We almost didn't make this one
. I'll pass this info along in case you ever find yourself in this jam (I hope not).
I was pulling into Anchor High Friday afternoon with plans of taking some of the VFW (our designated charity) guys for a ride.
As I pull into the marina, my steering gets heavy, then vauge, and I realize I've lost a line somewhere and it's going out quickly. I lost a stern ram line on the Fourth of July, and barely made it back 12 miles in the dark. I replaced that line. I should have replaced them all, but got lazy and didn't. If one goes out, you can bet the others aren't far behind.
My steering goes completely out as I get to the bouy line, 5 or 6 miles from the ramp. I really didn't want to ruin somebody else's afternoon with a 45 minute tow, so I planed the boat off with the tabs all the way down, thinking I might ??? be able to steer it back to the ramp by dragging one side more than the other, turning the boat. It worked. We made it to the ramp, pulled the boat out (4:00 on a Friday), and called the hydraulic hose guys that fabbed the 1st one and told them we're on the way.
They're not pretty like the Imcos (they look like something off a front end loader), but they work. So, we almost missed another one, but with a last minute thrash (drive 5 miles steering with tabs, get 3 hydraulic lines made, bleed the system) we made it
.
So if you ever get stuck out with no steering, as a last resort you CAN drive the boat with tabs only. BTW it worked on plane, but not well at idle.
Regards,
Steve
Platinum Member
Gold Member
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