Boat propulsion unit

In a boat propulsion unit adapted to be suspended on the outside of a boat transom and drivably connected to an engine on the inside of the transom, said unit comprising a propeller drive shaft housing, a suspension arrangement adapted to be fixedly secured to the transom, pivot means which pivotally connects the drive shaft housing to the suspension arrangement to allow pivotal displacement of the drive shaft housing relative to the suspension arrangement about a pivot axis in a vertical plane and pivot axis in a horizontal plane, steering means which is arranged to effect pivotal displacement of the drive shaft housing about said first-mentioned axis, and trim and tilt means which is arranged to effect pivotal displacement of the drive shaft housing about said second-mentioned axis;

• the improvement wherein the pivot means comprises a first lower and a second upper universal joint (22, 24 resp.), of which the upper universal joint carries a powered actuator member (35) inclined to the horizontal and comprising a pair of components (34, 37) which are telescopically displaceable relative to each other and of which one of said components has a forked bracket (39) at an outer end, which bracket (39) grips an upper region (38) of the drive shaft housing (3) and is pivotally connected thereto,for pivotal displacement about a horizontal pivot axis, the other component (34) of the actuator member (35) having an inner end at a distance from the upper universal joint, and at, or in the vicinity of, which end the other component has means (42) for connecting the component to a steering mechanism, by means of which the actuator member is displaceable about a pivot axis (a) lying in a vertical plane, thereby to pivot the drive shaft housing relative to the suspension arrangement.