Hi Patrick,
Interesting problem here. Thinking a little
outside the box... okay, maybe more than a little.
Anyone given thought to using the autopilot drive
to drive the cable instead of the tiller arm?
Zero mods required to the existing quadrant assembly.
2 of these in opposition connected by S/S
plate(s), which the drive is bolted to, might be
feasible if the drive output is less than a ton.
https://www.amazon.ca/Blesiya-Steel-Tensioning-Pulling-25-70/dp/B07JYCVGQB?SubscriptionId=AKIAILSHYYTFIVPWUY6Q&tag=duc12-20&linkCode=xm2&camp=2025&creative=165953&creativeASIN=B07JYCVGQB
Or a number of these in series all bolted to a plate may work also
https://www.amazon.ca/Amanaote-Stainless-Steel-Standard-Double/dp/B00PVSPUUG?SubscriptionId=AKIAILSHYYTFIVPWUY6Q&tag=duc12-20&linkCode=xm2&camp=2025&creative=165953&creativeASIN=B00PVSPUUG
A pessimist would say that the autopilot will
becomes useless if the cable system breaks.
And the optimist would counter, "Why would you
build a system which you expect to fail?"
Cheers, Russ
ex-Sweet 35 mk-1
At 04:21 PM 3/5/2019, you wrote:
Hi Paul,Â
Thanks for the ideas, lots of good ones!
> you wrote > * Edson sells a different radial
drive which has a shorter height. Replacing
an existing with one of these would be costly
but it could free up shaft space for the tiller
arm. One needs to check the specs for the
shorter radials and see if that option is feasible.  Â
This is one idea Edson engineering suggested to
me today actually! Alden got back to me (after
speaking with engineering) and has been very
helpful. It would be a good deal of work
swapping out the radial, and there are some
subtle impacts to consider (I can't change the
wire track height too much because if it causes
steering cable chafe that will require shimming
the idlers/sheaves). It also might require extending the rudder stop post.Â
Flipping the existing offset-disc radial upside
down doesn't help because it would still consume
the same amount of rudder shaft space (nearly
all of it, leaving no room for a standard tiller arm).Â
Edson's other idea was to move the existing
radial down by 1.75", bringing the concave
portion of the disc closer to the rudder stock
tube and freeing up enough space for the 1 5/8"
tiller arm above the radial. This definitely
requires idler/sheave modification though and
rudder stop modification. In addition it's a
very tight fit to the point where it might not
work (1/8" clearance on cockpit floor and aft stern bulkhead).Â
Your 3rd idea is quite interesting, no one has
thought of reusing the radial drive hub
thrubolts. The hub is contoured and has a ridge,
so it would have to be quite a custom part to get a good fit.Â
I've ruled out option B from my original email
(Jefa quadrant with integrated tiller arm)
because it turns out it too would require
idler/sheave adjustments in addition to a custom
rudder stop - basically complete steering system redesign.
I'm focusing on option A now, which was to have
a machine shop make an "offset tiller arm" or
"drop" tiller arm. I discovered the term "offset
tiller arm" when I found Buck Algonquin makes
them (but not in the right size for our boat,
and they're bronze castings so they can't do a
custom one - they do 1000+ unit production runs). Â
<https://www.deepblueyachtsupply.com/89112-89000-series-offset-tiller-arm>https://www.deepblueyachtsupply.com/89112-89000-series-offset-tiller-arm
But having a machine shop make my own offset
tiller arm seems doable, as long as I can find a
machine shop willing to do it.Â
-Patrick
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