Funeral for the old Wood-Freeman Autopilot

[Tawney1]

Well, the old adage is correct..., "when it rains it pours." The old Wood-Freeman autopilot lived a good life but it has died! (Or, at the least, it is in a coma and brain-dead.)

We are considering two options: (i) Raymarine, or (ii) Simrad AP25. Does anyone have experience with either or both of these, and what observations or recommendations are out there.

Thanks for the help.

Paul

P.S. If anyone would like the old Wood-Freeman system, you are welcome to it. Just let me know and it's yours for the price of shipping (as soon as we have it out of the boat).

 

[doc g]

Simrad ,if not only for thier great support. They have a great parts and tech support system. I've been pleased with mine. They also tend to make new stuff that does not make the old obsolete,so you can put new heads on and keep the old pumps etc. Alot of comm guys use thier APs also........Pat

 

[captddis]

Simrad all the way.

 

[Starman]

Hey Paul,

sent you an email , just bring it with you next week .

 

[the kuz]

Before you give up on the wood freeman, you may want to check the post I made in jan 2007, "wood freeman autopilot problems". Call to phone number on the w/f web site let me find/fix my problems at no cost. Regards, Bob K

 

[piripucha]

I am also replacing my venerable WF Autopilot. I am considering the SIMRAD AP 26. with the RPU-300 Drive Unit for our 58 YF. Has anyone used this drive unit? My doubt is that it would be to Big.
Any commets will be appreciated.

 

[captddis]

The RPU160 should work.

 

[MikeP]

Odds are the problem with your current AP is poor connections. I restored our oem Raytheon Neco from non-functional random-navigating to perfect course holding by cleaning/re-making all connections related to the AP.

The dang thing works so well it's scary. No, it won't auto track like an integrated AP/GPS but I've never figured out why that's useful on a boat. It's not like you are going so fast you might miss the turn at the next waypoint!

 

[Genesis]

If you can't fix the old one, Simrad all the way. Ray's stuff is junk by comparison in this department.

 

[nyrussell]

What about Furono?

Noel

 

[Genesis]

Those who I know that have the Furunos have liked them.

I'm very partial to the Simrad line though, especially the "big boys" (25s); my favor for them goes back to the old Robertsons, which are some of the most bombproof APs ever made. Gigabite had an AP200 on it - original - and it still worked fine when I sold the boat. That's 21 years; very little made nowdays lasts 21 years no matter what it is......

 

[nyrussell]

My AP200DL always turns to the port LOL still looking for the compass though.

 

[Tawney1]

I went with the big Simrad! Awesome.

 

[Bone Cruncher]

Well, the old adage is correct..., "when it rains it pours." The old Wood-Freeman autopilot lived a good life but it has died! (Or, at the least, it is in a coma and brain-dead.)

We are considering two options: (i) Raymarine, or (ii) Simrad AP25. Does anyone have experience with either or both of these, and what observations or recommendations are out there.

Thanks for the help.

Paul

P.S. If anyone would like the old Wood-Freeman system, you are welcome to it. Just let me know and it's yours for the price of shipping (as soon as we have it out of the boat).

Get the Simrad, I replaced my old autopilot with one 3 years ago and haven't had one problem with it. My boat runs every weekend the ocean will let us and I can say that my Simrad works perfectly. The vast majority of commercial guys around here all have Simrads because they are very reliable.

 

[shrimpkiller]

Hi Paul,
I would love to have your old (dead) Wood Freeman Pilot. I am frantically searching everywhere for one with no success. Please, please, please contact me or call me 912=977-6936.
Denis Murphy

Well, the old adage is correct..., "when it rains it pours." The old Wood-Freeman autopilot lived a good life but it has died! (Or, at the least, it is in a coma and brain-dead.)

We are considering two options: (i) Raymarine, or (ii) Simrad AP25. Does anyone have experience with either or both of these, and what observations or recommendations are out there.

Thanks for the help.

Paul

P.S. If anyone would like the old Wood-Freeman system, you are welcome to it. Just let me know and it's yours for the price of shipping (as soon as we have it out of the boat).

 

[Passages]

You do realize this is a 5 year old thread and the original poster has not logged on in 6 months?