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Eurospringer

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Seastar Hydraulic Steering  is it enough for a 150 Yamaha or should it be power steering
 
 
I love my power steering and would never be without it now! 2 finger steering is great! And my little niece and nephew love being able to easily sit on my lap and steer the boat.
 
Hated the steering on our boat and I added the Power Assist.
 
I plan to ask the service manager this question but thought I might start here.  I have power-assist steering and have always assumed that I have to find the "sweet spot" for it to work smoothly.  For example, the steering is pretty tight when I'm trimmed all the way down.  Frankly, it only feels like "finger-tip steering" when I am trimmed midway up.  I just assumed that is the way it's supposed to be until a seasoned boater drove the boat.  He seemed to think that it move alot smoother regardless of the trim.  Any thoughts? 
 
Trim has nothing to do with it. Does the pump make noise when you turn the wheel? It should. Now I'm looking at your signature and you have an E-tec. Di you have Seastar power assist or is it built-in to the E-tec motor?
 
skipperbill said:
I plan to ask the service manager this question but thought I might start here.  I have power-assist steering and have always assumed that I have to find the "sweet spot" for it to work smoothly.  For example, the steering is pretty tight when I'm trimmed all the way down.  Frankly, it only feels like "finger-tip steering" when I am trimmed midway up.  I just assumed that is the way it's supposed to be until a seasoned boater drove the boat.  He seemed to think that it move alot smoother regardless of the trim.  Any thoughts? 
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My power steering is smooth and effortless from stop to stop, regardless of the trim level.  I love the consistent feel.  You should have your service folks look at it.  
 
Definitely sounds wrong. Mine wasn't connected at all at first. The dealer makes the final connection from the pump to the helm apparently, and my dealer never did it. The sound it makes is very obvious. It sounds like a robot to me. :)
 
No sounds that I have noticed. It is Seastar. Sounds like I'll need to have them look at it.
 
I'm embarrassed and annoyed. Turns out my power steering was never connected. According to the mechanic that they were able to send out rather quickly, it must have been missed during the "boat prep". Being a newer boater and coming from a 40hp manual steering, I just assumed it was due to the motor being larger and it would be way harder without any power assist. Anyway, it's all hooked up now and WOW what a gift! 2 seasons with this newer boat and it feels like Christmas! Plus the sales manager feels bad enough that he's gonna throw in a dual battery setup this offseason. I tried to shame him into a whole stereo system upgrade/subwoofer but I guess that's asking too much. I just can't believe I've been driving this beast with basic hydraulic steering...
 
Wow. Another one just not hooked up at all. Kind of makes you wonder how many people have a sweet power steering upgrade and maybe never know it's not even working.  :blink:
 
I'm betting there's a bunch of people looking under their helms this morning ..... :)
 
That makes me want to upgrade to hydraulic!!! I mean, if just plain hydraulic is so good that people think it's power, it should be a huge improvement over my cable steering!

Thanks for posting SkipperBill!
 
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does the G series boat come with power assisted steering as part of the boat or is it an upgrade charge?
 
I believe it is an upgrade on all boats probably because 115 and under really don't need
 
kaydano said:
That makes me want to upgrade to hydraulic!!! I mean, if just plain hydraulic is so good that people think it's power, it should be a huge improvement over my cable steering!

Thanks for posting SkipperBill!
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I have Seastar's Baystar hydraulic steering and my 4 yr old navigated us out 7 miles this past weekend. Of course I handled the throttle and gave her some direction to keep clear of other vessels. Needless to say she could manage all big turns at speed without too much effort.If a 4yr old can steer this big heavy boat and big heavy motor that easily, I'd imagine the more powerful Seastar models would be a breeze on 150 and smaller motors.
 
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We took our boat out for the first time this weekend and steering was hooked up but leaked hydraulic fluid everywhere. Tightening the line didn't help. Back to the dealer this weekend.
 
Power assist hydraulic steering is an option. 

The hydraulic steering is included with most of the pontoon upgrades...ESP or SPS. Though I don't see that it is included with the Saltwater Eliptical package. If it's extra - hydraulic is $1,100 and power assist is another $2,500 on top of that. 

MSRP of course.
 
Unless something changed, $2500 should get you both.
 
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