Please post you motor HP, steering wheel diameter, power knob yes or no, hydraulic or cable steering and your opinion of how easy or hard it is to steer. Ill go first...
150HP
16" diameter
No power knob
Cable steering
Easy to steer
Please post you motor HP, steering wheel diameter, power knob yes or no, hydraulic or cable steering and your opinion of how easy or hard it is to steer. Ill go first...
150HP
16" diameter
No power knob
Cable steering
Easy to steer
Lol, that and the fact that most people don't know the steering wheel diameter. You also didn't specify inboard, inboard-outboard, or outboard drive type.
I need to change my steering wheel to get better visibility of my gauges so I wanted a good cross-section of the most used wheel diameters for different HP motors so I wouldnt buy something too small and feel like Im fighting the motor and regret the purchase. I realize its very subjective but I thought it would be a good guide.
I tend to brain **** everything, is the forum collectively laughing at me right now? :embarassed:
Just worry about other outboards then. My inboard steers easier than any outboard but that's because it just turns a rudder.
The wheel diameter makes a big difference in steering effort so you are right to consider carefully before you drop the size. You could also look at offset wheels like are often found on cars. The problem with them is that your wheel is often not straight on a boat as steering trim changes with boat load and speeds.
I'll let guys with outboard experience tell you what they've found as to steering type.
Our SkipperLiner has a pair of those large diameter (20" or so?) SS wheels with wood-over-SS spokes, and hydraulic steering that's as easy to turn as any power steering. It's 7-1/4 turns lock to lock, and I HATE those wheels in the harbor. I want get a pair of small-- like 10" diameter or LESS- wheels and suicide knobs for each one so I can point my drives where I need them QUICKLY.
Thats the one I want. The tri-spoke wheel with the knob. Id like to get maybe a 13" but Im worried I might wear my arm out. Right now I got a 16" and steering is pretty easy from what I remember(havent had it out in 4 years) but its so big it blocks my gauges. Made worse by the fact it is a destroyer style wheel with like 5-6 spokes.
I figure if enough people post at this thread that they have a 125-175 hp outboard with a 13" wheel w/ knob then Ill be comfortable going the same route.
No offense to anyone with a destroyer(to each his own) but I think the destroyer wheels look wimpy, cheap and generic. The tri-spoke that everybody has now looks beefier and of higher quality. Of course in 10 years the same will likely be said about the tri-spoke. :grumpy:
I had one similar on my old '70 Coronet R/T back in the day, only it had a padded grip instead of the chain-- I loved the thing! Then one day the power steering belt broke...
No offense to anyone with a destroyer(to each his own) but I think the destroyer wheels look wimpy, cheap and generic. The tri-spoke that everybody has now looks beefier and of higher quality. Of course in 10 years the same will likely be said about the tri-spoke. :grumpy:
Ok. Found one.
Its not blocking the gauges right now but I plan to flip that RPM gauge to the other side and pop in a GPS/Chartplotter where the RPM gauge is now.
