I'm looking at switching from dual cable to hydraulic, my steering has become pretty stiff and I think its time to make some changes. Trying to compare replacement cost between going back with cables or changing to hydraulic. Anyone have any ideas of cost involved with the two? I don't mind working on my boat myself (prefer it actually) but thinking this may be above my expertise Didn't know if any of you guys have had shops do this work for you so I wanted to get some ballpark guesses so I know if a shop is quoting too much or not.

I believe you can buy a Seastar Pro hydraulic steering kit for around $800 on the internet. Installation can be daunting for a novice, but individuals do it every day. I had a system installed on a Bullet a few years ago and I believe it ran about $1100 installed.

Ronnie did mine over at Texas Machine Works and it was the best money I ever put in my boat!

If you're used to doing your own stuff, this job should be easy. Its much easier to have a second pair of hands to pull the old cables and run the new ones but other than that its a cinch.

A SeaStar Pro is what I'd use also unless you're going under 150 hp.

I did this last summer on my boat. i bought mine on the BBC (Bassboatcentral) from a guy. matter of fact i saw one posted on it today that was a good price. dont know if thats the right helm for your motor, but worth a look.

http://www.bbcboards.net/zerothread?id=646037

Anyway its actually really easy to do yourself. I did it in stages an hour after work each day. Took longer to bleed the lines of the hydraulic fluid than anything.

And I am glad I did it myself, bc I had a buddy's hydraulic steering that was leaking and I caught it before it got any worse. Like to think I saved some heart ache. At least I will know what to look for if something isnt working.

thanks for the information. I wish that one was still for sale but it is gone After looking into it more this can't be as hard as most of the jobs I've done on my boat so I'll try to put it in myself before I pay someone else to do it

Now I just have to find the best deal

the only problem I had was enlarging the hole where the new helm unit went in the dash.