Pontoon Boat Control Cable Repair

Labor Day Monday…out on the water…enjoying a nice relaxing day on the lake. The boat is running great. Ever since cleaning and tightening all the battery/electrical connections, it has started and run beautifully. Especially considering that it’s 25 years old. Well, I guess it was just the day for bad luck. Sometime during the first hour on the water we decided to break out the GoPro and get some shots of the lake. Well, halfway through trying to mount it, we found out it doesn’t float. At this point I’m thinking there’s some sort of bad karma hanging over the boat. Two weekends in a row prior, the
boat had broken down. Nothing major, just loose and dirty electrical connections. At least the second time we hadn’t left the boat launch yet. Pull starting the outboard is something one really only wants to do once. Anyway, we get over the shock and heartbreak of losing the GoPro and finish out the rest of the day on the water and get back to the dock without any problems. At some point the shift cable on the boat broke leaving it stuck in forward gear. I didn’t notice this until trying to trailer the boat. I pushed away from the dock, started up, engaged forward, got her lined up on the trailer and couldn’t go into neutral! Thank goodness I was only as idle speed as the boat SLAMMED into the bow stop on the trailer, violently shaking and rocking the LR3. Not realizing what was happening, I didn’t have the presence of mind to turn the engine off and coast up onto the trailer, or just load it by hand for that matter. Luckily no damage was sustained by dock, boat, trailer, tow vehicle or people. The plastic sleeve that contains internal stainless steel wire, is (supposed to be) swaged onto the brass cable end. I guess after those twenty plus years of aging, it finally had enough. I’m happy to report that it was a quick and easy fix, and only cost a little over $50. The “remote control” is just attached with three bolts. Remove the two screws holding on the back cover plate to expose the attachments of the cable ends. On the outboard end, it’s just a few clips and spring-loaded retainers. She’s now a sea (lake) worthy vessel once more! Watch the video below to see how I fixed it.