Mine was hard to steer also. I struggled with two hands and I have power steering. I was fooling with all the moving parts at the engine side to no avail, cleaning and greasing. I disconnected the cable at the engine and discovered it was the cable. The wheel was still hard to turn.
Replaced the cable and now I can steer with one finger.
I don't know if this is your problem, but if it is, look for a part number on the outer sheathing of the cable. It helped me pick out the correct one. Oh, and the complete cable gets replaced, outer sheathing and all, not just the inner core.
I tied a string to one end before I pulled the old one out. That insured the new one took the correct route and also made it easy to pull in.