Opinions on control boxes

bonz_d

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Joined
Apr 22, 2008
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I've been following these forums, especially the omc one, for a couple of years now and have read many posts and responded to the ones that I thought I could contribute to.

Manny times I see posts were people are having major issues with shifting gears along with ruined gears and clutch dogs. As a matter of fact I have a very nice 1981 35hp Johnson with the lower torn out of it with the reverse gear and the clutch dog shot that Id picked up as a parts motor.

The engine I'm currantly using is a 1978 35hp Rude that is connected to a single lever Power Pilot control. After using this set up for a couple years now and from reading posts here I have begun to wonder if the older 2 lever Shipmaster isn't a better design. It just seems to have a more positive, firm shift between gears than the single lever control.

Could this be one of the reasons we see so many posts about damaged lower units? I do have both types available to me and if the older style will save wear and tear on the gears I have no trouble in switching these out.

What do you all think about this?
 
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