Mechanical Boat Steering Systems Overview
What Is Mechanical Boat Steering?
Choosing the appropriate system for your application can sometimes be confusing because of the variety of steering systems available.There are 4 basic steering types: Mechanical Rotary, Mechanical Rack, Hydraulic and Power Steering that cover most of the styles of recreational powerboats. The Mechanical Rotary, Mechanical Rack and Pinion are available in standard or Zero torque Feedback versions.
Selecting among these options is dependent upon the speed and handling characteristics of your particular boat. If your boat is an outboard or if it has a sterndrive without power steering, you need to consider steering systems that reduce the rudder torque feedback that you feel while driving your boat.
Feedback is the constant effort you have to put on the steering wheel just to go straight, and it is why it takes more effort to steer one direction than the other. The amount of feedback depends on the boat, the propeller and the steering system in the boat. Generally speaking, the faster you are going the more amount of effort you have to put on the steering wheel to keep the boat going straight.
Steering Torque And Feedback
Mechanical Boat Steering Systems
Uflex offers rotary systems featuring a “Planetary Gear Design” with 3 satellite gears which distributes steering feedback more evenly and effectively throughout the helm. The result is a reduction in the amount of effort needed to steer the boat straight or into the direction of the steering torque. The Uflex Planetary Gear Design also spreads the wear of the steering direction changes over a wider wear area which reduces overall wear and the correspondent lost motion. It's simple that three contact points is more robust than one. Planetary Gear Design Rotary Steering Systems
Uflex offers rotary systems featuring a “Planetary Gear Design” with 3 satellite gears which distributes steering feedback more evenly and effectively throughout the helm. The result is a reduction in the amount of effort needed to steer the boat straight or into the direction of the steering torque. The Uflex Planetary Gear Design also spreads the wear of the steering direction changes over a wider wear area which reduces overall wear and the correspondent lost motion.
Here on the left shows a 3-contact point helm and on the right is a single contact point helm. When choosing a rotary system it is best to say 3-contact points is more robust than 1-contact point mechanical helm.
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Rack and Pinion steering
Rack and Pinion steering systems are generally found on boats where space between the drivers knees and the steering helm is limited. Racks were particularly common in the early 70’s on ski boats where the free board of the boats were very small. Today’s boats generally have enough space to fit a rotary helm, making the rack systems less popular as OEM installed option. Rack and Pinion systems have the similar design issues as conventional rotary helms. Accordingly, all the steering loads are transmitted to one contact point and there is uneven wear in the system.
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