Bought the 258, which engines for upgrade?

What about steering for a single BF350? Is non-powered steering acceptable? I could install a larger wheel for more leverage.
 
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oh ya, You probably have a Seastar HC5345-3 on your Yammie. It probably works on a Honda BUT....you might need a Seastar Tournament or Pro cylinder with a 350. Check the Dometic website for Outboard cylinder application guide.
heheheh,,,things add up.... I never had a 350 so IDK if you need a power assist pump....wouldn't hurt! don't forget AUTOPILOT! You NEED that!
 
c1steve said:
What about steering for a single BF350? Is manual steering acceptable? I could install a larger wheel for more leverage.
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What do you mean with manual steering, cable or hydraulic without servo pump?

cable will not work
hydraulic without servo pump may work if correct helm pump and cylinder is installed
hydraulic with autopilot pump work fine as this is what i have for my twins
I don't think there is a big difference between the 300 HP and the 350 HP V8

I suggest to install a Garmin Reactor autopilot with the correct pump and it will work

I had single F300 and twin DF300AP without servo pump or AP and they turned well, but the Honda V8 is about 180 lbs heavier.

Chris
 
I meant non-power assist steering. If the engine died at sea, I could come back on the kicker. The autopilot would be steering the main engine, and the kicker steering would be locked. The kicker puts out a max of 12 amps. With that limitation I would try to keep current draw to a minimum. Just the autopilot and VHF would be turned on.
 
I don't see a problem that the AP pump will steer, running or not.
My twins can be turned with power off / no AP pump running, but it becomes very stiff.
Will be probably less stiff on a single BF300/350 if AP Pump cut's out for whatever reason.
Chris
 
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We owned a 258 for ten years. Had a Yamaha F250 (3.3L?) for the first five years. Put 1300 hours on it. Then put on the newer F300 for the next five years. Another 1200 hours and that engine was flawless. More importantly, it had more mid-range power. I never felt the need for more power even when we had several SCUBA divers and all the gear. The F300 even got better fuel economy than the older F250.

We did much of the Great Loop with that engine, We made runs to the Bahamas (with another boat) and many solo runs to the Keys.

My wife preferred driving a single engine and lack of twins did not concern me. We had a float plan, sea anchor, a ditch bag and a good epirb. (But if you're resorting to the ditch bag, it's not a single vs. twin issue.)

I always viewed the single vs. twin issue like this: Either way, if you lose an engine you're gonna have a bad day. With twins, assuming the problem is confined to the one engine (i.e., not fuel, etc.), you can limp home as opposed to waiting for Sea Tow. Then again, it's twice as likely that you'll have that engine problem.
 
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