Auto pilot

[The Smalleye]

I have a Lund boat with a 150 motor and a 10hp kicker on the same stering cables,also tilt stering what auto pilot would work on this combo and what price range are we talking about.All info welcome .

[Chairman]

TR-1 makes an auto-pilot for the kicker. It is a good unit and also can be purchased with remote throttle control. The complete system is just under $2,000.
Panther has a remote steering system, you steer the boat with a button and when you release the button, the motor stays in place. It is not an oaut-pilot, but does a nice job for around $500.
I have both units, one on my 620 Ranger and the TR-1 on the 23 Pro-line. Both work well, figure your budget and fishing requirements and choose from there.
Chairman
NPAA#6

[Team Alto]

I just upgraded from the TR-1 to the TR-1 GOLD and they did make some nice improvements, still at the same price - $1800 and they took my old TR-1 in on trade. I have my kicker hooked to the main motor with a removable link, so when I use the autopilot I just remove the one end off the kicker. I've been using the new system for 2 weeks now and really like the circle turn, just hit the button and it makes a nice radius turn. Also by hitting a button it will start doing zigzags.Last weekend I was on Winnebago trolling alone and with all the whitebass hitting, it was sure nice not having to worry about keeping the boat straight.

Bob

[Bo #582]

Smalleye, You can check the TR-1 Liberator out on this website. Just click onto the products page. You can, also, buy it through Walleye Central. If you have any additional questions, you can contact me at my e-mail address.

[The Smalleye]

Thanks for the info

[jimbob]

i run a 21 foot Penn Yan with a 4.3 v6 any one know of an
auto pilot that will work with this setup ??thanks

[Team Alto]

LAST EDITED ON Jul-15-01 AT 11:31PM (CST)[p]The same company that makes the TR-1 makes a autopilot for large outboards and I/O boats, the only requirement is that you have hydraulic steering. It cost around $3000 and it dosen't control the throttle (safety reasons).

Bob

[SeaCat]

I run a SportPilot Plus on my 21' with dual 90 hp Honda outboards. Have had the SP+ on a 22' IO and it worked fine too.

Make sure to get the "Plus" model though. They also sell a plain SportPilot, but I have heard many problems with it being under powered. The Plus version is rated for much larger boats (up to 10,000 pounds) but my current rig is 4000# and the 22'IO was close to 6000 and never had a problem. Like Tim "the tool man" Taylor would say, "Can't have enough power..grr, grr..." :-)

One of the key things to setting up the SportPilot units is to get the units remote compass setup correctly. Often people don't do this right and or don't calibrate it in less than ideal installs and have problems with the unit not holding course. I just followed the instructions and it has not had problems.

Both of these boats are using hydraulic steering with the SP+. This is an additional $100 option to hook up as the standard SP+ is for manual steering.

Ryan