Anyone bought this new product yet? Any feedback? http://www.teleflexmarine.com/products/hydraulic-new/outboard-new/seastar_kicker/
SeaStar Kicker Cable Tie Bar
- Thread starter fortyfour
- Start date
pescador
Well-Known Member
I put it on my boat last year. In a word, incredible. Total freedom. Not cheap, but, the risk of falling over the stern of your boat in rough seas hooking up a sold tie bar makes it all worth it. As long as you have an existing SeaStar system on your main, its fairly easy to hook up.
CIVANO
Well-Known Member
Ditto for me. I spent hundreds of dollers replacing broken and failed easy steer parts. I installed this last spring and it worked flawlessly all summer. I did have some difficulty finding the correct part to go on my yamaha 9.9 kicker. It does not come with the kit. It is well worth the $.
pescador
Well-Known Member
As Civano states, yes it does. No big deal though. I don't find any added weight/stress turning the wheel for both engines. Lets face it, when you're on your main your not making wide turns until you come into port. The great thing is that the offset from your main to kicker isn't as big an issue as it is with traditional hardware connections. The range of mounting flexibility is greater. You'll wonder how you lived without it.
cowieslabslayer
Member
What sorta cost did you guys pay?? I was quoted $370ish depending on size
Let me know
Let me know
That was just parts hey? not installed
I'm the same way, Ill definitely pay the pro to do it.
CIVANO
Well-Known Member
http://www.teleflexmarine.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/HS14usa-Kicker-cable-tie-bar.pdf
I ordered a little longer than the graph and no problem. It is not hard to install
I ordered a little longer than the graph and no problem. It is not hard to install
Thanks for that....looks like i've found an issue that might be a problem. My boat (21'6 trophy) may not have the clearance in the engine well. That link says you need 14" .... Ill have to measure but I think i have much less than that.
Sharphooks
Well-Known Member
Hey Gents
I graduated from Seastar Kicker Tie Bar high school so I can (yes, not a common thing for me), speak with some degree of authority on these things...
1)) They are easy to install as long as the tilt tubes in both the kicker and main are rust free and easy to get to
2) Critical part of the DYI: make sure that if you have a bundle of steering and shift cables and tank hose, that it is held in the proper orientation (either port or starboard of the kicker depending on your off-set etc. ) and once you’ve decided where they coil, make sure THE KICKER TURNS BACK AND FORTH ATTACHED TO THE MAIN OUTBOARD FREELY WITH ZERO BINDING
3) Yes, you can leave the kicker attached and in fully tilted up position when underway or when motoring around a dock but I am here to tell you that there are lots of stories of bent tie rods from people doing exactly that.
4). My recommendation (FWIW): any time you’re at the dock or coming on and off a trailer and need to make sharp turns in a tight location, lower the kicker a bit, even all the way down so you don’t stress that tie bar—-it’s the hard-over angle of the dangle port to starboard and back again that will kill those bars
Again, that was FWIW. I burned through two tie bars and heard the stories of bent bars on the interweb and saw the pictures. On my third one, I saw where the main stress occurred and I wanted a work-around to make sure that bar stayed straight and true, especially when I was in the middle of nowhere and could not afford to compromise that connection
Yes, they’re expensive but worse, when they bend they bind and you will lose steering with both outboards until you disconnect the bar from the main engine
Just to underscore that I’m not making this up, a guy at Seastar actually recommended that I disconnect the tie-bar when I’m running then get out on the swim step and re-connect when I wanted to start fishing (???? Wtf???)
‘Nuff said....
I graduated from Seastar Kicker Tie Bar high school so I can (yes, not a common thing for me), speak with some degree of authority on these things...
1)) They are easy to install as long as the tilt tubes in both the kicker and main are rust free and easy to get to
2) Critical part of the DYI: make sure that if you have a bundle of steering and shift cables and tank hose, that it is held in the proper orientation (either port or starboard of the kicker depending on your off-set etc. ) and once you’ve decided where they coil, make sure THE KICKER TURNS BACK AND FORTH ATTACHED TO THE MAIN OUTBOARD FREELY WITH ZERO BINDING
3) Yes, you can leave the kicker attached and in fully tilted up position when underway or when motoring around a dock but I am here to tell you that there are lots of stories of bent tie rods from people doing exactly that.
4). My recommendation (FWIW): any time you’re at the dock or coming on and off a trailer and need to make sharp turns in a tight location, lower the kicker a bit, even all the way down so you don’t stress that tie bar—-it’s the hard-over angle of the dangle port to starboard and back again that will kill those bars
Again, that was FWIW. I burned through two tie bars and heard the stories of bent bars on the interweb and saw the pictures. On my third one, I saw where the main stress occurred and I wanted a work-around to make sure that bar stayed straight and true, especially when I was in the middle of nowhere and could not afford to compromise that connection
Yes, they’re expensive but worse, when they bend they bind and you will lose steering with both outboards until you disconnect the bar from the main engine
Just to underscore that I’m not making this up, a guy at Seastar actually recommended that I disconnect the tie-bar when I’m running then get out on the swim step and re-connect when I wanted to start fishing (???? Wtf???)
‘Nuff said....
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