2nd freestanding station

[Clambake]

Hello all! New to the site and enjoy reading the helpful posts. Makes me feel comfortable to know there are other Pilothouse finatics out there!

Been runnin' a 1999 2520 DV for about 5yrs now. Best boat I've ever owned, hands down. Pondered twin 150s for awhile, just too much transom/bracket work (plus $$$!) So, I just repowered her with a new Yamaha F250 with all the trimmings (new binnacle,wiring harness,fuel mgmt gauges,etc.) Glad with the decision, she runs like champ!

Broke her in this January: left Wilmington, NC at dawn, up the ICW past Beaufort into the Neuse, up the Pamlico Sound, out of Oregon Inlet and up around Cape Henry, VA to dock in VB at midnight. 300mi/17hrs..solo.

During the trip, I decided how nice it would be with a 2nd station; not to mention how useful it is fishin'! Run to the Stream on a regular basis , year round. I love the skinny water too, but got a little tin can for that. Just a couple of rookie rig ?s about this station:

1. Since I just bought a new Yamaha 704 binnacle (not digital), do I need to have the same configuration on the 2nd freestanding station?

2. Or...could I link a single, morse binnacle on 2nd station?

3. Or...if using morse controls, do both binnacles need to be the same?

Thanks CP for any helpful info!

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[Primo]

Clambake,
I have a similar set up, a 1999 2530 EC DV with a single F250. My second station was rigged from the factory with twin lever morse controls in both the cabin and on the second station. A little polish and lubrication as regular maintenance, and they work great.

Go down a few links in this section. BradV has a second station on a tower and I believe it has a 704 binacle.

On a different note, do you have a full transom with bracket? And if so, what prop did you go with?

 

[Clambake]

Primo,

Thanks for photo and advice. Thinking of going with a similar setup.
When fighting/gaffing/landing a fish do you find the setup in the way? or
worse, accidently "bump" it up/back her down? I guess you just have to be conscious of it being there, or try and leader 'em to port side.

 

[BradV]

If you want to go with the Yamaha dual station single engine kit you are looking at around $3k just in parts. But since you just repowered with a new 250 you can see if yours is electronic control because some of the new 250s are. However for single engine application i think the morse controls work just fine and would definately be alot cheaper than the yamaha kit.

 

[B-Faithful]

is the "704 binnacle" one that is a single lever or is it it a clutch and throttle unit. For non digital controls with two stations you will need the controlls with a seperate clutch and throttle.

My cockpit controls are mounted directly in the washboards and it works perfect. I dont have a standing unit taking up space or to trip over in the cockpit either. Will save you some coin.. Here is mine..

 

[Primo]

As far as being functional, I like having the free standing station. Having it as far back as it is allows me to do two things very easily. 1) I can troll by myself and be able to land a fish while I'm staying in control of the boat (even while trolling into the wind). Even with an autopilot, I can still control the throttle. 2) Having the extended cabin with a single engine, backing into my slip is easy with the controls only a few feet from the transom.

Although having the console attached to the bulkhead looks great and gives you more cockpit space, I think that mounting the free standing station closer to the transom is more functional if you fish or boat alone.

In all the years I've own her, I've had only a few problems with the Morse twin lever controls. One was with a little kid who couldn't resist playing with the moving knobs. Another was a drunk friend who wanted to play captain while I was driving from inside the cabin. And I have on occasion bumped into the throttle while trolling. I've seen members on this site with a second station that have switched the position of the wheel and the controls. Putting the controls above the wheel should solve that problem. Similar to the way B-Faithful set his wheel and controls on his washboard.

Just my opinion.

 

[THEGAME]

B-Faithful,,, thats a better fish box than parkers...

 

[ppem45]

Welcome to the site Clambake! I just finished doing a second station on my 2120PH. I went with the bulkhead mounted station beca se I only have a small boat and wanted it out of the way. As someone mentioned, it is pricey, about $2500. plus and I did the work myself. I changed my controls to Morse and used Teleflex Surpreme 33 Cables, they are supposed to be the best that Teleflex makes and they recommend them. If I can help you with any questions please feel free to ask. Peter

 

[ppem45]

When I called Parker one of the engineers (Eric) told me to get Morse, that's how I wound up with them.

 

[Megabyte]

When I bought my boat, about the only option that it didn't have was the rear driving station.
I fixed that omission by finding a used take-off that previously lived on a 25 C-Hawk that was being converted to dive duty in Florida.

The C-Hawk fiberglass part is virtually identical to the one Parker uses, though the steering and engine controls are reversed.
Personally, I like the 'reversed' layout.

My dealer tells me that when they used to install the rear stations as a dealer installed option, the 'reversed' layout was very popular with folks in my area.

The engine controls that came with my rear station were junk Morse knock-offs.
That error was fixed by installing genuine Morse controls at both driving positions. :wink:

I'm very happy with how my install came out.

BTW - 17 hours solo... I'm impressed! :shock: