How much play is too much play in your Throttle?

[Sicktght311]

Title says it all. how far forward or reverse does your throttle travel before you feel any kind of feedback from the props? I feel like i'm always on a razors edge between tiny amounts of throttle, and lurching the boat forward, and theres a fair bit of play between taking it out of neutral and feeling the first bit of momentum

 

[Pirate Lady]

Mine is sensitive too and the wife lets me know. Leaving slip, i have to keep pulling her out of the water when she doing back lines, and goes over transom. She needs learn to hang on.
Seriously, it took a little playing with the carb idle adjustment to find the sweet spot between too high (what you encountered) and too low (stalling).

 

[Sicktght311]

Mine is a 7.4L MPI so no carb idle adjustment, and you're right, sometimes wives just need to cool off. One way or another

 

[Lazy Daze]

Is this your first boat? The reason I ask is because of your statement about coming out of neutral.

 

[Sicktght311]

Not my first boat, always called it neutral, whether its right or wrong, but ultimately you clearly know what i mean. I'm a car guy first, boat guy second. Thanks for your helpful input though. much appreciated

 

[JimG]

Should be smooth... your cable is probably stretched and bound up. Needs replaced.

 

[Lazy Daze]

Not my first boat, always called it neutral, whether its right or wrong, but ultimately you clearly know what i mean. I'm a car guy first, boat guy second. Thanks for your helpful input though. much appreciated

Your statement was fine - you read to much into my response. Where I was going with that was, if you were new, you may not have known about the amount of travel from neutral to "in gear" (fair bit of play), which should always be done very quickly.

Now, as cables get old and stretched out, there can be some excessive movement of the handle needed AFTER that first "detent" of getting into gear. Actually, even with new ones, there's often some play - it's just the nature of the beast with mechanical controls. Piggy backing on what Jim said, old cables will also lose their "smootheness" - meaning once you're into gear, the movement of the handle may not be as smooth as it should be and could be described as jumpy or skittish in nature.