I'm restoring an older boat (Glastron/Carlson Scimitar), it's 23' but very light for the size, going Bravo, and hydraulic steering. It will be more show than go, but still 80+. In an attempt to reduce moving parts and engine clutter, I'm looking at non-power full hydraulic systems. I've searched the forums but can't find the answer I'm looking for. I've used hydraulic systems on outboards, but I understand it's different. I'm hoping to go with single external ram, but dual isn't out of the question. I know it will be alot more stable and solid than the cable power set-up, but am I sacrificing anything by going non-power? If it were a big heavy boat with twins, I'd just go power dual ram from the start... has anyone used this system on something 24'-25' or shorter with single screw, and what were your results? Thanks for any input.

There was a thread not long ago about someone who wanted to run manual hydraulic steering, the general consensus was that it would be an absolute bear to dock especially in a single screw application. I run a dual Zieger setup on a single bravo and in their bleeding instructions they say to bleed it without the engine running and after 2-3 mins of working the wheel my girl was ready to quit lol. It isn't impossible to turn if you had a reservoir instead of a PS pump it would work but you would have forearms the size of footballs. Now the older hynautic steering works not using the factory pump but I'm not 100 percent sure how it works. I know it isn't much help but maybe it will get the ball rolling for you.

set up properly I can't see why it would be any harder than an outboard, my take some trial and error to get the effort/sensitivity to balance. That being said they are not always easy, and you will be fighting prop torque in one direction.

you can try manual hyd steering,,if its too hard you can always install a EOH pump.... http://www.seastarsolutions.com/prod...ering-new/spa/

unless you put the system together with diff parts they do not come with external rams which take the load off the drive and steering arm, I think unless you use a full system with a pump you wasting time and $$$ my .02

All good info. I was assuming that the external ram manual setups I've seen we're an available kit... I think they are home-made systems that started life as Hynautics. The boat is worth spending the extra bucks on a proper system, I don't wanna feel like I sacrificed by "rigging" it. And I've read a lot of posts about the add-ons not really getting the desired results, plus they aren't that much cheaper than the full systems. I'm thinking for a light boat, 500 +/- hp, with all new transom assy and drive (nice and tight) that a single ram power hydraulic system should work well... any thoughts or experience with that?

If you run a manual setup the helm has to be sized so you have about 10 turns lock to lock in order to get the steering effort low enough to keep your arms normal sized. Had a friend that was haveing trouble with PS pump belts and went the manual route. He said it worked fine. I never tried it, so I have no idea what effort it would take to turn it when running it that way. I know with a pump you can size the helm to still have excessive steering effort. The larger the helm the less turns lock to lock. And visa versa, smaller is better for less effort. At three turns lock to lock I have decent effort with the pump. Without it, I can imagine needing several more turns lock to lock to make it work without bulking up your arms.

Dick

My '67 Formula had Hynautic manual / hydraulic steering on it with an internal cylinder that connected to the Bravo tiller arm... Was a little hard to turn but manageable. The downfall was docking.. I'm not sure how many turns it was lock to lock but was quite a work out ... I couldn't imagine doing a dual ram external like this.

I've seen a few posts about electric/hydraulic power steering.. May want to check in to that as well..