Timber displacement rudder issue

[Jaza2003]

Hey guys, I have a 1960 timber displacement cruiser (picture attached). The boat only steers one way. When I checked the rudder it is moving freely back and forth. When I turn the steering wheel the rudder moves one way but not all the way the other side. Has anyone experienced a problem like this or know what may be the cause.

Thanks guys

[boris]

Is your steering by cable or hydraulic

[Jaza2003]

Hydraulic

[HankOnthewater]

If the boat steered both ways prior to your post, and you have enough oil in the system, there could be 3 faults:
- You have air in the ram/that side of the hydraulic system
- Or one of the 2 seals inside the ram (hydraulic cylinder) is leaking badly
Check if you can push the rudder by hand to the side it does not steer to.
Another indication of the faulty seal, is that when you push the rudder all the
way to the side it does not steer to, is that when underway, the rudder slowly
goes to midships again.
- The other culprit could be the pump itself. Repair of that is more complicated.

Replacing seals is easy and fairly cheap, just a messy job, and you have to bleed the system after that again.

[TrentePieds]

If the boat is otherwise sound, i.e. worth spending money on, and if you have an affection for the boat of sufficient strength, is there not a case to made for spending the "repair dollars" on converting to simple mechanical steering?

The boat will already have the tiller, stainless steel wire and fittings as well as turning blocks are not expensive. Nor is a second-hand wheel with a wire drum.

In a boat as small as this, hydraulic steering is NOT required because forces acting on the rudder are small. No sense pretending to be a grown-up ship when you are not :-)!

[donradcliffe]

Who made the hydraulic steering system? I am working on a leaking Wagner pump on an older boat, and they make a seal replacement kit for the pump.