-
School me on hydraulic steering
I’m wanting to change over my champ with cable steering to hydraulic. Is there a better company out there to go with then the other? 200 hp motor 19 foot boat. I’ve looked all over but just can’t seem to find what I’m looking for to be correct.
-
Changed my 1993 PII over this year and called Bass Cat directly. They hooked my up with everything even the helm. I splurged and bought a new steering wheel also! Call them and You'll love it.
-
SeaStar is probably the most widely used, but they're all basically the same. Hardest part of the job is removing your old cables. If you're mechanically inclined at all, it's fairly easy to do yourself. You'll wonder what took you so long to make the switch once you're done!
-
Member
You basically have two options...Seastar and UFlex. Neither are bad as long as you get a model that will handle your boat/motor. Seastar is more popular but Uflex is good too. Mercury is now selling the Uflex as a Mercury product and part numbers.
Call Don or Rhonda Weed, tell them what you want and don’t forget your BBC discount.
Last edited by 06 SB; 10-16-2018 at 08:40 AM.
USN Retired
2020 Basscat Caracal
2020 Mercury 225 ProXS 4s
-
SC Club Moderator
UFlex is made in Italy and SeaStar is now Canadian, don't matter. Just don't get the Baystar version for your boat, get the Seastar Pro if you go with the Uflex they are good units as well. You will have to enlarge the hole in your dash to accommodate the helm. Pull the cables from the dash and tie a pull cord to the cable end so you have something to pull the hoses back with. When you use the hole saw make a jig for the hole saw grab on to. Not too bad of a job, it is easier if there are two of you to bleed the system.
-
I put new cables and a new helm in the boat about 3 years ago. Will the hole still need to be enlarged for the hydraulic helm? I have installed a few steering systems on boats but not on a bass boat. They have all be barges for local dredge companies.
-
Most likely it is quite large if I remember I did mine a few years ago and really like it I got the Sea Star pro for a 200 pro xs.
-
You'll be on here after you do the job giving advice, like me, on why and how to do the job. Clamp a board to your existing dash hole, use it to hold the pilot drill bit to drill the existing hole bigger.
One man can bleed the system, two are easier but 1 will suffice.