Auto - Pilots

[Playin Hooky]

I'm looking in to buying a auto - pilot for my 24'. Price is not the first issue but all around performance - durability. I pleasure fish at least twice a week if possible but due to scheduleing fishing partners & so on I miss some of the better days I could have been fishing.

[Thom]

The best Auto Pilot made for boats of about that size is the Simrad AP-11. The next best you can do is the Simrad AP-12. I think the 11 runs around $1,500 to $1,800, though I'm not real sure on that price. The AP-12 sells for right at a thousand. They may share the same company name but that's about as far as their similiaritys go. Each of them was designed and manufactured by a different company that Simrad eventually bought out. The AP-11 was made by Robertson and the AP-12 came from Navico. At any rate while the AP-11 is the best you can buy the AP-12 is the best deal you can get for the money. Consumer Marine Electronics would be a very good place to check for prices of the things. My recommendation would be for the AP-12 unless money really is of no concern.

There are also a bunch of combinations you can but together using Raytheon's lineup. A lot of folks like them but I would avoid them like the plague if I were you. There are just to many guys around that have suffered failures of the Raytheon units. Oh, and the Sport Pilot series is even worse than the ST-xxxx series when it comes to tales of the things getting a mind of their own. Two places where a mind of their own is unacceptable is in dogs and auto pilots.

Thom

[Livewire]

So what's the problem with a sport pilot plus ??? i have a 21 foot boat w/150 and four stroke hooked togather and do alot of trolling so what would you suggest for me too use ??? I was going to buy the sport pilot plus..... any other ideas ???

[Denied]

I run a 27 foot sportcraft, inboard, and have the Raytheon Sport Pilot Plus. Have had zero problems with it in five years now. I have it connected to my gps and use it to troll several time each week. As best I can recall it cost around $800 but that was 5 years ago. My boat has hydraulic steering and requires a feedback unit, which added $100 to the cost.

[Bopper]

I have a Raytheon ST5000 Plus on my 28 footer for three years. Has not had any problems. Mine is not interfaced with my GPS but can be if you choose. This was one of the better investments I made which allows me more freedom when trolling when I'm by myself or just two of us.

[CarpetBagger]

Sport Pilot + here too. Nothing wrong with it, just there are alot better units out there. Check out Simrad's AP lineup, and RayMarine's ST5000.... I dont think they get much better than them.

If you gota kicker then u might wana look at a TR-1 Awsome lil gadget. A few of my fishing buds have them on 21-25' boats with 9.9s. Work great.

I think a TR-1 Loaded up would be around $1600? The other ones above run from about $1000-2000.

CB

[Sparky]

I have a TR-1 on a Yamaha HT 9.9 kicker. It has been installed since '98 and it does a great job. The new Gold units are even better with the ability to zig zag and etc.. I'm rigging a 27' Searay Amberjack and debating whether to go with a kicker or try Nautamatics new Gladiator unit for I/O and Inboard installations. The boat has twin 350 Chevies and I'm not sure they'll troll down to walleye speeds even on only one engine.

[guest]

to the top

[Thom]

Playin' Hooky,

Go to this link and read the comments. It shold tell you a lot:

http://www.thehulltruth.com/ubb/Forum9/HTML/000405.html

Thom