theprolineguy.com

Hydraulic steering is new to me, so I want to ask a few questions just to be sure I don't have any problems.

First, when operating the boat this past weekend, I noticed that some of the time the boat was hard to turn, even at low speed. However, when I trimmed the motor up a little the steering freed up and was easier to turn. The wheel is easy to turn when the boat is not underway. While reading the trouble shooting section of the manual tonight, it appears that this is normal. Has anyone else experienced this?

Second, when I first start to turn the wheel back to starboard after turning to port I hear a faint noise from the helm. I'm not sure how to describe the noise. Again, the manual seems to indicat that this is normal. Do you agree?

For reference, my boat is a 2004 22walk powered by a 200 hp Honda and is setup with a front mount steering cylinder. The reservoir has remained full for the entire time I have owned the boat. The steering system seems to function properly.

Any thoughts?

Thanks,
Chris

VA
2000 23Walk here w/Merc 225, first boat w/ hydraulic steering here too. I'll leave the real analysis to the experts here, but for another data point; I don't really notice any "hard to steer" moments except during the transition from idle speeds to planning. I've certainly heard others suggest there were certain conditions under which it was harder to steer, probably more a situation w/ your particular hull and motor rather than the hydraulic steering.

My motor is probably a bit louder than yours, can't hear much from the helm over it at much over elevated idle speeds. Do you detect any vibration or anything out of the ordinary at the helm when you hear the steering noise?

Suggest you keep an eye on the hydraulic hoses out back and keep everything lubed properly. I've got some significant chafing on one of my lines and will be replacing them this season.