Axius: how good is the auto-pilot feature?

LaRea

I've had a Simrad autopilot on my 342 for ten years, and I love it.  Now I'm ready for a new 360.  Does anybody have experience using the autopilot feature of Axius?  How good is it?

For example, how well does it maintain a heading at no-wake speed?  How well does the "sky hook" feature work?  Are the controls easy to use?  Does it integrate well with a chartplotter for following waypoints?

I'm trying to decide on Axius vs. a bow thruster plus a stand-alone autopilot.  

Michael T

LaRea, these are my opinions. I hope Al (alswagg) makes a comment as he was in on the early days of Axius development and has forgotten more about guidance systems that most guys know. In my opinion, the Axius system is the best system I have ever been on a boat with. The auto pilot works dead steady. There are +/- adjustments, troll adjustments, docking and full thrust adjustments. The entire program is factory set for the "personality" of your boat but can be tuned later if you wish. The skyhook is steady +/- a couple of feet - in a HIGH cross wind.One of the techs at the marina used to use skyhook to hold the boats in place after runs while he tied them up at the docks until the boss caught him and gave him sh** for insurance reasons. I used skyhook to hold my position in front of a lock in 40 mph cross winds when all the other boats had to tie up. The lock master, who decided to let me into the lock to lock through, said he had never seen anything like it in 30 years at the locks. My Axius Premium communicates with my GPS and VHF via NMEA 0183 and 2000 code language and is linked with a Mercruiser energized backbone to all of my electronics. It is an electronics wizard. I hear that Mercury may be coming out with a new generation in 2014. At any rate, go to a dealer and try out one. Also, there is a great youtube video - google Axius - of a Rinker EC 400 going sideways to dock. My friend has an EC 360 with axius and it is a piece of cake to pilot even in the worst conditions. My 2 cents. MT 

Black_Diamond

Anyone know how this compares to the Volvo IPS?

frenchship

LaRea, You do know that axius can not be retrofit it has to be install at factory. Paul.

OldDogNewTrix

MT is right in all aspects, Axius is a wonderful system. Unlike Michael, I'm new to boating and started with the Axius system as I wanted to enjoy boating from all aspects with no worries. I wouldn't,t be without it. I've had it for 3 years and have not used uto pilot. Skyhook is great! I use auto heading most of the time, especially at low speeds, no wake speeds as you call it, works great! If your going new, go withheld Axius system, you won't regret it.

TonyWalker

Well, it looks like if I ever sell the Salt Shaker, (no axius) I will have to put myself into the deal so I can run the boat for the new owner in the tight situations!  lol

The axius must be awesome.  We watched a high end fishing boat equipped with outboards come into one of the slips in our yacht club.  It had axius type system.  It was fun to watch the outboards working with each other, each doing their own thing, bringing the boat into the slip.

Tony

Salt Shaker 342

LaRea

The web doesn't seem to have any solid info on retrofitting Axius.  Most of the "opinions" I've seen agree that if you don't already have DTS, forget about retrofitting Axius.  And if you do have DTS, a retrofit would be expensive ($10K parts alone), and Mercruiser has no strong financial incentive to offer a retrofit kit.  

In my case, I have now turned my attentions to a 2007 boat that has DTS and a bow thruster instead of Axius.  I'm not going to try retrofitting Axius.  Instead, I'll spend $4K to add a conventional autopilot.  

Thanks for the discussion.  I'll go for Axius in my next boat!