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Dual Steering Cable System

nicknack2

Regular Contributor
"I just bought a 2000 Evenrude

"I just bought a 2000 Evenrude 200 HP, I going to put it on my 1969 Stamas, but I'm running in to issues my shop is telling me that I need a dual cable steering and a dual cable adapter that mounts in to the motor, they didn't said anything about that before I bought the motor, so my cost went from 5 hours labor to 500 labor + the cost of a new steering system and adapter, also he is recommending an adpter plate to mount the motor because it is a 25" leg, but my transdom measures either 22 1/2 or 23 1/2, I dont think I need an adapter, is my understanding that you canot mount a 20" in motor in to a transdom that is bigger than 20" what you guys think..."
 
"The dual cable system is wise

"The dual cable system is wise, as a minimum for a motor of that size. Normally I would recommend a hydraulic set-up in that horsepower range. I do run a single cable on my 140 but that's almost pushing it and if I wasn't cheap I would have a Baystar hydraualic.

If your transom is about 23" then you will have an extra 2 inches or so below the bottom of the boat. Will it work - sure - but it will create some extra drag (so you will definately lose some performance) and make your draft a little deeper than you were used to.

Personally I like to mount larger motors on a Jackplate (6 inches or so of set back and at least 4" of vertical travel). That way the motor can be "fine tuned" to the boat since often times having the cavitation plate of the motor slightly above the extreme bottom of the transom works better than level with or below.

In the current environment where gas is still very expensive, in my opinion, a 250 dollar jack plate can quickly pay for itself if you can reduce your gas consumption by even 1/2 gallon per hour by trimming the motor to it's optimal setting for your particular boat..."
 
"having the cavitation pla

"having the cavitation plate of the motor slightly above the extreme bottom of the transom works better than level with or below"

How higher than the bottom do you recommend???

would the lost performace cause by the extra 2" will be noticeable or will it just show in fuel consumption???
 
"Draggin' an extra 2"

"Draggin' an extra 2" underneath will show up in the fuel consumption and could shave upwards of 5 mph or more off your top end. Now you may not notice the speed loss unless you are used to flying up and down the lake at full throttle, but it definately will burn more gas so if you use your boat alot the extra gas it will consume will quickly evaporate any cost saving gained by not jacking the motor. Besides there is some fairly simple jack mounts that cost less than 100 bucks.

The level is unique to each and every hull so there is no one "correct" answer. Usually involves a bit of playing around/adjusting to find that "sweet spot".

You will see guys with bass boats running plates to squeeze extra speed out of their rigs. I'm running one on a 24' walkaround and have found by raising the cav plate about an inch and a half above transom bottom that it saves near a gallon per hour at cruise speed. Up my way where gas was selling for over 5 bucks a gallon this summer, that more than paid for the jack plate 3 times over just in one season.

I do have the luxury of a fuel flow meter which greatly assisted in figuring out how to adjust the motor, but it could have been done with more simple trial/error...."
 
"Graham is correct - the sweet

"Graham is correct - the sweet spot is unique to every boat. If my old memory is correct, the rule-of-thumb for starting out is to have the cavitation plate 1 inch above the bottom-most point of the transom for every 1 foot of offset from the transom. Therefore, if the forward edge of your shaft is at vertical, and you measure that it is 9 inches (3/4 of a foot) from the bottom-most point of the transom, then the cavitation plate should be 3/4 inch above a horizontal line from that point. If you add a jack plate, which I agree is a good idea, that will also increase the offset, and therefore require you to raise the motor even a little more. Once that is done, you can experiment with incremental changes to the height to get the best performance and fuel economy."
 
"Upon re-reading your original

"Upon re-reading your original post, I also agree that if you're going to spring the bucks for a dual cable steering, you would be better off replacing the mechanical steering with a hydraulic steering system. It will make a great deal of difference on how the boat handles in many different situations, from trolling to high speed running. Over the years I've worked with both types of systems on several boats from 16 ft to 25 ft, and the hydraulic system is far superior to any mechanical system, regardless of boat size. For anything over 20 ft and 150 HP it is essential."
 
"I couldn't have stated it

"I couldn't have stated it better than the above. The problem is that most guy's hearts stop for a minute when they hear that a decent hydraulic steering system for a motor above 150 horses sells for about 1000 bucks (installation extra of course) - which is probably why companies like Teleflex have a market for their 300 dollar dual cable packages.

However, taking in total, if you have just chucked 15 or 16K (or more) for a new 200 horse motor what's an extra 1000 bucks for a decent steering system and a couple hundred more for a jackplate.

Just have to keep reminding yourself that BOAT is an acronym for "Bet On Another Thousand" - dollars that is
"
 
"you guys are right, I ended u

"you guys are right, I ended up oredering a CMC manual jack plate and I'll play with it once I get the boat back, I went with a NFB dual cable steering..."
 
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