Fred you are correct. There are several boats that prohibit the use of a dedicated autopilot tiller arm and the 38 Landfall is one of them. As you mention, the solution is to direct mount the ram to radial drive wheel with sufficient reinforcement at the attachment point. That mean beefing up the radial both above and below the rose joint where the through bolt connects to the drive wheel, preferably with some heavy gauge aluminum stock that would fit the contours of the casting. Clamping a stainless plate to the radial wheel will be a hotbed for corrosion overtime and will weaken the drive wheel at the attachment point. That’s why it is best to mate aluminum to aluminum. Try to keep the linear drive level and in-plane with the wheel as possible since torsional loads placed on the casting will not hold up under harsh conditions.
And yes, type 2 hydraulic linear drives are far more robust that mechanical ones. Chuck Gilchrest S/V Half Magic 1983 Landfall 35 Padanaram, MA From: CnC-List <cnc-list-boun...@cnc-list.com> On Behalf Of Frederick G Street via CnC-List Sent: Wednesday, May 30, 2018 7:57 PM To: cnc-list@cnc-list.com Cc: Frederick G Street <f...@postaudio.net> Subject: Re: Stus-List problem Landfall38 autopilot help. Hi, John — unless your LF38 is significantly different from mine, there is absolutely no room to add a proper tiller arm. You either have to live with an undersized wheel pilot (as the Simrad is no longer in production, and the Raymarine is right on the edge for our boats’ displacement…); or you have to strengthen the radial drive and attach the ram directly to that. I know, Chuck: that’s not recommended by Edson. But there’s really no other choice; and done correctly, it seems to work just fine. The biggest issue is just getting everything properly mounted in that #$%@# excuse for an engine space in the LF38. It takes a bit of cockpit locker space, but it appears to me after much thought that a transverse mounting of the ram into the starboard locker would be the best in terms of access for both installation and maintenance. I would also suggest that you take a look at the various hydraulic drives out there (specifically Octopus and Simrad/Navico), as I believe they’ll last much longer than the linear electromechanical drives from Raymarine. And to Allan Hester, who asked about below-deck autopilots in a post last weekend, sorry for the delay in replying; I was up trying to get the boat ready for its much-delayed launch this coming Saturday. Ask away, and I’ll try to help. — Fred Fred Street -- Minneapolis S/V Oceanis (1979 C&C Landfall 38) -- on the hard in Bayfield, WI :^( On May 30, 2018, at 4:17 PM, john wright via CnC-List <cnc-list@cnc-list.com <mailto:cnc-list@cnc-list.com> > wrote: "Has any CC Landfall 38 owners installed an Edson tiller arm for linear autopilot drive application? We are trying to install a B&G RAM1 Linear drive unit and don't have enough exposed rudder shaft to attached an independent Edson bronze tiller arm for linear drive connection. We also interested if anyone has used the quadrant to attach the quick release pin. Its not recommended by Edson but figured someone would disregard the warning just to have a below deck autopilot"
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