autopilot cost ?

[shadowdancer]

I have a Pearson 424. how much would a complete autopilot system cost not wheel steering only quadrant looking at b&g

[Sailmonkey]

Are you installing, or paying for an installation?

[shadowdancer]

installing myself

[kmacdonald]

What kind of steering does the boat have?
$4K+

[skipmac]

Assuming you have no existing bits at all figure $4-$5,000. Will depend somewhat on which controller and which drive unit you go with.

I installed a Simrad/B&G on my Pearson 422 for about $2800 but already had a working drive and quadrant arm installed.

With the large barn door rudder on the Pearson I would go with the NAC3 computer which generates the power to operate the drive. The NAC2 might do it but this is an area where I think going conservative will pay off in the long run.

By the way, most of the parts of the Simrad or B&G systems are identical: compass, computer, rudder angle indicator, etc. confirmed by my discussions with tech support at Navico/Simrad/B&G. The differences don't appear until you get to the controllers. Simrad offers a one unit, AP controller AP44 but if you want B&G you need a display and a control box or did when I bought mine. Defender had the best price and puts on sales occasionally.

Final comment, tech support from the manufacturer has been the best.

[SailRedemption]

We have a Kaufman 47, and went with the hydraulic ram from Lecomble and Schmitt from PYI. It's the type 50 for vessels up to 70' I believe. It was about $3000 with a spares kit. We are having a rudder stock tiller arm made by our machinist for the ram to hook to. That will probably be $400 I would guess.

For autopilot control head and computer, we went with the Pelagic Autopilot. It's a simple system but is reviewed very well by the west coast racing sailors. This was $900 for the computer, control head, two wireless remotes, and a cover.

We also had to get a rudder feedback unit for the Pelagic. We went with a Raymarine one by recommendation from Pelagic and I believe that was $220 from Defender.

So all said and done it was about $4500, minus all the ancillary parts and wiring for installation. If we would have went with B&G, it would have been at least $1500-2000 more if I remember correctly. But I would not vote against B&G, they have good gear as well. We have a Zeus2 at the helm. We just wanted a simple autopilot that wasn't connected to the network. (although the Pelagic I believe can if you wanted to. It definitely has capability to steer to wind)

[mikedefieslife]

Around $2000 for an autopilot pack from any of the big names, plus then the final drive.

Jefa make some fantastic final drive systems, but of course you pay for them.
https://www.jefa.com/autopilot-f.htm

The alternative, is a to buy a final drive system, then use pypilot, and a suitable actuator unit made by Sean. https://pypilot.org/store/

[svsonora]

I just got a CPT wheel pilot and called it a day. Its incredibly reliable. You do need to know how to balance sails, etc to get it to behave on heavier seas from the stern.