Installing A SeaStar Solutions Hydraulic Steering System On Our Research Boat

Last updated on October 18th, 2019 at 09:55 pm

I have worked for many years in the field of marine research. Recently in the last several months, I began to investigate the idea of installing a new steering system on our research vessel. We were having issues with the steering becoming stiff and not a responsive as we need it to be. Our boat is an older vessel and I felt that an upgrade would not only help the mobility of the boat, but the functionality would improve with an upgrade in terms of performance. After many years of being out on the water, the easier and less fatiguing that the steering functionality of the boat can be, the better for me and the other people who steer the boat on a regular basis. So I began to do some research on products for improving our steering system in the marketplace, and I came to one conclusion, that a Seastar Solutions Hydraulic Steering System was the best choice for our boat.

Why We Installed A SeaStar Solutions Hydraulic Steering System

I was looking for 3 items which led me to the choice of a Seastar Solutions hydraulic steering system:

1. Cost – I needed a system which was not going to break our research budget. At around $600, the Seastar Solutions hydraulic steering system was a good fit. Our team performed the installation as well, so it saved a large amount of money on labor, and we had the satisfaction of making sure our boat is well taken care of by our team.
2. Performance – The Seastar solutions hydraulic steering systems have a great reputation of outstanding performance. After installation, the difference in ease of use and movement of the wheel were light years better than our old system. The Seastar name has been synonymous with quality for many years.
3. Quality – Seastar solutions has been in business for almost 60 years. This speaks to the quality of their products. When we purchased the Seastar hydraulic steering system, we knew that we had a quality product which would last for a long time. Seastar has been innovative in the development of these hydraulic steering systems for many years now.

I found SeaKnights to be a great source for researching which boat hydraulic steering kit to buy.

Hydraulic Boat Steering Kit For Our Slow Research Boat

Our research boat is a slow boat by anyone’s standards. For boats with 150HP or less (which is our boat), this BayStar hydraulic boat steering kit is designed specifically for these lower horsepower motors. Very similar to a car, you would not put a $10,000 steering system into a low end car. This hydraulic boat steering kit allows our slow research boat to move fluidly and easily without having to fight turning the wheel. Also, during idling, the boat does not “wander” as with the previous system.

Bottom line for me is that this Seastar solutions hydraulic boat steering kit is the perfect fit for our slow boat and would be a good fit for any boat with 150HP or less looking to upgrade to a quality system at an affordable price. I have had no complaints in the several months since we installed it, and do not anticipate that we will have any in the future as well.