WTB $300 000 Boat for $100 000. Serious offers only please.
- Thread starter Rain City
- Start date
BCI
Well-Known Member
That Albemarle boat was twin inboard straight shaft diesels, so the kicker had it's own steering system and it's own autopilot. The kicker was only controllable from that side gunwale station. The kicker was in no way connected to the main rudders of that boat. The main propulsion system had it's own autopilot system only controllable from the main helm.
If you look at the North River photos, that boat has the kicker tie-bar to the mains. That boat has one single autopilot system which controls the mains, and in turn the kicker since it's tie bar connected. On the North River I have control for autopilot at the main helm through a 4" control and also through the main chart plotter. At the aft helm I have control of the autopilot though a dedicated control panel there, and through the chart plotter there. I also have a wireless pendant to control the pilot anywhere on the boat.
Here is the aft station control (simple, quick, easy to tell others which button to press when playing a fish);
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fishin solo
Crew Member
ab1752
Crew Member
I'm going with the python system for steering. It does not do speed but seems to have the least moving parts. Throttle isn't that far away at the helme for me anyway I nd you could install a throttle in the cockpit. I also like the steering wheel back there too but I dont have the real estate on mine.
Just make double damn sure you buy the longest leg you can get with power tilt. Proposing sucks.
Just make double damn sure you buy the longest leg you can get with power tilt. Proposing sucks.
BCI
Well-Known Member
You only need to size for the size of the ram on your single VROD300. The pump only cares about how much volume of fluid it needs to move.
Look on your steering ram on your V300 and you can read the volume of the ram.
On my Whaler 315 Conquest with twin V300s (but only single steering ram) I used a Raymarine EV150 and it's working great. (100 too small, 150 just right, 200 nice to have if you can swing it).
On the North River I had to go high current pilot and SimRad 160 pump because each F300 had it's own steering ram (making the volume of fluid to move too large for the SimRad 80 pump).
BCI
Well-Known Member
The Panther one kept dying on Dmurph. He went through three of them before moving to the Intellsteer. I believe he has been happy since, however ask him to be sure.
fishin solo
Crew Member
fishin solo
Crew Member
Heard nothing but bad things about panther....breakdowns and rebuilding constantly.... unreliable
ab1752
Crew Member
Hmmm...think that's a different system. Powertran makes the python steering system. https://powrtran.com/product-category/python/
BCI
Well-Known Member
Agreed on lack of QC at Panther --
Check this out... one season with a Panther kicker mount.... holding a 15 Merc ProKicker. I was about a day or two from losing the kicker to the bottom of the sea and creating a potential fuel-leak fire/explostion hazard if the fuel line and electrical line were to shear off. Look at the aluminum sheering at the bend points;
BCI
Well-Known Member
Ah ok good then - my apologies for confusing the two.
Just looked at it - very different than Panther. Looks way better.
I like that it's 2 seconds lock to lock. Very fast.
ab1752
Crew Member
Too many systems so many to choose...I'd go autopilot but by the time I figured out how to use it I would be selling the boat. I just need simple steering for $1k. What I kick myself for is buying my kicker to fast without power trim. I'm positive the dealer said it wasn't available but I likely rushed into it. I also went long leg not xl... but an incident at the marina saw an xl shaft fitted and it is way better to troll with. So now I'm going to see if there is a Yamaha retro fit kit as I'm tired of hanging off the swin grid pulling it back up...way tried particularly in snotty weather.
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BCI
Well-Known Member
You will probably find it's cheaper just to sell/trade your existing and replace with a kicker with the features you want. The market for used kickers is strong - you would not be sitting on it for long.
Corey_lax
Crew Member
haha I read that as price per sq ft of the boat, another play on the “fishing from the living room” joke.
Rain City
Crew Member
That's exactly what I thought lol
dmurph
Well-Known Member
A 15 high thrust would push that boat, my friend had a merc 15 on his 33 black fin with twin 3208 cats, heavy rig and the 15 worked. Merc has the new efi 15 which I would be inclined to try. That being said if budgets are not a concern then the 25 high thrust would’ve pretty sweet.
As for steering a type r intelli steer is the simple cost effective route to go, I use this on my boat and it works good. What I would like to do is have the hydraulic intelli steer tied together with a rear helm and auto pilot. On the commander I think this would be the best set up. The intelli pendant will allow steering from the command bridge, or from in the cabin, the helm for the back deck and as a fail proof and of course the auto for setting gear and relaxation
As for steering a type r intelli steer is the simple cost effective route to go, I use this on my boat and it works good. What I would like to do is have the hydraulic intelli steer tied together with a rear helm and auto pilot. On the commander I think this would be the best set up. The intelli pendant will allow steering from the command bridge, or from in the cabin, the helm for the back deck and as a fail proof and of course the auto for setting gear and relaxation
Sir Reel
Well-Known Member
I've been thinking about a kicker on my 30.There is a few ways to do it but I think a hydraulic bracket would work best to lift kicker out of the water and to put deep down when its rough and to avoid cavitation. Ocean Sports use the hydraulic bracket and most have the Garmin TR1. They originally used the Yamaha 9.9HT but most now have the Yamaha 25hp HT. I had a Yamaha 9.9HT and the Tr1 on my Seasport and really liked it. Kept the boat straight as an arrow, Had throttle control, an easy autopilot off for manual steering or throttle, and very little battery draw. I had an extension tiller too so if things got hairy could take of the autopilot and steer and throttle manually. Was very easy to fish solo on a 27' boat.
One of my attached pictures is of a Commander 26 where they cut a U in the swim grid and then mounted a hydraulic bracket to the transom. Maybe even take the cutout and hinge it so when the bracket is down it fills in the U again.
One of my attached pictures is of a Commander 26 where they cut a U in the swim grid and then mounted a hydraulic bracket to the transom. Maybe even take the cutout and hinge it so when the bracket is down it fills in the U again.
