Auto Pilot Help

[apagano]

Hello,
I just acquired 40 Marine Trader Double Cabin and I am about to start working on upgrades and changes. One Cruising aid I really want is auto pilot , nothing fancy, I don't need anything that deals with way points or course corrections. Just something to help me along the way as I cruise.
so I am looking for help and suggestions, I kind of got an idea regarding whats going on but, not really.


My steering is mechanical not Hydralic. and my wheel is the old school wooden spoke type.


can anyone steer me in the right direction? I would be grateful


Thanks
Alfonse

 

[AusCan]

The most simple system is a wheel driven unit. I have a 30 year old Autohelm 4000 unit that still works great. Just point the boat in the right direction and push auto. Simple and reliable.

The problem is that that most (all?) wheel driven units are limited to boats around 8-9 tons. I'm guessing you are up around 12 tons. A wheel driven unit on your boat would be underpowered in anything other than calm seas.

The next step up for a bigger boat with mechanical steering is a Linear Drive Unit. Look at the Raymarine EV-200 Linear autopilot or something similar.

The next step up after that involves converting your steering to hydraulic, so lots of work/cost involved.

Good luck with it. You'll never go without again once you have a boat with A/P.

 

[SteveK]

The most simple system is a wheel driven unit. I have a 30 year old Autohelm 4000 unit that still works great. Just point the boat in the right direction and push auto. Simple and reliable.

The problem is that that most (all?) wheel driven units are limited to boats around 8-9 tons. I'm guessing you are up around 12 tons. A wheel driven unit on your boat would be underpowered in anything other than calm seas.
...........

Curious if you have had that experience (bolded).
Reason for asking is I know the autohelm 4000 and wondered why it would not be able to steer the rudders of the trawler. I compare this to a 30 sail I had which has a large rudder, at times it struggled. But trawlers have much smaller rudders. In rough seas manual steering is a chore. Slow steering response rather than moving position of rudders.
Having a difficult time understanding where the tonnage comes into play

 

[Comodave]

Congrats on your new boat.

 

[mvweebles]

Curious if you have had that experience (bolded).
Reason for asking is I know the autohelm 4000 and wondered why it would not be able to steer the rudders of the trawler. I compare this to a 30 sail I had which has a large rudder, at times it struggled. But trawlers have much smaller rudders. In rough seas manual steering is a chore. Slow steering response rather than moving position of rudders.
Having a difficult time understanding where the tonnage comes into play

I would have agreed with this until faulty recently. One of the YouTube channels I watched was Sailing Zingaro, a woefully underfunded guy on an older catamaran, the fast kind, not the newer condo style. I think around 38 feet. In rough seas, he eventually had troubles with his 4000 chewing up belts and tearing apart the large gear that mounts on the wheel. Sounded like he also had trouble finding parts for it.

Before my current Willard 36, I owned a little sister Willard 30 that had cable steering. I initially tried a wheel pilot however slack in the steering cables caused the AP to not work well. I'm also not sure the firmware in these less expensive units is adjustable enough to accommodate the steering characteristics of both sail and power boats.

For my Willard 30, I ultimately converted to hydraulic. At the time, I managed to find the components at a west marine bargain store for a steep discount. Too bad those are long gone. Would be quite expensive to do now.

Peter