25 contender steering problem

Jason,

Pics are pretty good and I will try and see if we can sort this out, but I need to know a lot more..  So, I will start by asking a few things and saying a few things too..

FIRST  and most important–Single screw rudder steered boats never seem to do what you’d like in reverse, but with that said, they can do way better that what you have, in both reverse and when traveling Fwd at low speeds..

Now for you————–How hand’s-on are  you? The reason I am asking is that you will need to be very “hands-on” to fix what needs to be fix if you want to solve this.. Plus you will spend some $$ do to it, but that will depend on your capabilities and the components you have now to work width

The most basics you need to get your boat to steer at low speeds fwd,  and decent in reverse is  two things..

#1——– a BIG enough rudder , and a 90 degree arch — 45 degrees either side of “STRAIGHT”.. You need to measure your total ruder arch—It looks like maybe 20 degrees x 2?………But with that, comes other things that you will most probably have to do.. Redesigning or replacing  parts of the steering system components

#2—- Turns lock to lock now?

#3—need to know what you have for a  ram—exact model , or all the specs

#4—Need to see good pictures of the ram mounting

Let’s start with that

Have you the article on this site on hydraulic  steering?

Tony