Charlie Morgan wrote:

Done correctly, it makes a MUCH stronger tiller.

CWM

Charlie is right. Laminating is stronger, and for a particular reason:
by laminating, you make sure the grain of the wood is not continuous,
which can lead to internal stress, cracking, bending, all sorts of
problems with solid wood.

One suggestion I read here about making a tiller, drawing it to full
scale and laminating is good, but doesn't allow for "spring back".
When you remove the clamps, the wood wants to go back to its original
shape, so you have to over correct when laminating it.

For small boats, a solid tiller is probably fine, and damn fast and
easy to make. Small boats typically have small loads, and so you don't
need a tree trunk to do the job.