I had a bright lamp moment cause of this video. I was driving my boat with manual poke stearing and wonderd why it always turned to one side when letting go for a bit at idle, no matter where the most weight in the boat was. Now i know its because of the direction the prop is turning
This is just what I was looking for, a comparison between the three types of steering you can have on a boat. There's no doubt the elctro-hydraulic option is the best when it comes to comfort and steering speed, especially on more powerful engines but I think it's great to climb your way up from the mechanical, analog experience and maybe upgrading all the way up to more modern digital systems. Same for the throttle lever.
I had the pleasure of mechanical steering on my first bass boat, a 95 Procraft with an old 200 Black Max Merc. It worked great when it was greased as long as the ambient temp was above 50 but under 50 degrees it felt like you were trying to drive an old 55 Cadillac with manual steering. I’m spoiled now with the power steering on my new bass boat but my bay boat with a 300 on it isn’t bad with just a Seastar hydraulic system, definitely more than adequate at 50-60mph.
My bass boat has dual cable steering with a 150 Definitely a lot of torque when steering agains the propeller rotation depending upon speed and trim Hydraulic would be an improvement Our Suntracker tritoon has the 200 mercury with hydraulic steering plan to upgrade it to power assist Straight line running is fine with the hydraulic steering but towing a tube is not fun making quick turns Your content is informative We purchased our first tritoon and after watching you videos made the decision to look for a low hour boat with a 200 I think I would have been disappointed with a 150 your videos helped to guide me to what’s best for my family’s boating needs Also knowing from your videos that a Sun-tracker is a value boat helped me not to over pay. “Covid boats” are entering the used market and for the used boat buyer represents a good opportunity to get into boating or to upgrade
First time boat buyer, and this is very new to me, but good to know. I wish I had known to look out for this item in description before I purchased my "mechanical" engine. test drive after leaving a deposit was less than exciting due to the mechanical nature of steering. and not talking cheap boat, its a chaparral. Love they way it never said mechanical steering in the product description, just 150 HP (Mechanical). Will definitely be upgrading to at least hydraulic DIY. thanks for the good info!
what type of steering do you have now? And, not sure what you mean by make it easier to approach crab pots? Turning the wheel or actually getting the boat to the appropriate spot to haul the pot?
@@BoatBuyersSecretWeapon I currently have mechanical. Seems jerky and any input is over corrected as you approach the buoys. Seems hydraulic would require more turning but more accuracy.
@@stoweman34 sounds like maybe the cable has a hard bend in it or maybe needs to be greased up. Or, moving to a Sea Star type steering system could help. Also, if you are over correcting, be a little more patient and don't over steer as yo approach the pots.
I would say top end boat speed x size of boat. if it goes over 40 mph I would get hydraulic steering. anything supercharged or 200 vmax or pro xs power steering actually becomes a factor
Sounds like a bend in the line, lack of grease or need to replace the cable… don’t see any need to move to hydraulic unless you want to for some other reason
I have a 1987 Ranger 360v with a Mercury Blackmax 150 XR2. A I'm looking to switch from the old cable steering to hydraulic. I see the BayStar system is recommended for up to 150hp. What are your thoughts on this system for my setup?
Bad steering system: the old open pulley systems were a "treat", especially when a pulley wheel broke or the steering cable jumped off the pulley, causing the steering to jam.
@@BoatBuyersSecretWeapon "Pleasure" isn't the word I was thinking of. LOL Those pulley systems were around up until the early 1970s. Thankfully the Morse/Teleflex system rendered it obsolete.
So I have a new 22" Bennington tripletoon with 150 H Yamaha. The steering is Hydraulic but is very hard to steer at anything over 20 mph. I have flushed the system and talked to the dealer and no fix. It is fine at idle. do you have any idea as to what I can do or is this normal?
I had a bright lamp moment cause of this video.
I was driving my boat with manual poke stearing and wonderd why it always turned to one side when letting go for a bit at idle, no matter where the most weight in the boat was.
