Hydraulic Steering

[DJW]

Looking to upgrade to a 50' Maple Leaf with Hydraulic Steering. We have never had a boat with Hydraulic Steering and would like some pros and cons of this type of system. We would move the boat to Hawaii where we experience ruff sailing in the channels to say the least. We experienced 24 hours of 12-15 foot waves and winds in the 25-35 knot range on our last sail in March as we were circumnavigating Oahu before coming back to the mainland.

Dennis

 

[kloudie1]

Only con that I have noticed in messing with hydraulic steering on both a sail and a power boat is a loss of rudder feel or feedback. I don't know if all hyd systems behave like that but the two I messed with were kinda numb feeling. The sailboat especially was strange because it was difficult to feel the set of the sails and the "groove" that the boat wanted. The maintenance is a little more involved but once the system is leak free and properly bled of air, it seems to work fine, but not provide tactile feedback.

 

[sailaway78]

Boat size

I know that mechanical advantage can be changed, but for the most part I think that on a 50' boat, the hydraulic would be preferred. You do loose some "feel" as kloudie says, but the physical force to move that big a rudder with a purely mechanical system would be quite high. There are more parts and pieces to require attention and maintenance.

 

[bobtigar]

I have hyraluic steering on my sailboat. 30+ yrs old, rebuit the cyl once and replaced the lines after 25. No maintenance or adjustments necessary. From that stand point its excellent. When you set the course it stays put. Bob

 

[Snotter]

My Morgan 41 OI has hydraulic steering. Last year I had to have the cylinder on the rudder rebuilt because of a leak that required the adding of fluid and pressurize the system ever 2 weeks. I even lost steerage for a brief period shortly after taking possession of the boat. At that time I didn't know where the hydraluic resevoir was. However, I found it ASAP.

In a 50' boat you are not going to be worried about a lack of 'feel' at the helm. You are going to be very happy that you can take your hands off the wheel and it stays put. Also, hydraluic autopilots are very robust. Mine has a rudder guage that I use to tell if I need to trim the sails. The only drawback with hydraluic systems is that there will be greater opportunity to get oil in the bilge and oil at the base of the steering pedestal. If you get the boat, if the system is tired, do yourself a favor and get the components rebuilt right away. If you do so you could easily go 20 years with very little maintenance.

 

[Hermit Scott]

Do these systems have a hydraulic pump at the wheel and a piston actuator at the rudder? I was just wondering what the set up was like.

 

[kloudie1]

Scott..Yeah the ones I messed with had a little hydraulic vane pump on the wheel and a cylinder on the rudderpost/quadrant. There is a reservoir for the fluid somewhere. Then there are usually check vlaves and bypasses that electrically come into play when the auto pilot (Otto Piloto) is engaged so the wheel doesn't move when Otto moves the rudder. Pretty neat system. No external pumps like a car's power steering.