advice on hydrolic steering

seanoevil · 11 November 2010, 20:29

hi i have a brig falcon 450l with a honda 50hp 4stroke and was considering fitting hydrolic steering,the reason being everything about the boat works perfect for me but i have bin trying from a very early age to involve my 3.5 year old girl, she loves nothing more than sitting on my knee pretending to drive the boat! i think it would be alot better for her if she could actually steer it without my help, of course i would still be there to correct. any advise would be helpfull
1 could hydrolic steering be fitted ?
2 approx what cost would it be ?
3 would the boat feel to loose at top speed (33knt) when i,m driving it

martini · 11 November 2010, 20:42

1/ yes
2/ A Baystar HK4200A kit which is kind of the industry standard and would be suitable for your application retails for around £500
3/ You will probably feel more in control with hydraulic steering than you do now

Speak to "Marinautic" on here for more info and a good price

or go to his website here.

Mollers · 11 November 2010, 20:53

We have Morse Telefex on our 4m Searider/Honda 50. I cobbled it together out of a couple of used units, it's surprisingly light to turn. It might be worth checking your cable inner for rust and lube before ripping it out.

seanoevil · 11 November 2010, 21:27

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mollers

We have Morse Telefex on our 4m Searider/Honda 50. I cobbled it together out of a couple of used units, it's surprisingly light to turn. It might be worth checking your cable inner for rust and lube before ripping it out.

hi mollers
there nothing much wrong with the steering thats on i would just like it alot lighter so it would be easier for my daughter to use as she gets older
thanks
Andy

Searider · 12 November 2010, 17:11

Quote:

Originally Posted by seanoevil

hi mollers
there nothing much wrong with the steering thats on i would just like it alot lighter so it would be easier for my daughter to use as she gets older
thanks
Andy

How old is the steering that's on the boat - the cables do get stiffer over time.

This season replaced the steering head and cable for nofeedback cable steering and it's fingertip light (Avon 4m Searider with 30hp Yam) cost was about £280 iirc.

However, if you can afford the hydraulic it should also be very light - and wont freewheel back with hands off.

seanoevil · 12 November 2010, 18:16

Hi thanks searider the steering rig is 5 year old and in very good nick and easy enough for myself to use.if it was just for myself to use i wouldnt even think about chaning it.its purely for ease of use for my 3-5 year old to get accustomed to boating (i know soft arnt i)

jyasaki · 12 November 2010, 20:18

evil (or no evil, as the case may be):

I have an 18' RIB with a Seastar hydraulic system on it.

My dive buddy's kid was about the age of your daughter (4 to 5 years) when he used to "drive the boat" (He's 6 now, and hasn't been out in quite a while.) Even with a 5.5. turn lock to lock hydraulic system, he found it nearly impossible to control the steering wheel.

If it were me, I'd give her a couple of more years to grow and not go through the expense of swapping out a working steering system.

jky

Searider · 12 November 2010, 21:16

Quote:

Originally Posted by seanoevil

Hi thanks searider the steering rig is 5 year old and in very good nick and easy enough for myself to use.if it was just for myself to use i wouldnt even think about chaning it.its purely for ease of use for my 3-5 year old to get accustomed to boating (i know soft arnt i)

Could well be stiffer than it should be. I was astounded at how light the new steering is. I've never had new steering before!

Poly · 12 November 2010, 22:54

Quote:

Originally Posted by jyasaki

evil (or no evil, as the case may be):

I have an 18' RIB with a Seastar hydraulic system on it.

My dive buddy's kid was about the age of your daughter (4 to 5 years) when he used to "drive the boat" (He's 6 now, and hasn't been out in quite a while.) Even with a 5.5. turn lock to lock hydraulic system, he found it nearly impossible to control the steering wheel.

If it were me, I'd give her a couple of more years to grow and not go through the expense of swapping out a working steering system.

jky

I'd support what jky says. At 6 my son is physically capable of turning our wheel (its cable steering and only a 20HP 2stroke) - and IIRC he could at 4 and 5 too, but he's really only now starting to get to grips with steering a reasonably straight course, or turning controllably on demand - and he still has no real grasp of how the rate of turn is different at different speeds. Of course the temptation with kids is to try and let them "play" at low speed and then steering is less responsive etc too.

mike-m · 15 November 2010, 20:21

"My dive buddy's kid was about the age of your daughter (4 to 5 years) when he used to "drive the boat" (He's 6 now, and hasn't been out in quite a while.) Even with a 5.5. turn lock to lock hydraulic system, he found it nearly impossible to control the steering wheel."

Have to say that I found the reverse - my daughter was 4 and a half years old when she first drove my old RIB (a 5.8 metre Tornado with a 150hp Mariner) and she loved it! She coped with lock to lock turns well, and enjoyed nothing more than doing hard over banked turns....

BUT - and it is important - I made sure she kept the power settings at controllable levels. Because the steering is light and controllable, it is the power and speed you have to watch! My Tornado had a "safe" throttle setting that gave reasonable speed but also allowed a rapid hard over turn that banked the boat nicely and bled energy so the speed in the turn was never excessive. On my boat that was at 3000 - 3500rpm. I use this principle when instructing beginners as it is essentially "fool proof" in normal conditions whilst allowing a good level of excitement. ("Fool proof" doesn't cover collisions of course! You have to take some care).

The hydraulic steering definitely helped as it is light and doesn't feed back.

All in my humble opinion of course, but my daughter loved it!! Hope that helps??

Good luck with your decision....!

Mike

nitrox · 15 November 2010, 20:48

hi 1st mate, nice to see them starting young on a rib, hope she gets to have a go of her dads boat, i can,t get you off the drivers seat when you are on nitrox ps costs = smiles

seanoevil · 18 November 2010, 12:31

Hi all
Thanks very much for your input .
Thanks mike m i think you have "steered" me to my decision,i think its great to hear of other kids of similar age beginning to enjoy boating at an early age. I would prefer to see mine in control of a boat with mum/dad rather than in contol of an xbox/playstation .
I recentley videoed the launch of a new ribguest 8meter owned by niel (nitrox) and my more than capable skiper was a 13 year old girl (meg) who with her dad has been brought up on ribs was happy to navigate through the menai straights at 35 knt on a 7m humber.
And chears niel you know me with smiles = cost ....... worth every penny !!
Ps niel hope that ribuest is fuelled up for the weekend
Thanx again Andy