Best Steering/ Autopilot for a Grady 228

[thrillseekers]

I have a Grady 228 with a 9.9hp kicker. I plan to troll using the 9.9 kicker (at probably 4-6 mph) for long, extended periods of time. I'd like to be able to imput many coordinate points in a line (one after another) and have my Autopilot do the work of getting the boat to them, while I concentrate on fishing. I plan to have a Humminbird 998 or 1198 Fish Finder that I believe needs to be compatable with my autopilot system. My primary use for the autopilot would be for trolling. This lead me to consider attaching the autopilot to the kicker. However, I also heard that a good autopilot can save considerable on fuel consuption while cruising due to their inherent steering efficiencies. I've read some people leave their primary motor (in my case a 250hp Yamaha 4stk) in the water while trolling and us that to steer (via conventional means or autopilot), while powering ahead with their kicker. Finally, I've also heard of people steering while trolling (again powering with a kicker) by physically linking both motors together so that as the primary steers so does the kicker. Is it detrimental to leave my primary motor in the water for extended periods of time (days)? If so, can the kicker be link steered with the primary out of the water? At 4-6 mph in the 2 mph+ gulf stream would dual steering (primary and powered kicker) be necessary for the autopilot to stay on course? I'd like to decide how best to set this up. I'd appeciate your thoughts. Also I'd like to know what would be a good autopilot system for this application. As you can probably tell this is all pretty new to me.



1995-Present .....14' Lonestar aluminum V-hull, :hmm 9.9 Evenrude 2 stroke (Boatacious)
1998-Present .....17' Grumman aluminum square stern canoe, 4HP Evenrude 2stroke (Mythril)
2013-Present..... 22' 1989 Grady 228g, 250HP Yamaha 4 stroke & 9.9HP Evenrude Kicker 4 stroke (Pole Bender)

 

[ElyseM]

i've used this on a sailboat and a small power boat. worked great.

http://www.marinetechproducts.com/pages/ezsteerhome

someone at the marina put this on a power boat and he loves it

http://www.raymarine.com/view/?id=733

good luck, ron

 

[Doc Stressor]

You best bet would be to get a separate autopilot system for your trolling motor. The TR-1 from Garmin will do what you want. It will take input from the NMEA 0183 connection on your Humminbird unit.

http://www.imarineusa.com/garmintr-1goldmarineautopilot.aspx?gclid=CPaIxaKy6rsCFahj7AodqmIA-g

But one thing you need to consider is whether or not you'll be able to troll with a kicker in the gulf stream. You may have noticed that very few boats in Florida have kickers. Those that do are intended for getting back home if the main engine fails. Kickers work fine on Gradys in the Pacific, but the shorter wave periods in the Atlantic and Gulf make steering from an off center engine much more difficult. I would recommend trying out your kicker first before you get an autopilot.

There is no reason why your kicker would not steer along with your main engine using a standard connector bar. As long as you wire the AP to work with the ignition switch on the main engine turned off. You will still have the same issue with the boat tracking straight, however.

I have a Raymarine S1000 AP on my 226. It works OK at trolling speeds unless it gets too rough. In that case, even steering with a single engine causes too much veering for effective trolling unless I increase the speed to 7 mph or so. Maybe a more expensive AP with a heading sensor would work better at low speed.

 

[GulfSea]

I also have the S1000 on my 228 but haven't had any drift issues although it can be finicky at times. At the $1000 price range, it's much less expensive than other AP's so there are trade offs. I think the slowest they recommend is 4mph so that may be a deal killer for your application.

 

[Gman25]

Im not sure what the advantage would be to connecting your AP to the kicker alone. That would seriously limit your AP use. I would connect the AP to your outboard and then if you want to use it while trolling using your kicker, the AP will stear the outboard using it as a rudder.Then while underway you can use the AP to stear the boat at highter speeds.

Also are you able to steer the kicker from the helm or is it fixed mounted? Is there a bar like used on twin outboards that link the two? If its fixed then you are going to have to run hydro lines with a steering ram to your kicker. Not a good idea. If you have the bar that links the two together so they steer together then I would say tap the AP Hydro lines right into your helm steering and use the outboard as a rudder.

 

[fish_hunter]

Based On My Experience, Your Kicker Will Darn Near Be At Full Throttle To Get 4-6 Mph On A 22' Boat. Might As Well Use Main Motor (Quieter)And Buy A Good Autopilot.
This Is Based On A Honda 9.9 On A Seaswirl Striper 2101 (Lighter Boat Than Your 22)

 

[Doc Stressor]

Im not sure what the advantage would be to connecting your AP to the kicker alone.

The TR-1 allows you control the speed of your trolling motor and to dodge obstructions from the stern of the boat using the hand held controller. If you are fishing with downriggers, this is a big advantage. However, I still don't think that a kicker is the right solution for offshore trolling. A 4-stroke main engine will use very little fuel when trolling at offshore speeds. I agree that a single AP on the main engine is likely the best solution.

