Steering wheel pressure/feedback

[swhfire21]

This is my first experience with a rudder steered power boat and hydraulic steering. Is it normal for there to be a lot of pressure required to turn while at cruising speed? Never experienced this with any of my outboards.

[Tree]

Yes it’s normal. The propellor is in front of the rudder unlike an outboard or drive so will add pressure to the rudder.

[MerryKate]

It depends on how much effort you're experiencing, but it should not be difficult at all. i.e. the hydrodynamics should not create much more effort at cruise than at idle. Just so you can turn easily enough to steer safely it's probably ok, but not totally right.

There is a very old thread about this on the 28TEs:

https://www.albinowners.net/aog/viewtop ... 4526#p4526

There's a link to a picture of my older-style rudder vs. the large square ones Albin used later, with some rationale. Not sure what rudder Tree has, but my buddie's early 2000's 28TE required lots of effort to turn at cruise, whereas mine can turn with a finger and I have the most minimal helm pump and ram available at that time.

Someone actually cut his rudder way down to help. That's radical and if it was bad enough I would try upgrading the steering system first (to a larger ram maybe?). I think Albin cheaped out and under-spec'd the steering gear on the 28's and my setup is about as much as it could handle. But welcome to the world of hydraulic steering - by far the best type of system there is!

[swhfire21]

A few degrees in either direction does not require much effort. Turning 30-40 degrees to follow a channel though requires a ton of effort (two hands on wheel/two feet on deck/grunt). It seems crazy excessive and raises concern about hydraulic system failure. My rudder is a basic barn door with little or no offset to the leading edge.

[Tree]

Give the steering fluid a flush. It might be aged and have some water in it. Hydraulic steering ain’t anything like an outboard or a stern drive. Every little helps.