Tiller vs. Side Console

[Brett's_daddy]

What are the pros/cons of each type of steering controls? So far I've been laser focused on side console steering as it just appeals to me more but should I take the blinders off and consider a tiller steer?

[thomas15]

I've had both and in my opinion, the only negative with a console is that it takes up some room.

[Brett's_daddy]

What about negatives for a tiller steer?

[Kevin22]

More boat space with tiller. Easier handling and boat control with console.

[RUSS9999]

In the past you have said all the lake's that you are going to fish are small. Tiller steer would be fine and so would smaller motors then you have been looking at.

[J Francho]

A tiller is nice, if you're into trolling.  More a multi species thing on boats bigger than 16'.  I've had a 17' deep-V tiller for chasing smallmouths in Lake Ontario.  Handled better than a bass boat, and fished smaller waters just fine.

[Brett's_daddy]

I just don't want to limit myself to smaller lakes/ponds...sure I will be there mostly on ponds 75 - 300 acres but would like to have the ability to go on larger water if we felt like it. This is an example of a tiller steer I've found that looks good...other than the fact it's a tiller steer :).

http://albany.craigslist.org/boa/5527808817.html

[J Francho]

You won't be limited in that boat.  Very similar to my old Sea Nymph tiller.

[thomas15]

45 minutes ago, Brett's_daddy said:

I just don't want to limit myself to smaller lakes/ponds...sure I will be there mostly on ponds 75 - 300 acres but would like to have the ability to go on larger water if we felt like it. This is an example of a tiller steer I've found that looks good...other than the fact it's a tiller steer :).

http://albany.craigslist.org/boa/5527808817.html

 

I have mentioned this before, when I was a kid we had a 14' bay skiff that we used in the Bays and it was in the Atlantic Ocean several times. It was a tiller.

But personally I enjoy having a console much more but that is just me.

[Brett's_daddy]

I think I would enjoy a console more too, I just didn't know if a tiller was so simple to operate that it wouldn't make a difference.

How about power trim/tilt...is this a luxury or a must have? I know of a nice boat local but it's a manual trim/tilt which gives me pause. How much of a pain in the rear would it be to always have to reach over the back of the boat to unlatch the motor, lift it up and push the latch back down again each time we come to some shallows?

[thomas15]

If you are buying a boat with a 40+ HP outboard then get a power tilt. It would be almost impossible to do on the fly adjustments without power.

[Team9nine]

Some small pros and cons for each, but a lot is personal preference. I love tillers and would never go back to a wheel boat, but that's just me. A lot depends upon how you fish (troll, backtroll, never troll, hover and go vertical, planer boards, fish from up front all the time, etc.). Power trim and tilt is nice, especially if you run a larger engine on larger waters, but I almost never use it with my 40 outside of loading/launching - but I don't spend tons of time in skinny water either. Wouldn't be a deal breaker for me. Electric start vs. manual would be though. As for best boat for your waters, the In-Fisherman 80% rule still seems best to me - buy the boat that will handle the waters you fish 80% of the time, then just use common sense and caution the other 20% of the time. Smaller packages pull easier, use less gas and are usually cheaper to insure, and will frequently launch from places larger boats can't/wouldn't.

-T9 

[tbone1993]

I love my buddies tiller. It's a similar layout to the boat you posted. That being said we can fish tournaments out of his console boat. If I lived in the area his tiller boat is located I dont think I would own anything else. Another buddy had a really nice lund tiller but he couldnt use it in our college tournaments which was a huge downside. He also used it for musky fishing so not having a console made for tons of casting room.

[Brett's_daddy]

I don't plan on trolling too much, mostly just sitting/standing and casting.

[Catt]

Said before I fish Toledo Bend in a 16' 52" tunnel with smart taps & a 40 hp Tohatsu tiller. Modern tillers aint the same as older models. Mine is center mounter with trim, kill switch & the sift lever on the tiller.

[S Hovanec]

6 hours ago, Brett's_daddy said:

 

http://albany.craigslist.org/boa/5527808817.html

That's a nice looking rig.  Little on the heavy side for a 40, but nice for its age.

[Further North]

Tillers are absolutely great if having room in the boat is important...it's like a dance floor out there...Tillers kick console butt when it comes to pen space in the boat.

I prefer a console boat (I actually prefer a twin console boat, a "double bubble") because I like how they drive and handle, and I can see the water in front of the boat better...I fish a major river system often and there's stuff in the water that I want to know about sooner than later...and I just like them better.

[Fishing Rhino]

It depends on you.  A console, and it's components add to the things that can go wrong with a boat.  Mostly the steering mechanism.  They also add to the cost, and as some have said, take up space in a boat.  Space which can be critical in smaller boats.

[Junk Fisherman]

For me it depends on length of the boat.  Anything under 17' has to be a tiller since the console takes up too much space.  My father had a 16.5' Basstracker console and a 16.5' tiller Alumacraft and the difference in space was huge.  Granted, there is no back deck in the tiller.  The tiller makes a great multispecies boat.  

[gim]

I've fished out of both.  I fished out of a Crestliner Fish Hawk 17.5 feet with a 75 hp tiller for many years because that was the boat my family owned and if I wanted to fish that's what I used.  Now I have my own boat which is an 18 foot single console bass boat.  The differences have already been noted comparing the two including interior space and one being better for trolling/back-trolling (tiller) vs casting (console).  Bobber fishing will work fine out of either one.  I tend to do more casting so the I've transitioned to enjoying a console boat more than a tiller, but there certainly are advantages to using a tiller if it fits the style of fishing you primarily plan on doing.  The one thing I noticed immediately comparing a tiller to a console was that a console is very similar to driving a car - I can look at the electronics/GPS and see ahead of the boat on the water basically at the same time whereas using a tiller I was constantly looking left at the electronics/GPS and then up on the water for other boats and obstacles.  A boat 16 feet or less pretty much has to be a tiller though to save space.

[Catch 22]

For that boat a tiller is a must for me.Power t&t,elect start.

Is that boat a Lund Pro V. As said already the 40hp may be a little light.

C22