I'm fairly new to this site, and a new boat owner. Just purchased a 2005 Skeeter SL190 last month. I wanted a bass boat, but had to make the wife happy and get something I could fish out of and take the whole family out in.
Long story short, have a steering issue. When at a stand still, I can turn both left and right with my fingers. Once on plane, going anywhere from 20 to 50 mph...going right isn't a problem. But when I try to turn left, I've got to use both hands and put some muscle into it.
I took it to a local boat mechanic. He greased her up, checked hydraulic fluid, etc. He noticed the trim tab was set all the way to the right, centered it and figured that was the issue. I took it out last weekend and still have the same problem. Called the mechanic back, he said it was most likely a bleed out problem in the Sea Start hydraulic steering. The repair kit runs about 100 bucks, 25 bucks for the fluid and said it would take him 2 to 3 hours. He seems very trustworthy. Has anyone out there had this issue in the past? Thanks in advance! Scott

Try trimming the motor up while running. You should be able to find a spot that motor turns better.

Appreciate the response Gary. Took it out to the lake, got up to 40mph, and tried turning left with the motor at every possible running position. Tried the same thing at 20 mph. Same issue. It's almost like if there is any tension at all, as in anything above idle, you start feeling pressure and difficulty turning left.

But, no problem at all (no matter the trim position)when turning right. That's why I'm assuming it's a hydraulic problem??

Scott, act like you are a nascar driver and only turn one directtion -- of course, in your case, you will have to only turn right...do some high speed map study and map out your fishing plan with the idea of only making right turns to get to all of your spots and back to the ramp without any issue...lol

I would think it is something in the line(bubble/restrictin/seal) that is causing it....but i am, by no means, an expert!

Hahaha...nice one Greg!

All used Fish and Ski's do that. The steering mechanisms get conditioned to turning around to pick up skiers/tubers based on which way the previous owner habitually turned to go retrieve them. Obviously you had a left-leaning previous owner (didn't you buy this boat from someone in Austin?). Sorry. The best advice I can give you is to sell it and purchase a legitimate bass boat such as a Skeeter FX20 w/250 SHO. Let me know when you need a backseater for tournaments.

Everybody's got jokes, yet no real help!

Good one Jeff. I guess it's what I get for being surrounded by retired military fishoholics!

BTW...this is a legitimate problem, advice?

i have the SL210 and it does the same thing. my trim tab is also set to the right. i just thought the hard turning was from the torque. i don't guess mine is as bad as yours though.

Mark, any idea why the trib tab is all the way to the right? When the mechanic centered mine, I asked the same question. He couldn't think of any reason why it would be. Is yours hard to turn left and right? As mentioned, I can turn right with just a finger on full plane.

im not sure. when we bought it back in january, it was already set that way. im pretty sure its called a torque tab, but maybe im wrong. if you think about it, since the tab is set to the right, it would be much easier to turn to the right at higher speeds and harder to turn to the left. but you said you set it straight, so i have no idea then. i can't remember which direction mine is harder to turn. last time we took it out, my dad drove. but i remember it being harder to turn one way. he noticed it too. if it turns just fine at idle, then it has to be a drag issue.

Hydraulic Steering should have very little feed back. If it does the helm unit probably needs to be replaced. my sea star pro that is 10 years old can be turned easily and i don't have a torque tab on it

The higher the prop is out of the water , the harder it will be to turn left. It is hard to turn left because the prop has a right hand rotation.

Here are some links about the same scenario as yours. They mention prop slippage and prop height

http://www.bbcboards.net/zerothread?id=521795

http://www.bbcboards.net/zerothread?id=520752

Really appreciate the feedback fellas'. Checking out those threads right now.

Thanks again for the feedback. After reading those threads quite a few times, I'm thinking purchasing the repair kit, checking/replacing the end caps and bleeding the steering may be the way to go?

The rooster is good and the boat feels like its getting good lift. I've run it at different speeds, with the trim at every possible running position. Lubed everything up, verified fluid is full. The torque (trim) tab has been moved from far right to center. I think I've tried everything I can that doesn't involved a mechanic?

As one of the threads said, I understand hydraulic steering doesn't mean you won't have steering torque, it's not the same as power steering. But if turning left remains this hard, I'll have Popeye forearms by the end of summer.