Put that jack plate through it's paces and report back.

I'd be really interested in how that does in snarky wave action.
Tom,
Didn't want to do a lot with it since I'm still in break-in
period but it definitely made a difference in getting on plane and
speed. By adjusting the depth of the motor I could get on plane
quicker at certain settings. While underway you could increase your
speed by adjusting the depth. Haven't had any skinny water experiences
but hope to in the next few weeks and hope to have better info on its
performance. Haven't noticed any different handling characteristics
with it - what do you mean by "snarky wave action" and what would you
expect? Maybe I can try it next weekend.

Tom...............

On Fri, 18 Feb 2005 21:00:12 -0800, -rick- wrote:


Thats helpful regarding my hydraulic steering question. Do you mean
that it requires a bit more rotation but has less slop or slack when
changing directions?
Rick - sorry for the delay in answering - just got home from the bay.
With cable steering I always got an immediate response when the wheel
was moved (even just a little). With the hydraulic it doesn't seem to
respond quite as sensitively but there is no slop - just seems to be a
more gentle turn- if that makes sense. This may have more turns hard
over to hard over than my previous systems which may account for that.
There is no resistance to turning the wheel like there is on cable
steering but you still have a feel - just like power steering on an
auto. So far I really like it. Hope that answers your question - if
not hit me again and I'll try to explain it better. Take care.

Tom..........

Tom wrote:

Rick - sorry for the delay in answering - just got home from the bay.
With cable steering I always got an immediate response when the wheel
was moved (even just a little). With the hydraulic it doesn't seem to
respond quite as sensitively but there is no slop - just seems to be a
more gentle turn- if that makes sense. This may have more turns hard
over to hard over than my previous systems which may account for that.
There is no resistance to turning the wheel like there is on cable
steering but you still have a feel - just like power steering on an
auto. So far I really like it. Hope that answers your question - if
not hit me again and I'll try to explain it better. Take care.

Tom..........

That's a fine explanation. It sounds like you had a good low slop cable
unit, perhaps a rack & pinion helm and a low flex cable. I'm not so
fortunate as I'm getting ~ 45 degrees slop at the wheel and don't have
the lateral space for a rack & pinion helm. Thanks for the info, it's
appreciated.

-rick-

That's a fine explanation. It sounds like you had a good low slop cable
unit, perhaps a rack & pinion helm and a low flex cable. I'm not so
fortunate as I'm getting ~ 45 degrees slop at the wheel and don't have
the lateral space for a rack & pinion helm. Thanks for the info, it's
appreciated.

Yep - mine were rack and pinion. Are you using pulleys? So far I'm
very pleased with the hydraulic. Good luck with your replacement.

On Mon, 21 Feb 2005 13:14:07 GMT, (Tom)
wrote:


That's a fine explanation. It sounds like you had a good low slop cable
unit, perhaps a rack & pinion helm and a low flex cable. I'm not so
fortunate as I'm getting ~ 45 degrees slop at the wheel and don't have
the lateral space for a rack & pinion helm. Thanks for the info, it's
appreciated.

Yep - mine were rack and pinion. Are you using pulleys? So far I'm
very pleased with the hydraulic. Good luck with your replacement.

When you run your boat in some wave action, I'd be very curious if you
can effect how the boat enters waves and whether you have any spray or
residual pounding. Or if you can change and smooth out the pounding
in say 6 to 18" of wave action.

Where I run my Ranger over in Narragansett Bay, it can turn from flat
calm to 1 foot in a hurry. My Ranger, I readily admit, does not run
very well in that kind of wave action and it's a slow ride back
without taking a beating at speed.

The jack plate didn't work very well for me, but I'd be curious if it
works well for you in that regard.

It would help resolve a long standing debate. :)

Later,

Tom

Tom wrote:

Yep - mine were rack and pinion. Are you using pulleys? So far I'm
very pleased with the hydraulic. Good luck with your replacement.

Nope, it's a rotary helm and cable setup. There just seems to be an
accumulation of slop in the helm, cable, and linkage to the pump nozzle.
Thanks again for the info.
-rick-

On Mon, 21 Feb 2005 11:15:44 -0800, -rick- wrote:

Tom wrote:

Yep - mine were rack and pinion. Are you using pulleys? So far I'm
very pleased with the hydraulic. Good luck with your replacement.

Nope, it's a rotary helm and cable setup. There just seems to be an
accumulation of slop in the helm, cable, and linkage to the pump nozzle.
Thanks again for the info.

Out of curiosity, how old is the unit?

Later,

Tom

I didn't catch any posts as far as its size but my 20' with the Teleflex NFB (no
feedback) steering is very responsive. It holds its position even if you give
it full throttle from a stop. It's also about $450 cheaper than hydraulic.
It's only a 115 HP 4 stroke and I know at some point you have to go to hydraulic
for the bigger motors.

Dan


Tom wrote:

Picked up my new Sea Pro yesterday and took it for a test run. Only
ran it for an hour and was trying to adhere to the break in
instructions so spent most of the time poking around the bay. Pretty
windy with a good chop and only got a couple of drops of spray in
crosswind. Gets on plane quickly and adjusting the jack plate and trim
tabs definitely makes a difference - only tried it a few times at
different settings so I'll learn more later. Boat didn't seem to like
lower RPM levels (2600) - seemed to wallow a little but was improved
by dropping the trim tabs a little. Really felt good at 3200 or so
clipping along at 35 mph or so - real solid and responsive. I really
like the hydraulic steering although it takes a little getting used to
- not as responsive as cable but much more stable and effortless. Plan
to leave for the bay later this afternoon and run it this weekend if
it doesn't rain - supposed to be in upper 60's tomorrow and mid 70's
Sunday so maybe I'll learn more. Hope everyone has a good weekend.
Take care.

Tom...........

Short Wave Sportfishing wrote:

Out of curiosity, how old is the unit?

It's got about 4 1/2 years and a little over 300 hours on it now. The
builder replaced the helm & cable the first summer due to the same
problem and while the replacement was marginally better than the
original it has slowly degraded since.

-rick-

Dan Krueger wrote:
I didn't catch any posts as far as its size but my 20' with the Teleflex
NFB (no feedback) steering is very responsive. It holds its position
even if you give it full throttle from a stop. It's also about $450
cheaper than hydraulic. It's only a 115 HP 4 stroke and I know at some
point you have to go to hydraulic for the bigger motors.

Dan

It's a 20' inboard 5.7L with a Hamilton 212 pump. There's no torque
steer and relatively little effort required to swivel the nozzle so
hydraulic is not required. I just want to reduce the free play and
don't have the lateral space for a rack & pinion helm under the dash.

Thanks for the tip on the Teleflex NFB, maybe I'll try that first. I
think the original is a Morse.

-rick-

http://www.northriverboats.com/model...hp?productid=3