Last weekend I bought and installed a BayStar Hydraulic steering system on my 16' Arima. And what a differance it made from the origanal NFB rack and pinion. The system was easy to install and now I have one finger steering. And no more controll cables to get stiff. I would highly recommend this system to anyone.

And 0 feedback... Money well spent..

How much does it cost?

Seacat,
I did alot of shopping around to get the best price.
Auburn Sport and Marine wanted $650 + tax
Boaters world $599 + Tax
I got mine on the internet at
www.surplusunlimited.com for $449.95 + shipping came to $490 even.
Some places wanted up to $850 for the kit.
And even though the place I went through says surplus my kit was brand new and the box had never been opened.
But I know now that any boat I ever buy will be switched to hydraulic steering thats how good it works.

Well, $500 is doable, that's not bad.

Thanks Duroboat!

Oh yea I paid extra for 3 day shipping so if your not in a hurry it would be about $20 less.

Seacat what kinda boat do you have and what Hp?? The Baystar steering is only good up to 150 hp. Anything larger needs the Seastar steering kit.

1992 100 hp Suzuki V-4 oil-injection, 18' Olympic HardTop - loaded w/ GPS, VHF, CB, AM/FM/CD, FF, dry cell batteries, custom wiring and cabling, electric downriggers,etc..

Taking offers at this time,

Very nice boat!!!

http://www.piscatorialpursuits.com/uploads/UP4314.jpg
Here is my new boat.

That's a real nice boat for the sound. Fish on....!

Duroboat,

How hard was it to install. I've never done a lot of major mechanical work on a boat, but I have an Arima 21 with a Suzuki 140 and that baystar system sounds like a sweet improvement. Do I need an engineering degree to install it?

-David

Installation is basically a plumbing job. You have to bend the metal tubing without kinking it.

It seems with cable steering that it is just a matter of time til it locks up. Everyone I know has problems with it sooner or later.

DL,
It is very easy to install. It was harder to remove the old cable and system than it was to put this in. And there are no metal tubes to bend the lines are plastic and easy to run.Here is a linc to the Baystar steering site.
www.seastarsteering.com/BAYSTAR/baystarF3.htm
This steering was a factory option of your boat but not on mine. So you might even have an easyier time putting it in. I did run into a couple small problems. Like my motor well is only 36" wide and the instrutions said I would have to lift my motor off to install the steering unit (it mounts thru the tilt tube) But after talking to Don at Arima(co founder) He told me to put a hole in the motor well to allow for installation and removal of the unit. That worked out great and I made a nice nylon cover for the hole. The other problem was mounting the helm. The Rack helm had a 2" hole and this system requires a 3" hole so I had to buy a hole saw.
If you do decide to install this system and run into problems E-mail me at lollipop@webtv.net
After 3:00 today I may not have access to this site for afew weeks.
Oh also if you look around the Baystar site you will find a copy of the complete installation instructions.

Interesting, my Seastar system has copper tubing. Flexible tubing would make installation a snap.

Very nice! Wish I would have known about this before I replaced my cable last spring! Way simple installation and everything. Oh well, on the next boat!