Autopilot ideas H34

[Jim D.]

Throwing some money at the boat this winter. yikes! One of many plans I have is to install an autopilot. I have an old auto helm 3000 that works but the setup has wires and belts cluttering the cockpit. Everybody trips over the floor bracket when we are not using the autopilot. I am looking at a ram system? Keep the mechanics under the floor. Only have the autopilot head in a pod on the helm with nmea options to interface with a chart plotter. Not sure if it can be done on this boat H34 83 vintage. Least option would be a wheel pilot again. Anyone install something like this?

Thanks
Jim

 

[kloudie1]

H-34 Autopilot

Jim, I use an Autohelm 4000+ (now obsolete).. After installing the rudder reference, it works fine!. I previously had the old type with the belt and motor on the floor and it was a problem. The newer ones with the works on the wheel like the 4000 are much more convenient. I would guess that the Smartpilot X5 would be a pretty good choice. For a below deck pilot, you certainly have room in the stern to install a ram type pilot. Because the wheel will still turn with the pilot on, I don’t think there is much to be gained with a below deck unit over the newer wheel pilots. I have some pictures of the rudder post and sector in the other computer that I'll post when I get it online in a bit. You can see from those pictures that there is room to do the job but fabricating the bracketry and such will be, uuuhhhhh, interesting.

 

[Dan Johnson]

Like Claude...

my '83 H34 has an older ST-4000 (now "obsolete") wheel pilot. I had to do a repair to the clutch engagement last year after it froze up on me while engaged and the lever sheered the pin trying to get it to release. It still works but not as well as it once did. Raymarine had just refurbished the head unit when I bought the boat and it works and tracks well without the separate flux gate compass. I will probably try to make whatever adjustment I can to the wheel unit before turning to a replacement.

Am still considering its replacement for the coming season and have pretty much concluded that the newest version from Raymarine (the X5) would be the replacement choice when the time comes. It would probably be an easy changeout for your 3000 compared to a Simrad or other mfgr.

 

[Ed Schenck]

H34 autohelm

Probably agree with the guys that another wheel pilot makes sense. I always wanted a below decks unit but they are so expensive. My old Simrad has sailed the boat for hours and hours in some pretty rough conditions. Still I like the idea of that solid connection to the rudder that you get with a good hydraulic unit below the deck. You can see the work involved in the h37-cutter KnowledgeBase. A friend documented the whole installation some years ago.

 

[kloudie1]

Autopilot Things

Here are the pictures that I have of the sector and the area around the post.. Lots of fabricated braketry will be necessary for a below deck unit.. Good Luck with it..

 

[Franklin]

Doesn't need to be hydrolic for it to be below deck. Raymarine makes a decent electric pushrod type that bolts to the rudderpost.

The one advantage a below deck will give you over a wheel driven motor is that if you loose your steering like the cable breaking, the autopilot will still be able to steer the boat.

The other advantage is that all you have to do is push the stand-by button and steer whereas with the wheel, you have to push the stand-by and then disengage the unit. Doesn't sound like much but after 4 years of doing that and now not having to disengage, I love the new below deck autopilot I have.

 

[Vinny]

Doesn't need to be hydrolic for it to be below deck. Raymarine makes a decent electric pushrod type that bolts to the rudderpost.

The one advantage a below deck will give you over a wheel driven motor is that if you loose your steering like the cable breaking, the autopilot will still be able to steer the boat.

The other advantage is that all you have to do is push the stand-by button and steer whereas with the wheel, you have to push the stand-by and then disengage the unit. Doesn't sound like much but after 4 years of doing that and now not having to disengage, I love the new below deck autopilot I have.

I agree with Franklin. I have had the wheel type on a previous boat and now I have the under deck on our H40. Big difference in how the units work and respond. Use a 6000 head a Type II electric drive unit and the S2G SmartPilot Corepack . S2G is the one with a gyro and it learns your boats motion.

Last year we made a crossing of a little less than 55 miles in 3-4' following seas and the cross track was less than 10 feet. Ours is tied into the 3010C and works great.

You will have some challenges in mounting it but just go slow. I mounted mine to drive directly off of the quadrant and it works fine. The bracket that comes with the drive unit bolts directly to the threaded holes on the quadrant.

Good luck.

 

["Partnership" in VA]

Throwing some money at the boat this winter. yikes! One of many plans I have is to install an autopilot. I have an old auto helm 3000 that works but the setup has wires and belts cluttering the cockpit. Everybody trips over the floor bracket when we are not using the autopilot. I am looking at a ram system? Keep the mechanics under the floor. Only have the autopilot head in a pod on the helm with nmea options to interface with a chart plotter. Not sure if it can be done on this boat H34 83 vintage. Least option would be a wheel pilot again. Anyone install something like this?

Thanks
Jim

Jim, I previously installed a Raymarine ST6001 with a Type I mechanical linear drive, all hardware under the cockpit floor on a Hunter 356. I purchased a replacement rudder drive wheel from Edson that had a second cog to allow the linear drive to be installed at a 90 degree angle to the steering wheel drive rod. This was the only way I could fit the linear drive below deck. I built a box in the stern lazaret from polyethylene sheeting to isolate the hardware. Cut a hole from the lazaret to the rudder compartment for the drive rod and fabricated a canvas boot to provide a watertight seal. The system worked perfectly for over 2 years when I sold the boat (thus cannot provide pictures).

 

[zds]

I'm putting a Raymarine X-5 Wheel into my 34 in a week or two.

A buddy has a a S-1 wheel in his Ericson 33 - I've used it and it's a great unit. The X-5 is the next generation of the same product.

You can find the X-5 for under $1,100 if you shop around.