Safety advisory: cable steering, twin engines

F

Falco

New member
A few months ago the Teleflex steering cable on my 2004 22' (with twin 40 HP Suzi's) broke while setting the anchor. Needless to say I was grateful this didn't happen while underway, in a storm or in poor sea conditions. The result could have been dire.

When I replaced the cable I found that the one installed by the factory in July '04 was 2 feet too long and had been bent twice in the starboard lazarette - something the Teleflex installation instructions warn against. I realized this accounted for hard steering since I bought the boat - having the right length cable installed resulted in very smooth and easy steering. The cable broke inside the helm unit which was still full of grease. The cable at the engines was still full of grease.

My suggestion is that anyone who has twins and a cable steering system should check the cable run and make sure it has no bends other than two: one coming into the lazarette and gently arcing up under the starboard gunwale and one at the helm.

Anticipating comments from the group:

1. No, I did not remove and grease the cable each year. With twins, the distance between the splashwell wall and engine is too narrow - you must pull the starboard engine to do this. Also there is no suggestion in the Teleflex cable steering owner's manual to do this (dispelling a common myth).

2. Have I contacted the factory? Yes, by email several months ago - no reply.

3. How did I get home? I sawed through the steering cable at the engine and rigged a tiller on the starboard engine. Required supplies: a hacksaw blade and rag for a handle, a 7' Washington cedar walking stick and lots of rope. Duct tape was available but not used. Piloting a C-Dory from the cockpit is pretty cool - I only wish it wasn't forced to do so due to circumstance.

4. Replacement cable length? 17 feet. You can replace just the cable and not the helm if you want. DO measure your own boat before you order. Instructions for doing so are on the Teleflex Marine site.
 
Falco,
Could you comment on your speed and force required to steer? If you had to navigate rough water would it be possible?
 
CAVU: The steering always felt tight, but not to the extent the boat could not be controlled. I have piloted the boat in very rough water, eg off Neah Bay, WA on numerous occassions. Moving the wheel required some effort but how much did not become apparent until I replaced the steering unit with a properly dimensioned cable. One of the first things I noticed is I could turn the wheel hard over with only a finger engaged in the spoke of the wheel. I always had to use 2 hands before. This is also advantageous for more quickly avoiding hazards in the water. Speed of the boat never affected the force required to steer.
 
CAVU":1se7qhlo said:
Falco,
Could you comment on your speed and force required to steer? If you had to navigate rough water would it be possible?
Click to expand...

Ken-

You weren't asking about steering capabilities with the jury rig steering were you?

Joe. :teeth :thup
 
Falco,
Sorry I didn't make it clear in my post, but I was interested in your jury rigged steering to get home. I also have twins with Teleflex cable steering. I was thinking about how I would rig steering if my cable or helm failed. I think it might be faster/easier to unbolt the tie-bar to the port engine then rig a makeshift tiller for a single engine. My question above concerned the speed you were able to make with your emergency tiller and how much force was required to steer. I think I could easily make 5-6kts with a single engine at a reasonable throttle setting but the torque of the engine would require a fairly secure jury rigged tiller. If you were alone it would be much more difficult to set the power and run back to the engine to steer before you went in a circle.
 
CAVU:

I left the tie bar attached and ran both engines back to port. Once the cable is cut the engines will pivot easily together.

I ran through only a light chop at 15 knots and the boat handled well. There is prop torque to port on the end of the tiller, but I just tied off the end of the tiller to a downrigger on the starboard side.

Yes running up and back from the throttle was pretty fun but you only have to do it once getting under way and once at the dock. The tiller end tie off is key and you gotta be fast!

Will try and post a pic of the tiller rig to my photo album.
 
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