First post - Autopilot advice for rack and pinion steering, autopilot needed

[MikeK]

Hi all!

I am not new to boating, but I am a new owner of a 1993 330 Express Cruiser. This boat will split time between fishing and port hopping on the Great Lakes. It has no autopilot currently and has manual rack and pinion steering by Teleflex. Has anyone used a linear actuator (or anything else currently in production, for that matter) with an autopilot on this type of system? My other option is to rip the whole thing out and start from scratch with hydraulic, but I am happy with the steering it has today (minus the lack of A/P) so I'd prefer not to replace it unless I have to. I have tried talking to Application Engineers from Garmin and Raymarine but they both acted like they never heard of R&P steering in a marine application. Thank you so much!

 

[MikeK]

A quick bump. I’m guessing I can take the absence of replies to suggest that there is no currently commercially available AP that will work with a non-power-assist rack and pinion system?

 

[scoflaw]

Post up a pic of this RnP setup.

 

[MikeK]

I don't have any pics off hand, but I think I can describe it well enough. The wheel has perhaps a 1" dia. pinion gear driving a ~12" wide rack behind the console. There is no power assist, and the cable driven off the end of the pinion is attached to the rudders in the same manner that a rotary helm system cable would. This system is resistant to back steering and the rudders will hold position at cruise rather than trying to push the wheel back. I don't know if there is a system that is strong enough to overcome this resistance from belowdecks without breaking anything, and I don;t know if anyone is currently offering a wheel system rated for powerboats similar to the old Kingfisher or Raytheon Autohelm units. Does anyone out there have experience with this?

 

[flyboycj84]

Get an Octopus Type S or T helm and put whatever autopilot you want on it. I recommend Garmin.

 

[MikeK]

Get an Octopus Type S or T helm and put whatever autopilot you want on it. I recommend Garmin.

That would mean a new steering cable and chucking the R&P system (which I'm generally pretty happy with) entirely. Is there no AP that will work with the existing system? Simrad and Raymarine used to offer them, and at one time Raymarine recommended a ring system similar to their EV-100 for power boat use but for some reason they don't list one for such an application anymore. Is there any reason why the EV-100 wouldn't work in a power boat application?

 

[Skybolt]

That would mean a new steering cable and chucking the R&P system (which I'm generally pretty happy with) entirely. Is there no AP that will work with the existing system? Simrad and Raymarine used to offer them, and at one time Raymarine recommended a ring system similar to their EV-100 for power boat use but for some reason they don't list one for such an application anymore. Is there any reason why the EV-100 wouldn't work in a power boat application?

If your boat is hydraulic then there are many options, but being cable steer there are few. Simrad/Lowrance is about the only one I know of that offers anything but you need to have there MFD to operate the auto-pilot. Simrad offers an outboard RS drive unit that may work for you. Not sure if the head unit and course computer will work independently though. I don't believe the newer Raymarine/Garmin drive units come in a cable drive. Garmin and Raymarine have linear drive unit(s) that are a type 1, but cost's as much as the EV system and not sure that would be compatible with your steering. I might recomend converting your steering over to hydraulic and you will find many options. The ring system you reference was/is for sail boats.

Look at the Simrad drive units:
https://www.simrad-yachting.com/simrad/type/autopilots/