Pontoon Boat & Deck Boat Forum

As some of you know I was going to have the steering system changed on our Pontoon and the manufacturer (Silverwave) was flipping the bill except for $100 (My part) until they said we waited to long and the offer was off the table. The manufacturer had a change of heart and the change out happened this week. All I can say is WOW, what a difference. I can flat palm the steering wheel and turn the boat so easy at WOT. I can say this now that I will never own another pontoon without the power assist pump. Those of you with larger motors I suggest if you can afford it get one, you will not regret it at all. It's such a pleasure to cruise in the pontoon now.

Thanks go to:

Steven Parks
Silverwave
Pier 51

I'm glad everything worked out for you. We have a Berkshire 230cl with a 150hp Merc and I don't find my steering that hard. It's actually easier at faster speeds than at low speeds.
My front end can be raised quite a bit and it really makes a difference on ours.

I ALSO HAVE IT AND ITS GREAT!

Told ya! Its sooooooooooo nice! The Verado PS is just as easy, but 2x as noisy. I'm thinkin of insulating my PS compartment to quiet it down. Between that, the electric fuel pump and supercharger, it whines alot. When you shut down the engine, it sounds like a Harrier winding down. Sort of cool, actually!
Bryan

I have it on my boat and love it as well. I discovered the benefits very early, albeit perhaps in an unusual way: my boat has a "master power" switch, which kills power to basically everything but the engine (stereo, lighting, accessories....and, as I discovered, the power steering). On our third time out with the boat, we were finishing up a day on the water and I killed the master power switch when we left the beach and headed back to the ramp, figuring I didn't need the stereo, etc. anymore. I noticed the steering felt much harder than usual and the boat felt like it was handling funny. I stopped and discovered that I had left the ladder down (far from the first time I've done this!), so I secured it and continued on - but the steering still just didn't feel right. I stopped again and checked my prop - all okay there, but still didn't feel right when I took off again. As I thought it through in my head, I wondered if maybe....yep. Flipped the master power switch back on and could immediately feel a major difference when the power steering kicked back in. Cheap and easy lesson learned (unlike many of them), and a first-hand demonstration of the benefits of power steering!