 

[SmokyMtnGrady]

I know I am coming late to the party here. However, I have a question. What do you troll for? I fish the east coast of Florida in the spring and I target surface pelagics like dolphin, tuna and wahoo. I am always on the look out for weedlines, birds, rips and so forth. Using an autopilot for me does not make a lot of sense. However, maybe trolling a reef line for grouper or some other fish using down riggers or something then it might make some sense to use an auto pilot. I am making assumptions here about trolling deep as I do not do it alot.

I find using the main motor works just fine for trolling. I do not have kicker.

 

[GulfSea]

Based On My Experience, Your Kicker Will Darn Near Be At Full Throttle To Get 4-6 Mph On A 22' Boat. Might As Well Use Main Motor (Quieter)And Buy A Good Autopilot.
This Is Based On A Honda 9.9 On A Seaswirl Striper 2101 (Lighter Boat Than Your 22)

Which model Honda to you have? I'm asking as originally I didn't plan on getting a kicker but reports have been pretty good on "High Thrust" kickers.

I know I am coming late to the party here. However, I have a question. What do you troll for? I fish the east coast of Florida in the spring and I target surface pelagics like dolphin, tuna and wahoo. I am always on the look out for weedlines, birds, rips and so forth. Using an autopilot for me does not make a lot of sense. However, maybe trolling a reef line for grouper or some other fish using down riggers or something then it might make some sense to use an auto pilot. I am making assumptions here about trolling deep as I do not do it alot.

I find using the main motor works just fine for trolling. I do not have kicker.

Smoky, you don't know what you're missing with an AP. It's one of those things that if it broke on my boat I would not rest till' it was repaired or replaced. If I travel more than a mile, it's engaged. We got into wahoo last year and used it big time. Beyond the normal point a to point b use, it's capable of cloverleaf patterns which proved very valuable trolling over an edge we found 20 miles or so offshore. When we hooked up, I'd throttle back, set the AP to straight and clear lines while my friend fought the fish.

 

[thrillseekers]

Thanks All,

This is my first get go out of the box for Florida fishing (other than fishing the Key Bridges in the 70's as a UofM student)). I'm presently in the process of moving from Utah to Florida. I've caught some big trout in Utah but they'd be little more than bait out in Florida's Deep Blue. I'm planning some extended trips in my 228G probably trolling south close along the East Coast and then trolling north out farther on the return trip where the current is stronger and in my direction. I'm hoping to troll the edge of the gulfstream for grouper while also targeting any wayward pelagics. I figure a slow troll (4-6mph) with a kicker could pick up a fair amount of fish especially grouper and snapper. I expect maybe 7 mpg while trolling with a kicker. In addition to possibly extending my range (I only have a 60 gal. tank right now), I figure a kicker could possibly allow me to limp in to port in the event of engine failure and also take some wear and tear off my Yamaha F250 prime mover. I plan to add another 60 gal. tank so that would extend my range considerably. This is all pretty much new to me and going to be a lot of hit and miss.

Thanks to all for the imput.

14’ Lonestar aluminum V hull w/ 55# Minn Kota and 4 fishfinders... - (Boatacious)
2 x 17’ Grumman square stern canoes w/ 4hp Evenrude & 36# Minn Kota (Mithril) & (The Seeker)
22’ Grady Seafarer 228g w/ F250 and 9.9 kicker (Pole Bender):

 

[thrillseekers]

Thanks All,

This is my first get go out of the box for Florida fishing (other than fishing the Key Bridges in the 70's as a UofM student)). I'm presently in the process of moving from Utah to Florida. I've caught some big trout in Utah but they'd be little more than bait out in Florida's Deep Blue. I'm planning some extended trips in my 228G probably trolling south close along the East Coast and then trolling north out farther on the return trip where the current is stronger and in my direction. I'm hoping to troll the edge of the gulfstream for grouper while also targeting any wayward pelagics. I figure a slow troll (4-6mph) with a kicker could pick up a fair amount of fish especially grouper and snapper. I expect maybe 7 mpg while trolling with a kicker. In addition to possibly extending my range (I only have a 60 gal. tank right now), I figure a kicker could possibly allow me to limp in to port in the event of engine failure and also take some wear and tear off my Yamaha F250 prime mover. I plan to add another 60 gal. tank so that would extend my range considerably. This is all pretty much new to me and going to be a lot of hit and miss.

Thanks to all for the imput.

14’ Lonestar aluminum V hull w/ 55# Minn Kota and 4 fishfinders... - (Boatacious)
2 x 17’ Grumman square stern canoes w/ 4hp Evenrude & 36# Minn Kota (Mithril) & (The Seeker)
22’ Grady Seafarer 228g w/ F250 and 9.9 kicker (Pole Bender):