Uflex B301CR Single Lever Top Mount Engine Control, Chrome

The Uflex B301CR is a top mount, single-lever control that runs both your throttle and your shift from one handle. It's built for just about any boat you'd rig with a cable-controlled engine, whether that's an outboard, an inboard, or a sterndrive. The chrome-plated marine aluminum body looks the part on a clean console, and the low-profile footprint keeps it out of the way when you're moving around the helm.

Single-lever, dual-action is the layout most boaters already know. Push the handle forward and you shift into gear, then keep going to bring on throttle. Pull it back through neutral and you're into reverse. The action is direct, so there's no guessing where you are in the throw. For a runabout, a center console, or a smaller cruiser, that simple one-hand control is exactly what you want when you're docking in a crosswind or backing down on a fish.

Think about a tight fuel dock on a busy Saturday. You want your throttle hand doing one thing while your other hand is on the wheel or reaching for a cleat, and you want to feel every gear change without looking down. That's where a clean single-lever control earns its keep. Short bumps of forward, a quick pull to neutral, a nudge of reverse to stop your way, all from one handle you can work by feel. The gate between gears is firm enough that you always know when you're sitting in neutral, which is exactly when that safety switch is doing its job.

The headline feature here is the built-in X12 neutral safety switch. It only lets the engine crank when the control is sitting in neutral. That one detail prevents an in-gear start, which is the kind of surprise that can put a boat into the dock or a swimmer in a bad spot. If you've ever run a helm without that safety, you already know why it matters. The switch wires into your ignition circuit during the install, and it's specific to this control, so keep that in mind if you ever need a replacement down the road.

Rigging one up is straightforward if you've run control cables before. The B301CR works with standard 33C-type control cables, the same ones most helms already use. Give the cables a gentle sweep behind the console instead of a tight bend. A cable forced into a sharp radius will make the shift feel stiff, and that's almost always the culprit when a new control doesn't feel smooth out of the box. Leave yourself a little service loop and the whole thing moves like it should.

The low-profile top mount clears most leaning posts and drops into a standard console cutout without much of a fight. On smaller runabouts, just check your handle swing against nearby drink holders or grab rails before you drill. As for the finish, chrome over aluminum holds up well, but it's still living in a salt environment. A little dielectric grease at the base and an occasional freshwater rinse keeps it bright and keeps corrosion from creeping in around the mounting screws.

So who's this for? Anyone replacing a tired old single-lever control, rigging up a repower, or building out a helm from scratch and wanting a clean, safe, no-nonsense throttle and shift. It's a genuine Uflex part, so the fit and the feel are what you'd expect. If you're running twin engines or you'd rather have a side mount, that's a different control, and we can point you to the right one in the Uflex line. But for a single cable-controlled engine on a top-mount helm, the B301CR is a solid, safe pick that'll give you years of clean shifting.