TOPIC: Pulleys for steering

Not to muddy up the other thread. I have no idea where I heard it, but somewhere I heard not to use a swivel pulley on the motor end as it will twist and of course bind the steering. Do you find this true? Or if I do use swivel pulley, you have had no problems.

I do admit that the 2 springs that are attached to the motor at the tiller cable ends does give an imprecise feeling. No matter how tight I get the cables the boat will want to turn one direction some and I am always holding the wheel to the opposite direction to correct it, then all of a sudden the boat will want to turn the other direction and I am holding the boat back to the opposite direction. I am sure that the 2 springs are in constant battle with each other.

Mine come out of teh hull at the transom, to the motor with pullys then to springs attached to the hull sides. Works good. I think you can see it in this pic a little bit.
www.fiberglassics.com/media/kunena/attachments/legacy/images/rps20110905_140443.jpg

Are the pulleys that are attached to the motor swiveling or non-swiveling?

Non...i guess.

Dave,
Take a closer look at the pics of my set up I posted on your other thread. That should explain what you need. One thing to remember with cable steering is your going to get "Torque Steer" with this system. That is if your motor is very strong and has a lot of torque, like my '59 Evinrude Fat Fifty, it will pull to the right and you will have to counter steer it to the left while your up at speed. Shouldn't really do it while at very low speed. There isn't much you can do about torque steer without changing your steering set up from cable steering. Hope this helps in answering your questions.

Bob

Dave, are you talking about a wonder @ idle spd, fighting springs?

I am talking about this kind of wondering or weaving (controllable, but aggravating) at anything starting with planing.It seems as if the boat wants to go right, so you apply pressure left, then about that time, the boat will want to go left and you hold pressure to the right. I have the cables as snug as humanly possible, so I KNOW it is not loose cables. It has to be the 2 springs in conflict as one spring fights for control over the other spring. JMHO and a wild arse guess anyhow. This is one of the reasons for changing the steering. Every chart I see on proper cable steering hook up, shows that there is to be a pulley at the motor end of each cable and then the cable terminating with a spring on one side and just anchored on the other side. One reason I have asked about the pulleys being non-swiveling on the motor, is I have been told that if they swivel, they can twist the cable and cause a potential problem with steering. I have been looking at every picture I can see on this site where the cables are visible and you see things like 2 springs quite often. Just want to do it right, once and for all. After all it is now almost winter here in Ohio, time to get all the teething problems corrected, since I got her in the water for the first time in July.

I m sorry But Im not familer with the other thread, So what kind of boat? is it the one in your avitar? If your steering is tight it may be the hull or even the swivel on your motor......Ohio, Im just 30 mi N of indianapolis, how far are you from me?

Just to see if there is play somewhere in the system, grab the motor and try to turn it left then right. Does the steering wheel turn right away or is there a lag? I know it is a long shot to make that much difference to cause wandering, but maybe a worn pin, or bushing in the wheel?

Can you get someone else to drive? Then closely observe the motor to see if it is moving slightly, without human help, when it wanders.

Just some thoughts of things to try. Good luck finding your problem.

I live south of Lima, Ohio about 25 miles. I was at an old AOMCI meet today and I looked and got allot of hands on looking and talking about this today. I am sure I will be good to go when I get the new pulleys to also change the steering. Yes, the boat in my avatar is the one I am playing with. There was a big meet in Mich. that anyone who is also into old motors would have loved to attend.

Here is the title to the other thread."Where to find parts?"

Thanks all to reading and responding to my thread.
Dave

I was there Dave! My buddy had a 2000 ford white crew cab that i was selling out of. I was the guy smoking a pipe. Hey, i was telling my buddy someone from this site needed pully parts and the guy across from me had a bunch. Right next to the guy with the aluminum boat for sale. It sure was great weather!j

Well, I don't remember anyone smoking a pipe, but I was sure studying that Starcraft steering. I saw there were 2 fellows selling pulleys and I did walk away with some. I also wished I would have walked away with the Old Town canoe. Too many times I walk away from something and later wished I hadn't. You didn't have the Sportfour or was it a Lightfour Evinrude did you? Should have brought that home too. I love the outboard meets, but I am not aware of any boat swap meets. Most of the boating meets are Chris Craft oriented. Nothing wrong with them at all, but I am a kid of the 50's, so a gravitate toward the outboard boats of that period and into the 60's.

I saw that canoe as well. I was sitting right across from it. It was in pretty bad shape the more I looked at it. The end toward the front of the trailer was rotted right off. It needed quite a bit more than just new canvas. Cool to see though.