• Welcome to the Checkmate Community Forums forums.

    You are currently viewing our boards as a guest which gives you limited access to view most discussions, articles and access to our other FREE features.
    By joining our free community you will be able to:

    » Interact with over 10,000 Checkmate Fanatics from around the world!
    » Post topics and messages
    » Post and view photos
    » Communicate privately with other members
    » Access our extensive gallery of old Checkmate brochures located in our Media Gallery
    » Browse the various pictures in our Checkmate photo gallery

    Registration is fast, simple and absolutely free so please, join our community today!

    If you have any problems with the registration process or your account login, please contact support by clicking here or by using the"contact us" link at the bottom of the page.

Steering- rotary vs rack

T

twright55

Member
Hi Everybody,
I bought a Checkmate (77 trimate w/ a '77 200hp Johnson.)
It has a rotary steering set up on it currently. It loolks like a very high quality unit with a nice hub for REAL steering wheels and has a nice wheel on it. THe cable looks like new and very thick...again very high quality. But it is still a rotary.
I also have an almost new rack & pinion system I took from another boat, but it is notably inferior quality with a cheap plastic wheel, etc. It is basically like what they sell at West Marine for $180 or so.
So my question is: are rack & pinion systems superior to rotary systems? AM I better of sticking with the higher quality rotary over a cheap rack, or vice versa? Or is too close to call?
Or should I be going with something else altogether given the power (over 150) going on this 16' boat?
 
dual cable rack would be a minimum, hydraulic would be best if money is no object
Most all 80 and newer 'mates I have seen all have rack setup, even the stern drives
and had a square drive for the steering wheel instead of hexagon so only a select few wheels will work... I bought the last MOMO leather wheel for square drive mike had at the factory during the 1st poker run
 
Rack or rotary

I ran a rotary for years on my Baja 17ft bow rider because there wasn't space for the dual rack. With a mildly tweaked 200 Merc it ran 72-74 with no handling problems. My Enchanter has dual rack but when I replace the 200 with 225 ProMax I'll spend the $1100.00 for hydraulic.

Art



Roll Tide
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top