On July 30, Mercury Marine and EngineSteer agreed to an arrangement that grants Mercury Marine exclusive rights to the patent for applying power steering to outboard tiller handles.
With this new agreement, Mercury Marine will become the only provider of power steering tiller handles for outboard engines. The power steering system will utilize many common parts currently used with Verado and OptiMax engines such as cylinders, hoses and the power steering pump.
Tim Merten, spokesperson for EngineSteer, believes Mercury Marine will become a dominate player in the (tiller handle) market by offering power steering for large outboard engines.
"EngineSteer is proud to partner with Mercury Marine in bringing this product to the market," Merten said.
This agreement follows another recent announcement. In June, Mercury announced that it will soon begin production of three new tiller handles designed for large outboard engines, including 75-115 hp Mercury FourStroke outboards, 75-250 hp OptiMax outboards and 135-200 hp four-cylinder Verado Digital Throttle and Shift (DTS) outboards.
The new power steering tiller handle allows for adjustable steering pressure with the touch of a finger and has zero engine feedback while steering the boat. A bypass valve allows the outboard to be manually steered when the engine is not running.
"These zero-feedback tiller handles will provide a great advantage to fisherman with large outboard engines," said Mike Reilley, product manager for Mercury Controls and Rigging Systems. "We are excited to form this partnership with EngineSteer."
The new tiller handle will be available through any authorized Mercury dealer beginning in January of 2008.
