outboard steering

allright how about some opinion's on hydraulic vs cable steering?such as what you've tried and what type of system has the best "feel".

Originally posted by check88:
allright how about some opinion's on hydraulic vs cable steering?such as what you've tried and what type of system has the best "feel".
I have dual cables on a bass boat that runs in the mid 70's. It is a bear to drive at speeds. I restored an 83 Eliminator Daytona last year and installed hydraulic steering. I'm still getting use to driving a cat, but the steering is a dream. No tork at the wheel, but a little hard to turn at top speed (96 on GPS). The only thing that I don't like is that the wheel doesn't return to center like cable does. That limits the type of tim switch that you can use. It can not be mounted to the wheel.

On mine I have Teleflex rack&pinion with dual cables. When I started surfacing the prop (raised the motor way up) I had to add a torque tab to the skeg because the torque on the wheel was unbearable. Now it's OK even at high speeds. Prop styles make a big difference too. I think a semi-cleaver I borrowed had the least. Anyone ever heard of/tried the Teleflex anti-feedback steering? They came out with it after I rigged my boat. That sucks that you can't have trim on the wheel, couldn't live with out it. Never thought of that, but it is totally hydraulic. Personally I opted for the cables. #1 Cheaper . #2 If one breaks, I still have one more. If you blow a hydraulic line your SOL. Just my opinion. FC.

I went from dual cable steering (opposing, that is, each came in from opposite sides)to teleflex hydraulic. What a great change! I had torque even at low/skiing speeds with the engine all the way down on the jack. This came from my set-up which includes a set-back with 4 degrees of extra "undertuck" to keep the bow down on hole shot. Makes the prop blades on my 4 blade "stump puller" at the bottom bite more than the blades at the top (sort of the same effect you get when the engine is raised way up for high speed running). Got to be real old since I use my boat for skiing, wakeboarding, tubing, cruising, etc. 90% of the time. If I trimmed out a little, the torque would go away at these low speeds, but the boat tended to slightly porpose if I hit a wave. Now, I can leave the engine trimmed all the way in and it drives like a dream. Accelerates like a MasterCraft with almost no bowrise and no porpoise, yet no torque on the wheel. At high speeds, with the engine raised up and trimmed out, still works great. No torque at all if going in a straight line. A little harder to turn left then right at high speeds/high engine elevations, but still much easier than with the cables (only a true power steering system would cure this; Invisible Touch made great powered system (expensive though), but it appears to not be available anymore). Hose failure is a concern with hydraulics, but there is a good deal of conservatism built in. I think I read recently about some hose upgrades (kevlar reinforced, maybe?) with higher burst capabilities. Need to make sure they are routed safely away from exposed screws, sharp fiberglass, etc. I run an older SleekCraft tunnel with a 1999 Merc 225 ProMax (with built-in skeg torque tab which also helps at high speed). If you run a "tricky" V bottom that requires a lot of driver input to keep it from chine walking, hydraulics may not give the necessary "feedback" at the steering wheel. I guess it is a case-by-case situation in these cases.

I switched from a cable system to the seastar hydraulic and I love it. There is no torque at the wheel and I find I'm not correcting the direction of the boat as much. It takes a little getting use to when docking or idling, you can't "feel" what the boat is doing. As far as worrying about safety, I ran copper lines back to the engine and have short flex hose connected from the copper lines to the hydraulic ram. Overall I have been very happy.

I like the feel of cables on my 18 foot skater. Lots of torque, but I have a good feel for whats going on with the motor.
Best Regards, Todd.

thanks for the replies guys-i'm running a 21 foot checkmate with the mercury HD ride guide steering (dual cable)and i agree that at high speeds with the motor jacked up all the way it can be a real pain in the arms.i've had a couple of guys running 20 foot tunnels tell me that the hydraulic is not the way to go because of the loss of steering feel.i figured i'd ask cause the old cables are starting to freeze up and somethings gonna have to be replaced this spring.