Electric shifting gearcases–why?

[amuller]

The may be a dumb question but I’m wondering how and why OMC got into this in the first place.

I’ve been enjoying learning about these, liking as I do to play with off-beat machinery. But it’s hard to see how either type of these could have any strong advantages over the usual cable-moving-dog-clutch design, at least with the power ranges in use at the time.

Was there a marketing plus to calling it "electric?" Was it the will of a particular engineer or team? Was it a response to Kiekhaefer’s direct-reversing "dockbusters?" (I bet this would work a lot better with modern injected engines!)

As far as I know OMC always used the spring clutch design in stern drives, never the hydro type. Is this so?

Just curious… Maybe there’s been a writeup in the magazine?

am

[fleetwin]

Well, I’m thinking the electric shift was considered a convenience for the owner, kind of like power steering/auto transmission was in a car. Surely, it cost more to manufacture the electric shift models, so cost savings didn’t drive this feature. As far as reliability goes, no shift cables, linkages, clutch dogs or any of that stuff to wear/go wrong. The outboards went from the spring/clutch method to the hydro/clutch dog design when the thru hub exhaust gearcases were introduced.
And yes, the OMC stern drives only used the spring clutch method on their electric shift models. The lower unit for the larger V-6 V-8 engines was pretty beefy and reliable. In 1978, the OMC stern drives went to the thru hub gearcases like those found on the outboards. The shift system was referred to as "hydro-mechanical". Basically a conventional mechanical clutch dog set up with a hydraulic "assist". These units had the oil pump like on the hydro electric models, but it was mechanically activated by shift rod movement as an "assist". Eventually, the hydraulic assist feature was dropped in favor of pure mechanical shift, just like on the outboards. I’m guessing this feature was dropped as a cost savings.

[billw]

The electric shift worked really well. It must have been a great sales tool, because you could demonstrate shifting a V8 stern drive with two fingers. Or, in the case of Evinrude, ONE finger! They were way ahead of the curve with that; as the majority of large outboards today shift with electronic technology, even though they still mostly have conventional dog clutches. (Okay, well, not Seven Marine, but that outboard is from a whole different planet.)

Long live American manufacturing!

[Author]

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