How many of you have hydraulic steering and is it worth $1200? My pontoon is a little hard to steer.
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How many of you have hydraulic steering and is it worth $1200? My pontoon is a little hard to steer.
Take a look at Teleflex rotary steering. The cost is less than $150 bucks (depending on the length of boat or cable), installation time is greatly reduced, and there is zero feedback with the system.
Engines greater than 150HP now sold are required to have a steering assist mechanism. Many people opt for hydraulic steering. I have Teleflex and wouldn't go back to any other way. The zero feedback means that I can take my hands off the wheel and it basically locks in place. It doesn't jump or jar or jack back and forth like Hydro can. It takes a few days to get used to. Hard to explain but, when turning it is almost as if you have to slightly turn one way before turning the other. I can run at 50mph, take my hands off the wheel, and it will not move! You cannot do that with hydro steering. Steering is just as easy as well.
https://www.wholesalemarine.com/safe...-teleflex.html
Hydraulic steering is supposed to have zero feedback from the motor.
YouTube
I would try to clean and grease the steering tube and helm before spending money on new steering components. The process is outlined in the above video.
I have hydraulic steering on a 150 HP motor and can take my hands off the wheel and it stays straight as an arrow. I believe it is a smart investment and although you won't get the whole $1,200 back if you sold the pontoon, it would be an added selling feature and add a bit of value to the vessel. After owning a boat with hydraulic steering I can't see owning any other without it :twocents
Fred, if you can see your way to spending the money I think it would be a wise investment. Like Snubby said his drives like a dream, friend of mine rebuilt a glass deck boat into a crappie rig and installed it on a 150. Zero feed back and no cheap in steering. Point it and take hands off the wheel and steer with your trolling motor while pulling. If I had the extra money it would already be on my stick steer.
I don't get much feed back through the cable but, you kind of have to la into it to turn. Will the Teleflex make it easier to turn? That is my main reason for changing the steering.
I don’t know that it will make it any easier. It’s 2 cables one push and one pull. If your steering is in any kind of bind now and you had to install it the same way it might not. How old is the cable that is on there now. It could be you just need to replace cable. They will get rusted up inside and will wear into internal housing causing them to tighten up. Is this fairly new or has it always been this way.
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I went out and played with it today. It is easy to turn in the shop so I guess it is not the cable. It is only hard to turn going down the lake. I guess it is the torque of the motor that makes it hard.
Yes, teleflex is about equal in terms of ease to hydraulic steering but a fraction of the cost.
Fred can you take a picture of lower unit showing torque tab from rear of boat.
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