Harmon Tr-1 Gold on 272 Sportcraft a good idea?

I run a 272 sport craft with a yamaha 4 stroke 9.9 high output motor. I am currently running a panther steering system which is very slow turning and turns out to be a pain steering all day and if the water is rough you may as well forget it. What are others opinions on this? Was wondering what it takes to install garmin Tr-1 gold and if that would be a good match to handle my 272 sport craft with my setup I also have a garmin chart plotter/sonar. Please provide your help and options on the best options for me. Thanks

As far as I know the TR1 is the only autopilot option for a kicker motor. The question of whether it could handle your boat depends on whether it's possible to effectively control your boat with the tiller. If you can make your boat do what it needs to do by manually steering the kicker with the tiller handle, then the TR1 will work for you. It is definitely compatible with yamaha 9.9 four strokes motors. They offer a custom bracket for your motor as well as a throttle control so you can have throttle control and heading hold from one remote. I am in the process of installing a TR1 on my own boat. A few years ago I went on a charter to learn the basics of trolling and the captain had TR1 on his boat and I was very impressed. I made a mental note that once I have all the basic gear that I'd get a kicker with TR1. If you have an I/O, it might be possible to install an autopilot on the main and have it control the kicker via tie bar.

Thanks. What size boat do you have and what was the charter captain running. I also have a Garmin gps how did it link up with that? Is it pretty user friendly? Also what about rougher water? Thanks

I have a much smaller boat. A 21 ft walk around. The charter, however, had a boat your size and the TR1 did a good job. The day we fished, it was 1-3's. I don't know how it performs in rougher water. Hopefully someone will chime in. I've never heard a TR1 owner say they are displeased with it. The TR1 connects to any GPS with NMEA 0183 input/output. Take note that this is older technology. The newer standard is NMEA 2000. TR1 Gold has remained relatively unchanged for some years. In 2007, Garmin bought out a company called Nautamatic which had two main products TR1 Gladiator which was an autopilot for the main motor and TR1 Gold which was an autopilot for kickers and small outboards. Garmin took the TR1 Gladiator product and repackaged/improved it into the current GHP line of autopilots. The GHP line of autopilots for your main motor have very modern user interfaces and remotes. The 'shadow drive' technology in the GHP autopilots has it's roots from Nautamatic. It lets you override the autopilot temporarily with the steering wheel and the autopilot resumes when you let go of the wheel. The TR1 Gold autopilot is basically unchanged with perhaps some bugs fixed in the computer module. You can download the TR1 Gold user manual and see for yourself how the remote works. I would not describe it as 'user friendly', but if you want something to hold a heading with your boat going slow, the TR1 can do it. A lot of people with boats your size go with an autopilot on the main and forgo the kicker. I like having a kicker because I have a two stroke outboard and I think trolling with it would eventually ruin it. My boat tracks straight with no assistance if you troll with the wind directly behind you. I'm installing the TR1 to give me the capability to go cross wind or into the wind on nice days.

I run a 15 hp kicker on my 30' sport. I have a liquid tie that links my rudder and kicker together. It is controlled by a raymarine evolution AP. I have no issues trolling with it and the AP works great. I also know a captain that ran a 272 with a yamaha 9.9 with tr1 gold with no issues. What I like about my setup though is you get AP while cruising as well and there is no need for 2 AP's. Call me if you have any questions. I would be happy to answer any of your questions. 7403417894

I just installed a Powr tran Python on my 15hp kicker and I-Troll haven't used it yet but the the I-Troll is a lot faster than the pro troll x2. I have Garmin on my main steering and it dose a great job BUT I don't troll on big motors. The Garmin works great when running to and back on open lake my boat is a 27' Baha Cruiser catamaran. TR-1 are good units just didn't need another hydraulic component on the boat.

I thought I should be more specific. I do not troll on my big motor but the way my steering it set up I control both my kicker and rudder from the helm on the same steering wheel. It works very well. What a liquid tie bar dose is essentially like a mechanical type tie bar like you use on a outboard to a kicker motor only it is for hydraulically steered boats. What ever my rudder hydraulic cylinder dose my kickers hydraulic cylinder dose which lets me utilize the AP for the kicker as well as the rudder. It also makes it very nice when its really windy to help with boat control around the docks. This is just one option you could use. The tr1 gold works very well also. Just a way to save money on setting up your rig and you will have AP when your up on plane with the big motor or trolling with the little motor. It works very well and I have been using this set up for 3 years now with no issues yet (knock on wood)! I also mounted my kicker in the center of my transom rite in line with my rudder. NO issues with netting fish of either side of the boat! Even when 5 or 6 are coming in at once! I will be putting the boat in this Friday at channel grove marina if you are close to there and want to come check out my setup just give me a call.

With the ray marine and liquid tie bar do you have the option to disengage the kicker say if you are crusing or are they always linked? Also our kicker is mounted center transom so I believe this would be a possible set up for our boat. How is it as far as holding your heading without manually steering? How rough of water do you fish with it? Also does it have an option for throttle actuator
? Thanks

Also does anyone with the TR1Gold set up know where to buy the parts to get the best deal.

I have never tried to disengage it. When your on plane and the kicker is tilted all the way back out of the water and the so is engaged it doesn’t move much at all. I have ran it chartering for 3 seasons with no issues at all. I have fished some big water. The only issue I have had is trolling directly into 6+’ waves it will slow you down every now and then but it recovers very quickly. But if it’s that rough I typically just break down the gear and run back up hill and make another slide. There is a lever down there that you can move and it’s for timing the kicker to the rudder do the are in line. So depending on how they are hooked up you could disengage it but I think you will find it not necessary once you see how little it moves when on plane. I’ve been in some really big water out in Ashtabula a couple years ago but I haven’t found anything that it wouldn’t handle yet, in water I was willing to fish. Anything under 8’ waves no real issues. In the spring I still run trolling bags because I need to be able to rev the motor up more to get better thrust for control. Same if the waves are bigger in the summer. Yes I have a trollmaster for throttle control when trolling.

My setup works flawlessly is any condition I have ran it in and I’ve been out in some pretty sporty stuff. If it will hold up to the rigors of chartering and perform well. I don’t think you will be disappointed. Like I said it works great with my setup. Not saying it will for you just giving you my experience over the past 3 charter seasons I have ran it.