steering

Question
hi mr marine
we put our boat in today and i tied off before it was in the water so the outboard part hit the ramp pretty hard as we started to go we noticed the steering was real tight any ideas if the hard hit may have damaged our outboard it is an inboard outboard boat ...we checked the steering fluid and needs very little could the steering have frozen over the winter and it just needs time to unfreeze so to speak ?

Answer
Hi Sylvie...Thank you for selecting the undersigned to reply to your question.

When on and off-loading from a trailer, always make sure the boat's outdrive is in the fully 'raised' position, which will prevent the lower unit from making contact with the ground. There's a possibility you may have bent the hydraulics in the steering system, hence the stiffness. Alternatively, there could be an air lock in the hydraulic hose system, which will require bleeding and replenishment of the fluid. If not mechanically inclined, I recommend you have the steering mechanism checked out by a qualified marine mechanic.

Safe Boating
Ron Blanchet