I’ve had my autopilot for probably 20+ years with the Type 1 linear actuator directly attached to the quadrant with no issues. The quadrant attachment is reinforced with aluminum plates. We live aboard and cruise up and down the ICW and to/from the Bahamas. I think your worries are unfounded.
Bob Bob Boyer s/v Rainy Days C&C Landfall 38 (Hull # 230) (Presently in Charleston SC for the winter) blog: dainyrays.blogspot.com email: dainyr...@icloud.com > On Mar 3, 2019, at 10:40 PM, Patrick Davin via CnC-List > <cnc-list@cnc-list.com> wrote: > > I know there was a thread about below-decks autopilots on the Landfall 38 > where discussion ended up on "bolt it to the radial drive, reinforcing the > attachment point." ( > http://cnc-list.com/pipermail/cnc-list_cnc-list.com/2018-May/200838.html ) > > I'm researching this now, with interest in installing a Raymarine EV-200 with > type 1 mechanical linear drive, and I think it *might* be possible to do > without bolting to the radial drive. Does anyone know if any LF38 has > successfully done this? > > I've already read dreuge's post - > http://svjohannarose.blogspot.com/2016/12/below-deck-autopilot.html - which > is excellent. But he went a different route than I want to go, so it would be > helpful to see other photos and installation ideas. > > The reason I want to avoid bolting to the radial drive is that Edson has > repeatedly advised against it, calling it a "likely catastrophic failure" and > saying the cast aluminum fixture is not designed for those kind of torsional > forces, it's designed for pulling forces (via the cables). A Type 1 ram has > 650 lbs peak thrust and a type 2 has 1050 lbs. Additionally I have found one > account of someone who had their Edson radial explode (with autopilot mounted > to it) - it took 15 years before this happened, but still not a risk that's > worth it in my mind. > > The ideas I'm considering for doing this without mounting to the radial are: > > A) custom tiller arm, with a 90 degree bend to clear the radial drive rim. It > would clamp to the rudder shaft in the 1.9" of available space (1.5" of that > is within the bottom concave part of the radial drive). Note I have no diesel > tank under the steering, which makes this easier. I don't have a design for > this idea though. > > B) Jefa 270 degree quadrant with integrated tiller arm. > https://www.jefa.com/steering/products/cable/quadrants/quadrants.htm > I'm talking to Jefa (part of PYI now) this week. The quadrant with welded on > tiller arm has less overall height than an Edson radial drive, so it would > fit. But I'm not sure about positioning of the linear drive unit - it's 27.5" > long and the LF38 stern is quite narrow. > > Sorry for the long post. The motivation for a below-decks autopilot is that > the wheel pilot is not strong enough for significant wave state (it's only > rated for 16.5k lbs displacement, and the LF38 is more like 19-20k when > loaded for cruising). > > -Patrick > 1984 C&C LF38 > > _______________________________________________ > > Thanks everyone for supporting this list with your contributions. Each and > every one is greatly appreciated. If you want to support the list - use > PayPal to send contribution -- https://www.paypal.me/stumurray >
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