Now i know its because of the direction the prop is turning
This is just what I was looking for, a comparison between the three types of steering you can have on a boat. There's no doubt the elctro-hydraulic option is the best when it comes to comfort and steering speed, especially on more powerful engines but I think it's great to climb your way up from the mechanical, analog experience and maybe upgrading all the way up to more modern digital systems. Same for the throttle lever.
perfect, glad it was helpful
I had the pleasure of mechanical steering on my first bass boat, a 95 Procraft with an old 200 Black Max Merc. It worked great when it was greased as long as the ambient temp was above 50 but under 50 degrees it felt like you were trying to drive an old 55 Cadillac with manual steering. I’m spoiled now with the power steering on my new bass boat but my bay boat with a 300 on it isn’t bad with just a Seastar hydraulic system, definitely more than adequate at 50-60mph.
My bass boat has dual cable steering with a 150 Definitely a lot of torque when steering agains the propeller rotation depending upon speed and trim
Hydraulic would be an improvement
Our Suntracker tritoon has the 200 mercury with hydraulic steering plan to upgrade it to power assist Straight line running is fine with the hydraulic steering but towing a tube is not fun making quick turns
Your content is informative
We purchased our first tritoon and after watching you videos made the decision to look for a low hour boat with a 200
I think I would have been disappointed with a 150 your videos helped to guide me to what’s best for my family’s boating needs Also knowing from your videos that a Sun-tracker is a value boat helped me not to over pay. “Covid boats” are entering the used market and for the used boat buyer represents a good opportunity to get into boating or to upgrade
Best of all-power steering with a Bravo 3.
First time boat buyer, and this is very new to me, but good to know. I wish I had known to look out for this item in description before I purchased my "mechanical" engine. test drive after leaving a deposit was less than exciting due to the mechanical nature of steering. and not talking cheap boat, its a chaparral. Love they way it never said mechanical steering in the product description, just 150 HP (Mechanical). Will definitely be upgrading to at least hydraulic DIY. thanks for the good info!
Glad I could help!
I’d like steering that will make it easier to approach crab pots….moving my 20’ North River aluminum boat with a Yamaha 115.
what type of steering do you have now?
And, not sure what you mean by make it easier to approach crab pots?
Turning the wheel or actually getting the boat to the appropriate spot to haul the pot?
@@BoatBuyersSecretWeapon I currently have mechanical. Seems jerky and any input is over corrected as you approach the buoys. Seems hydraulic would require more turning but more accuracy.
@@stoweman34 sounds like maybe the cable has a hard bend in it or maybe needs to be greased up.
Or, moving to a Sea Star type steering system could help.
Also, if you are over correcting, be a little more patient and don't over steer as yo approach the pots.
What about electric?
very informative video 👍
Thanks a lot
I would say top end boat speed x size of boat. if it goes over 40 mph I would get hydraulic steering. anything supercharged or 200 vmax or pro xs power steering actually becomes a factor
I think Yamaha now offers electric power steering as well
Yamaha offers EPS across multiple product lines: ATVs, Snowmobiles, etc. It seems to be a good system.
Would you go hydraulic on a 60hp if you’re just trying to stop dealing with a stuck steering cable every season?
Sounds like a bend in the line, lack of grease or need to replace the cable… don’t see any need to move to hydraulic unless you want to for some other reason
my houseboat was upgraded to hydraulic steering. I am having trouble with it veering to the right and difficult to steer. Especially at low speed
Would a 20hp benefit from hydraulic over mechanical? 3.7m boat
I have a 1987 Ranger 360v with a Mercury Blackmax 150 XR2. A I'm looking to switch from the old cable steering to hydraulic. I see the BayStar system is recommended for up to 150hp. What are your thoughts on this system for my setup?
Bad steering system: the old open pulley systems were a "treat", especially when a pulley wheel broke or the steering cable jumped off the pulley, causing the steering to jam.
@@BoatBuyersSecretWeapon "Pleasure" isn't the word I was thinking of. LOL
Those pulley systems were around up until the early 1970s. Thankfully the Morse/Teleflex system rendered it obsolete.
So I have a new 22" Bennington tripletoon with 150 H Yamaha. The steering is Hydraulic but is very hard to steer at anything over 20 mph. I have flushed the system and talked to the dealer and no fix. It is fine at idle. do you have any idea as to what I can do or is this normal?
@@BoatBuyersSecretWeapon yes more stiff turning to port
Is Digital electric Steering same as power steering?