tiller - hard to turn

[mcqmga]

Guys, I have an older 6hp johnson- the tiller control seems to be hard to turn and difficult to " zero" in on a marginal setting w/out high rev at start and inabilitity to idle at low setting. In fact I remember when it was not as difficult - I've owned for 20years but have used very little - -I read where this was the case on another thread ( elsewhere w/out answer) - Is this a maintainance issue or a common problem? How do I correct?
Bob
Atlanta