What am I missing by not having hydraulic steering?

[pschauss]

I still have cable steering, upper and lower stations. After three seasons I have not had any major issues. Steering effort is not a problem even with the oversized rudders that I installed last year.

[Carl]

With cable steering I've found at times I needed to keep a hand on the wheel when running or wheel would turn.
Cable steering can take a bit more effort to turn.


Replacing cable steering Can Be a Major pain. Hydraulic steering with a couple small nylon hoses to run is SO much easier.


IF you want to install an Autopilot, cable steering limits your choices to those that will manually turn your wheel opposed to installing their hydraulic pump plumbed into the system.

Also additional helms can be added easily.



Cable steering works and can work well.

[Tommy]

Peter, to Carl's point, since your cable steering is working well, continue to enjoy the boat. At whatever point in time it starts giving you trouble, I would recommend spending the money for new hydraulic steering. I never got "steering creep" with my hydraulic system, and I had upper and lower stations like you.

[Carl]

Tommy- I have an idea what it is..,but what is "Steering Creep"


I'm thinking when the rudder starts to move to a place" it's" happy all by itself. Usually it's not in the direction you want it to go...like when letting out a line and you want to go straight.

[Tony Meola]

Carl

Just google it. There about a million Steering Creeps. But this one pertains to us. It is a Steering Creep test.

I bet you might know some woman that might use this test. Sorry had to say it.

http://machineryspaces.com/steering-gear-testing.html

https://forums.marineinsight.com/forum/ ... eping-test

[Tooeez]

I replaced my cable system with hydraulic last year when the helm unit failed (after 40 years!) The difference is night and day--it's hard to put into words, but the boat handles much easier, especially when trolling--if you put a few degrees of rudder on it stays there, without having to hold the wheel and make constant corrections. I say if it ain't broke, don't fix it--but when it does break don't hesitate to install the hydraulics.

[Tavis]

My new boat has a hynautic system. Its old, but still works great! I have had several hydraulic systems in the past, but this is my first hynautic. It is super easy to bleed, as it uses a reserve tank that you pressurize with an air pump allowing you to bleed from the high point with very little effort.