Question? Autopilot for a 22' I/O without Hydro-Steering

[Sea Hog]

Greetings,
I am interested in getting an AP for El Gato. From what I see from some of the posts most APs for smaller boats are for either outboards or I/O with hydraulic steering.
I have the Mecruiser Diesel 1/7L DTI and do not have hydraulic steering.

Any recommendations are appreciated.
Mike

[skipjack-20]

Originally Posted by ElGato

Greetings,
I am interested in getting an AP for El Gato. From what I see from some of the posts most APs for smaller boats are for either outboards or I/O with hydraulic steering.
I have the Mecruiser Diesel 1/7L DTI and do not have hydraulic steering.

Any recommendations are appreciated.
Mike

I have an I/O with mechanical steering, I am using the simrad ap14 rotary. It works great! It replaces the whole helm unit with a clutch type system that engages/disengages at will, it's powered by a electric motor/gear reduction. It has been on my boat for along time with no problems. (knock on wood)

[MATTANZA]

i bought the raymarine st8002 from boaters world.

[chuck merkel]

I don't know about the other manufacturers than Raymarine, but the key difference in any autopilot is that with mechanical steering you will need a different type of drive unit vice the hydraulic pump that a hydraulic system would use. I would not recommend the Raymarine I/O mechanical drive unit. I tried to get this drive to work with mechanical steering (Volvo D3-130/SX drive with power steering) but there was too much friction in my steering system. I converted to hydraulic steering and everything works great now. Hope this helps.

[MATTANZA]

sorry i didn't see mechanical.

[CaptnJD]

RayM used to make a Sporttrack Autopilot that worked very well for me on my Blackman. Yet they quit making it because there were to many problems associated to it. I think that most of the problems stemmed from sticky or hard to turn cables on Pep's boats that blamed the autopilot for not functioning properly. Unfortunate for the rest of us cause they were relatively inexpensive and had all the modern capabilities. Gpsinterface and learned how boat handles and adjusts. Upon geting my Skipjack I have been looking for a replacement for my old Kingmarine "Point and Shoot" style AP for a few years now. I have Dual stations and really don't want to go thru the expence of hassel of converting to Hydraulic. So I just had my old unit rebuilt. JD

[CaptnJD]

Hey Marcus it that a "point and shoot" AP or Does it Interface with A Gps?

[riverplayer]

Pricy but you can look into Simrad's AP16 with the MSD50 linear actuator...Built in rudder feedback and just the sweetest setup for mechanical steering. Total cost with DIY install was 4500 with all the goodies. Simple install and flawless for 700 plus hours. It was VERY tough to find a supplier for the MSD50.

[FishAbility]

ill swear by the SIMRAD AP-14R autopilot. ive had them in my last two boats and ill have one on my 24 Skipjack soon as well... the remote is kinda gay, wish it was "hard Mounted" but it works awesome, especially when you interface it with your GPS.