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I've had hydrive on my boat for well over 5 years now, excellent product, no issues at all, highliy recommended.
Cheers
ML
Guys i've done heaps of searching regarding a few of the common brands available, in terms of quality and reliability what brand do you guys recommend.
It seems Hydrive Bullhorn has a good following with lots of people in the industry recommending it but at the same time a lot of patriotism seems to come with this product being Australian built. I don't doubt that we can't build a great product.
What pushes me away from Hydrive is the plastic composite end pieces as im told that these can flex as advised by my local retailer, i don't believe plastic has a place alongside a hydraulic ram.
Looking to spend up to 2k on a system, will also be hooking it into an autopilot system.
Chasing anyone's experience that can lead me in the right direction.
I've had hydrive on my boat for well over 5 years now, excellent product, no issues at all, highliy recommended.
Cheers
ML
Hi DTH,Originally Posted by DTHCoCo
You might like to have a read of this thread ... http://www.ausfish.com.au/vforum/sho...aulic+steering
Some good advice on options there, & if you price range is up to it you might like to consider Spanaird Kings advice.
cheers, HR
'Hard work never killed anyone. But why risk it?'
I've got Hydrive steering on my boat, also have it hooked up to a S1000 auto pilot. works fine, never had a problem with it.
Cheers
Blake
I have done a bit of looking around myself recently, and I reckon for a standard boat, I would look at the Seastar side mount, quite cheap compared to the bullhorn, and quite a bit neater, but it does require some space to the side of the motor, kind of like cable steering does.
Not recomended to hook an Autopilot to an Unballanced hydraulic ram system such as a side mount.
Garry
Retired Honda Master Tech
Has anyone had any experience with the Seastar Pro version?
Garry,
Saw this post of yours on hydraulic steering on here from Feb 2008.....
Greg,
I have trialed many units and without a doubt the most robust setup we found was a seastar 1.7 Helm and a Hynautic K6 Ram We use this setup at Sea World with many thousands of hours of trouble free work. The 1.7 helm coupled with the ram and using seastar Pro hoses gives minimal resistance steering.
Once you aee a K6 ram you will understand the simplicity of the design to be a key factor.
cheers
Garry
and this post on another site from Jul 2002.....
Dunk, I have played around with a few Hydraulic systems as I work for a boating company and to be Honest most of the systems on offer today are good. personally I would stay away fromm bullhorn rams as the linkages can flog out easily, One ram I have found to be very good is a ram called a Hynautic K6. These rams are a balanced ram which means you get the same turns each side of center an they mount to the front engine bracket. will post a pick tomorrow night for you to see.
The Original
Spaniard King
Goldcoast
My Chrissy present to myself is hydraulic steering for my 5m CC (70 Jono 2st) I prefer to go wide vide Hutchies, prefer to by quality & don't want to be let down in marginal weather outside. Question is do you still hold the same view now that the Seastar 1.7 helm matched with a Hynautic K6 ram is the way to go? I can't fit a side ram as there's insufficient clearance so a K6 style or Bullhorn is the only option, but would prefer to avoid a bullhorn since doing some research on the K6. Saw the pic of the K6 you fitted to the Edencraft Honda 225 & I like it's simplicity of design. Would appreciate your thoughts.
cheers, HR
'Hard work never killed anyone. But why risk it?'
No problems with my Hydrive system almost 2 yrs old now.
Tight lines <*)(((((((((><
griz, bullhorn or side mount? what about the hydraulic lines, any wear & tear?
'Hard work never killed anyone. But why risk it?'
Im running side mount in my Haines 17r with 150 Ficht. Got the unit secondhand with the motor. Quick clean and new olives and all working sweet. I inspected the lines before install but all seemed good. Good idea to bundle them all up and try to keep the sun off them though.
Pretty sure Garry first alerted me to the existance of the Hynautic K6 cylinder 3 or more years ago (thanks again Garry) when i was building mine up...it is simply miles ahead of the bullhorn design (which is fine too) or the single rod design with the only disadvantage being the room needed may not suit smaller wells.
Hydrive also sells an equivalent design cannot remember now why I didn't choose their particular copy.
The choice is yours, you can mix and match any manufacturers offerings, dont discount the fully commercial helm and cylinder brands too, it seems with hydraulic steering that what you spend really does make the difference.
cheers fnq
The K6 ram requires a 4 bolt system to be available on the front of the pivot tube bracket, some engines do not have these holes available for the ram bracket to bolt to.
The being the overiding factor to weather the ram can or cannot be mounted to a particular engine.
Also please note the K6 ram does require more working area than a bullhorn type sytem.
Garry
Retired Honda Master Tech
Garry, thanks. The Jono 70 has the 4 bolt holes, just need check they align with a K6 ram. Are you able to recommend a reputable K6 ram outlet?
cheers, HR
'Hard work never killed anyone. But why risk it?'
Yep... ME
Garry
Retired Honda Master Tech
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