Post a few pics of ur setup, that helps with instruction sometimes

 

I have no front setup yet. I just got the materials for the deck a couple days ago. Im just trying to get an idea of what materials i need to get started as well as some ideas. If you're talking about a picture of just the general setup of the boat, that would be hard also because i only have dial-up and it wont load the pics for some reason :headbang:

 

yea I was talkin bout ur general setup just to get an idea of what ur workin with...

 

I dont have any pics available right now. Maybe i can get some up tomorrow from my labtop.

 

Theres alot of knowledgable guys on here with front steering that should chime in tmr and be able to help ya out.....i dont know much about it

 

Thats the only 2 pics i have right now and they're of when i first bought it. I've changed a lot but the setup is still the same

 

C'mon guys.. help me out here. I've been browsing other threads and i've looked on Diamondback and Classic, but its hard to try to order anything if i have no clue what i need

 

Here's a stick I made for a guy last week.

 

what kind of tubing did you use and whats the reason for the shape of all the steering sticks

 

The shapes are mainly a preference/looks thing, it does help position the stick a little farther foward. I have seen guys just use a straight piece of conduit and it work just fine. Let me get a few pics of our steering on our kicker, it's set up just like most airboats. We built a stick similar to the one pictured above, used two pillow block bearings under the deck for the pivot point and we used a teleflex cable for the transfer to the back of the boat.

 

OK, here's what I got. First pic is the stick above deck, nothing fancy, my partner just bent some conduit, welded it up and painted it black. We use a bicycle brake handle for throttle and a bicycle grip on the end of the stick. Underneath the deck you can see the two pillow block bearings bolted to the underside of the deck, a solid shaft goes through them with the stick welded in between. Below that is where the end of the teleflex cable bolts up with a ball joint. From there on the similarities end as our cable goes to a small outboard and your will go to the rudders. Hope this helps!

 

heres my old boat, had straight steering stick also with the block bearings for pivot underneath the deck and push/pull teleflex cable sent to the back

 

Kevin, talk to bob and set up a time and we will come help ya with it or give me a shout, I might be able to give ya some ideas bc you steering setup looks the same as mine

 

That'd be great cause i really wanna get this thing into some fish. I was just wanting to see some examples so i could get an idea of what i need to buy. Thanks for the help guys

 

what kind of deck are you going to put on that glass hull? There was a guy that I was trying to help out a while back that had some major problems trying to find people to add front steering to a glass hull.

I dont know what the big problem was, but Diamondback, Alumatech, and a few other major builders all turned him down. He was willing to pay big $$$ to get it done right.


I figure as long as you dont have to take a hacksaw to any of the fiberglass, and you build a deck that allows enough room for the full movements of the stick, you should be fine.

Ultimately you need the following:

a stick, go with curved, just make sure you have the curve foreward, that is built so that you can fish further foreward on the deck of your boat.

then you will need a steering cable. Alot of people will just run the front cable to the rear drivers stick. It works, but if that origional rear cable breaks, youre dead in the water. I recomend running the cable full length from the front to the rudder, just tie in to the existing cable routing. My cables are stacked right on top of each other, then they split the tab on the rudders, one mounts on top of the rudder tab, the other is mounted on the bottom of the tab, both using the same mounting bolt.

then you will need to run a throttle cable up to the stick. You will have to custom fab some kind of fulcrum (throttle lever). I started out with the rubber hose type that you see on most all silver dollar boats, but I ended up having another lever built that looks much like an upside saddle stirrup. (makes things easier for my buddies to drive from the opposite side of the deck.)

Then last you will have to wire in an ignition toggle and a starter button. Just splice into the esisting system and you should be fine.


If you get all this tackled, you should have everything you need to get you fishing from the front of your boat.



HOWEVER, please note that your steering cable is mounted above the pivot point of your steering stick. Meaning that if you mount your front cable BELOW the pivot point of the front stick, your front stick will oppose your rear. Meaning that in order to make a right turn from the back you pull back on the rear stick, you will have to push foreward on the front...

 

Thanks for the info Impaled. I had planned on taking some angled steel and bolting it through the sides (dunno about holding ability but the sides are thick) and building a deck flush with the top. Think i'll have any problems trying to take that approach, it's the only logical one i could think of at the time. Another thing, do any of you guys run gauges to the front to keep things in check? I've been toying with the idea of making a gauge panel into my railing on the front so i can keep an eye on the oil pressure, temp, and etc. while we're fishing. Maybe a crazy idea but it'd ease my mind to be able to see if everything is running smoothly. Anyone got an input on that?

 

No, I do not have gagues on the front. Cant say that I have seen one with front gagues either. I just hop back to the console and take a peek every now and then just to make sure everything is in check.

Its a neat concept though, if you can build one that would not get in the way of fishing.


I figure you would be better off building a deck that rests on the gunnels than being bolted through the sides with no verticle support.... If you make it where the deck is supported by the gunnels alll the way around, and have a few legs that run down to the factory deck, then maybe one running down to the floor in the back, you should be fine.

 

My idea of the deck is almost exactly like what you said. I plan on resting the deck on the gunnels and maybe making some brackets to bolt to the side for extra support. Im think i might try to rig the gauges to fit either in the railing or build out a fixture to put them in. I think it'd be a pretty neat setup as well as take some of the hassle off from having to run back and check em. Sound logical??

 

Here's what I did for a light rail and also here's the only pic i have where you can see the steer stick. Saved a lot of weight without putting a deck on the front of an already heavy boat. It was side/side steering up front.