Adding a steering system to a motor without one

[M4TT0]

Hey all!
This is my first post in these forums and it may be in the wrong place, sorry!
But I was about to ask a question about adding a steering system to a small outboard motor. Me and my friend built a little raft (well its actually pretty big, 4m long and 2m wide) that is running off an old 6.5hp yamaha outboard motor. Its not even supposed to be fast btw. But anyway, we don't like sitting back there steering the motor so we decided to buy a steering system with a steering wheel kind of a thing. I went online searching for such things and found that there is (at least) 3 types of steering systems. Hydraulic, rotary, and rack & pinion. Would someone please tell me the difference between these, performance and price? I want a rather cheap system that can turn my motor back there in back of the raft from a steering wheel on front of it. Thanks in adventage!

 

[gordmac]

Is your engine able to have a steering system fitted? I believe a lot of small outboards are tiller only.

 

[rosssavage]

You will need a mechanical rotary steering system. There are two options at the engine end - some transom brackets are already built to accept the steering rod and some aren't. I would guess an older 6.5hp won't, but worry not...

You can get a clamp block which bolts to the transom instead, but you'll need to check you have an attachment on the engine for the steering cable to attach too. Even if you don't though, you can make one very simply with a triangular shaped steel plate with a few holes drilled in it.

Again, with an older 6.5 you probably will have to do the extra bits unfortunately...

The only other you MUST get is a set of remotes to control gear / throttle. There may be an adaptor kit for engine to allow these to bolt straight on, or you may need to get a bit creative if there isn't. This is a little more complex, but not impossible. Get friendly with your local metal fabricator!!

Bad news is, even if you can get second hand bits, with all the adapters, steering box, remote head and control cables you are likely to be spending a good few hundred quid

 

[scottie]

At this HP you could get a wire over pulley system cheap and nasty but could be ok for this app