Teleflex or not.

[linesider36]

What kind of steering do most of you 20'ers have in your boats. I have a partially frozen Teleflex system that is broken in the slide under the motor. Have to try and pull out the cable tomorrow night after work to get a measurement or find a number.

[NoBones]

Depends on how many ponnies you are trying to control..

I have the SeaStar hydraulic for the 200++ HP on the NoBones !!
System HC5340-42 good for 70 MPH
If you have a 115HP cable steering is fine..

[FishStretcher]

I have a teleflex no feedback on a 4 stroke 100. It is marginal. If I had the money, I'd go hydraulic. My system failed recently but it was overworked by a 175 for some time prior.

[Bushwacker]

If you were ever going to make the switch to hydraulic steering, now is the time to do it, but like anything else you need to be aware of the pros and cons! Advantages of hydraulic steering, besides the ability to handle big HP that Ken mentioned, are no torque feedback in steering when you trim the motor down, i.e., the motor will stay where you put it, and fewer corrosion problems. Disadvantages are slower steering response and a LOT more cost and more maintenance. (Figure on spending ~$100 to replace leaking end seals on the hydraulic cylinder every 2-3 years. I never had that problem on my Hynautic system, which seems to be higher quality than Teleflex, but I think Hynautic was bought by Teleflex, so it's no longer an option. I read somewhere that the problem was the build up of salt crystals on the steering ram that tear up the seals, so it helps to wipe off the ram with a rag/WD-40 at the end of every day.

The other disadvantage of the latest hydraulic systems is that, by design, it will only turn your motor thru about 2/3's of it's available travel! This is a serious handicap to low speed maneuvering around docks, etc.! This was evidently dictated by the ABYC or NAEBM - the bureaucrats or lawyers were supposedly worried that some idiot would try to put the helm hard over at WOT and flip the boat, so they intentionally limited steering travel! (Never mind that most cable systems will do this on their own if you just let go of the helm! But when bureaucrats get involved, logic or common sense is no longer a requirement!) I believe I can fix this by selective swapping of older longer steering rams & brackets with newer cylinders, but I'm still working on it!

My old Teleflex cable system had a pretty fast ratio, about 3.5 turns lock to lock. Teleflex makes 3 different size helm pumps, so you can trade the small standard pump for a larger one for a faster ratio with higher effort. The standard helm (smallest displacement) will give about 5.5 turns. When I repowered and added bracket, I went with the medium pump, which is about 4.5 turns, since I wasn't sure how high the effort would be. Turns out it's very low, so if I were to do it again, I'd get the highest displacement pump.

[FAS]

150 hp is borderline for cable steering,the baystar hydroulic is less $,and will do the job....good deals right now on different kits....

[77SceptreOB]

I'm running a 225 hp on cable and it works fine.

[Terry England]

Originally Posted by 77SceptreOB

I'm running a 225 hp on cable and it works fine.

Jim, that antique Yamie is so worn out it only makes 83 HP anymore. You could use pully steering on that thing, son. In 'Dog Years" it's like 210 or something! It does keep the mosquito population tamped down while yur deep trolling for them Stump Knockers and Shell Crackers on the lake though.

[77SceptreOB]

Originally Posted by Terry England

Jim, that antique Yamie is so worn out it only makes 83 HP anymore. You could use pully steering on that thing, son. In 'Dog Years" it's like 210 or something! It does keep the mosquito population tamped down while yur deep trolling for them Stump Knockers and Shell Crackers on the lake though.

Haha! probably true! But the SeaCraft hull is so efficient that the 83 hp motor pushes it to 39 mph (per GPS)...

[GameOnSalmon]

I would recommend the Teleflex Cable 4.3 no Feedback. In my world too many things that can go wrong with Hydraulic and then your Screwed.

For what its worth been running Cable my whole life on engines up to 225 with no issues at all. On the other hand, some of these Softies on the Forum need to eat more spinach and grow some Muscles to turn a Real Steering system.

Matter of Choice for Most, but for me, I choose the Cable and have never had issues... Getting ready to Bolt a 200 HP up to my new to me 20' Sceptre. Just installed 4.3 no Feedback on it yesterday.

Robert

[ocuyler]

We put a SeaStar hydraulic on the 23, replacing the original Hynautic. Awesome. We are also replacing horrible cable steering on the 19 Bowrider to BayStar hydraulic. In my opinion, if you don't do anything stupid, like install it improperly, it's the best possible experience.