for mine and do similar !!

 

[scottie]

I have a Beta 20 installed in my Sadler 29. I recently launched the boat and needed to move it to its mooring. Now, on every boat Ive owned and Ive owned many, pushing the single lever Morse type control forward takes the boat ahead whilst pushing the lever back takes the boat astern. So I was startled and caught on the hop when on this boat I pushed the control forward and promptly shot astern, I was momentarily disorientated but pushing the control backwards ended up moving forward and I recovered.

To me this felt like I imagine what it must feel like crossing your legs over to drive a manual car with thee left leg working the accelerator & the right on working the brake/clutch. It just doesn’t come naturally. It was blowing a hoolie at the time and I just wanted to get home so haven’t investigated the possibility the possibility the control cable is set up correctly or whether I can easily modify the action by (say) reversing the cable bracket or whatever. Or does the Beta transmission work on this (for me) principle which I won’t be able to change?

I’m going to the boat for the first time since, tomorrow, I’d be pleased to hear from anyone to confirm or offer advice.

was this the ist time that you used the control ?

 

[LittleSister]

I have a Beta 20 installed in my Sadler 29. I recently launched the boat and needed to move it to its mooring. . . .

Glad you've got it in the water.

And well done for coping with the surprise backwards control lever without your boat having an argument with a pontoon or other boat.

 

[Wandering Star]

was this the ist time that you used the control ?

Yes, I bought the boat as a doer upper, I don’t know how long she’d been unused but she was totally neglected, there were clues she’s not been used for at least 10+ years and possibly longer. I’ve spent the summer working on her getting her seaworthy but she’s still not finished cosmetically although much better than she was! Finally launched last week and although I’ve done plenty of work on the engine, I still hadn’t started it or put it into gear. After launch the engine fired up straight away but engaging gear is where this thread emanates from!

 

[Wandering Star]

Glad you've got it in the water.

And well done for coping with the surprise backwards control lever without your boat having an argument with a pontoon or other boat.

Yes, it was a surprise and with a another boat astern of me I didn’t have much time to engage my brain let alone forward gear, but fortunately it all went well and any disaster averted

 

[scottie]

Yes, it was a surprise and with a another boat astern of me I didn’t have much time to engage my brain let alone forward gear, but fortunately it all went well and any disaster averted

Yes, I bought the boat as a doer upper, I don’t know how long she’d been unused but she was totally neglected, there were clues she’s not been used for at least 10+ years and possibly longer. I’ve spent the summer working on her getting her seaworthy but she’s still not finished cosmetically although much better than she was! Finally launched last week and although I’ve done plenty of work on the engine, I still hadn’t started it or put it into gear. After launch the engine fired up straight away but engaging gear is where this thread emanates from!