Old steering system help

[Ken Williams]

I have a 17'-6" half cabin (Pongrass) boat with a 70hp Johnson. Both are 1980 models. My steering cable snapped at the drum end so I need some help to fit a new one. The cable is approx. 12mts long and one end is fixed to the left hand side of the motor and the other end is fixed the right hand side. The centre of the cable was looped three or four times around the steering drum. When the steering wheel was turned the cable moved on the drum. The drum is connected to the steering wheel. Does anybody know how the cable is fitted to the drum ? I know this type of system is old but I can not afford to change to a later type of steering system yet. I am not very experienced on fixing things on my boat so please bear this in mind. Thank you.

 

[Lark40]

Re: Old steering system help

That was the typical steering setup on small boats forty years ago. My 1959 runabout has it.<br /><br />There should be a hole through the steering wheel drum, and you run half of the cable through it. Wind the cable around one part of drum three times, and also three times around the other half of the drum. So, you have cable heading out both directions with enough winding for several turns.<br /><br />Take each direction of cable and feed it through the pulleys and out to the engine steering yoke plate. The cable goes through that plate's pulleys and back out towards the sides of the transom, where springs keep tension on it.

 

[Tim Wunderlich]

Re: Old steering system help

Hello,<br />I have the same problem with the cable and drum system where my old cable broke. Can you please clarify on the winding the new cable. do you wind one side clockwise and the other counter closewise or both the same direction? Also - once the cable it wound around the drum - you run it back through the pulleys and motor and finally to the tension springs. Do you leave any slack inthe cable or should it be tight?