jigstick

I believe 7/8. I’ll check. But I’m pretty sure

Yep. Still got em. 

Alright. Guess I’m back to Yamis or Verados

I did not. That certainly may change my plans

I’m considering a new boat and powering it with twin Evinrude ETEC G2 150 HOs engines. I like the compact size, power output, and internal steering components. Anybody have any expierence with Evinrude outboards ?

Please do yourself a favor and get good rod holders. Especially for dipsys. Get yourself some MuddyCreek track and rod holders.   I like them better than my Cisco rod holders for dipsy use. 

I mean wouldn’t you want to get the survey before your purchase?  After money and title exchange I mean its a done deal. If your survey after purchase shows significant problems you’re kind of **** out of luck

I use SternSaver kits. Had everything you need to adhere the composite board to your transom. Mine have been on for 7yrs so far without issue. 
 

if you have old holes that need filled run a drill bit in there and see how wet the transom is. Hog out the hole to a larger OD. Then use a counter sink bit to bevel the edge. 
 

purchase G Flex 2 part epoxy. Mix some up. And inject into the holes with a syringe. Cover with a piece of tape and let it set. G flex will penetrate moist wood and cure rock solid. You can even tap it similiar to marine Tex. 
 

once set up remove the tape. Sand it down into the bevel you made. And skim coat with Gel Coat. Use emery cloth or wet sand the gel coat smooth. 
 

you could also just glob 5200 into the hole but it expands out and looks like crap. And it doesn’t really penetrate damp transom cores

Garmin with GT23TM mid band 600 watt chirp / down imaging transducer.  Just installed this setup and networked in Garmin Reactor autopilot to it.  It is extremely nice.  Outside of some of the Simrad installs Ive seen it has to be one of my favorites.

You have 3 options:

Octopus Helm Drive

Octopus Remote Drive

Convert to Hydraulic steering  and use hydraulic autopilot.

Octopus Helm drives require 10-12in of free space behind the dash in order to install.  Octopus Remote Drives install back by your yoke and power assist cylinder and use a secondary steering cable mounted via some often times difficult to install mounting brackets.  If you can tackle either install then youll get "satisfactory" results for trolling and cruising.  Steering will still feel like cable steering.

Converting to hydraulic would certainly give the best performance.  Overall smoother steering.  This is the route I ended up taking after suffering with Helm driven autopilot setups for a few years.  And Its the best decision i ever made.

I was curious as well about what transducer hes running.  Because I dont thinking humminbird makes a low band chirp firing 40-60khz.

Yankee...are you using traditional or chirp?  I just installed a 600 watt mid band chirp transducer on my boat and im hoping I get better performance on Lake O compared to my old one

Chas 

Can you clarify your set up for me.  Did you install your new steering ram onto the factory power assist cylinder?  But then took the factory power assist cylinder out of the loop by disconnecting the factory hydraulic line going from the power steering pump back to the assist cylinder?  And by this your basically just using the factory power assist cylinder as a "mounting bracket" for the new ram?

If this is the case that is fantastic to know.  Because Ive been wanting to take the factory power assist pump and cylinder out of the equation.  But I wasnt sure if it would work.

I want to point something out here. With my install...by that I mean installing the new ram onto the factory power assist cylinder (where your original cable went) works for me because I troll with my main engine. 
 

if you’re attempting this install, to have the hydraulic AP work on a kicker slaved to the outdrive with a yoke assembly and your main engine off...I’m not sure that it’s going to work for you. 
 

for that type of set up you may have to add T fittings / valves to divert the fluid flow towards your kicker motor...which would also need its own ram

That’s a good question. I do not know.

Yes it would work. But you will need to fabricate some type of mount for the new seastar cylinder. You’ll also need a new drive belt because when you remove the power steering pump the original will end up being too long. For these reasons I chose just to leave the factory power assist in place.  If you come up with a good solution please let me know. I’d be interested in seeing what you came up with. 

Bump

Bump. Price drop $30/piece. Want these things gone. 

I’d be happy to discuss this type of install on the phone if you’d like. Atleast tell you my experiences with mine thus far. Let me know. 

With the octopus helm drives you’ll need to change out your steering cable as well. And they require 10-12in of space behind the dash.  

That was my boat. I did this conversion and spliced in hydraulic autopilot. Easy job. 
 

my post should list most of the components. I actually used a cylinder designed for outboard engines because of a clearance issue. I called Seastar and talked to them about it. The cylinder they told me to use was the same volume and power rated but slightly shorter in length. 

I have 6 Smith grab rail adjustable rod holders. They have drain holes on the bottom. Work fine. Just don’t need them anymore. $35 a piece. Will ship. 

I have a twin turbo ecoboost with 410HP in my Ford Expedition. And a heavy duty towing package. Tows up to 9300-9500lbs I believe depending on the rear axle gear ratio. The trailer has electric over hydraulic

This has the 9ft 3in beam right?  I’m interested in it but worried about legality of towing it every weekend

I’m considering buying a Robalo R245 with twin yamis. It has a 105” Beam. So 3in wider than most states 8ft 6in towing limit width. I’m not certain it would even be noticeable going down the highway. What do you guys think