Hydraulic steering

[JTM203SOUTH]

I am considering replacing the rack and pinion steering in my 1999 Starcraft 196 with hydraulic steering.  I originally planned to use the Baystar ( 4200) system with Raymarine's EV 100 auto pilot. The outboard is a Mercury 90 hp 2stroke and is connected to a 15 hp kicker via a rigid rod off of the back of both motors. Seastar says that Baystar can only be used with one motor and I would need to use their regular Seastar  6400 system which is larger.  While the price differnce isn't that great on the two systems, Raymarine's ev100 AP cannot be used with the larger Seastar pump. 

Does anyone run the Baystar steering on an outboard with an attached Kicker motor ? If so , have you had any problems  with either the Hydraulic steering or the AP ? . Also, what AP system do you use? 

 

Thanks in advance

 

Jack

[Bozeman Bob]

I am no engineer but I would say that when they say one motor they are referring to you possibly having 2 " 90 HP " engines ,not a kicker which is not going to be used when the main motor is  running. I should hope that at trolling speed you can use the 4200 like you planned. I would think that there concern would be the thrust of two 90 hp engines at speed and being able to turn them, not a kicker at idle attached to your main motor. Have the EV 200 on one inboard boat and the 150 on another inboard both twin 350's with excellent results. The 150 came out after I installed the 200. A bit cheaper but same great quality.

Edited March 16, 2019 by Bozeman Bob

[Ndebona]

I run my boat with a sea star hydraulic set up that way with no problems. The weight of the kicker motor when it’s linked up has no affect on my steering.

[Ready or Knot]

I will be switching my rig to hydraulic steering as soon as this snow leaves us for the year. Was also looking at the ev150 until i did some looking at the furuno navpilot 300. The point and shoot remote looks like it would be the cats a$$. Price is near the same and has a rebate until may. Anyone have any feedback on these ? Thx

[Knotlost Charters]

You are confusing what they are referring to as a "motor". They mean your primary propulsion motor, nothing to do with a kicker at trolling speeds.  The more motors you have and bigger the boat the harder it is to turn underway, without the right muscle.  A big boat with big motors cant turn there is a tremendous force against the skegs, and lower units to keep them straight. At trolling speeds its very little.