New Autopilot Installation.

[DJE]

Nearly done. That was a tight fit!

Shiny aluminium bracket by our local fabricator. Rough plywood and epoxy bracket by yours truly.

 

[pvb]

Looks sturdy!

 

[LadyInBed]

Yes, definitely looks man enough for the job.
That's the beauty of the type 1 LD, you can mount it in any plane.

 

[DJE]

I recommend getting fabrications done in aluminium where it's difficult to get precise measurements. I had to make a few modifications after I first offered up the bracket but the aluminium was easy to saw and file.

 

[micha571]

Looks good. One question, as I'm planning on installing a Raymarine Linear Drive, too:
The installation guide says the rudder needs to have a "mechanical stop" at 35 degrees on either side, to prevent the linear drive running into it's drive ends. How did you achieve this?

 

[cobolt]

Looks good. One question, as I'm planning on installing a Raymarine Linear Drive, too:
The installation guide says the rudder needs to have a "mechanical stop" at 35 degrees on either side, to prevent the linear drive running into it's drive ends. How did you achieve this?

Hasn't, unless there's some stops that have not been re-mounted in the photos.....or they could be hung under the cockpit sole and act upon the primary rudder lever that you see right at the top.

 

[DJE]

Looks good. One question, as I'm planning on installing a Raymarine Linear Drive, too:
The installation guide says the rudder needs to have a "mechanical stop" at 35 degrees on either side, to prevent the linear drive running into it's drive ends. How did you achieve this?

The stops are in the Whitlock pedestal on my boat. The upper tiller arm takes the drag link from the pedestal and if I remove that link then the rudder can swing until it hits the hull. Not sure exactly how the stops work as I've never dismantled the pedestal but the rudder certainly comes up against something solid in there.

The linear drive has about 15mm of travel left at each end when the rudder hits the stop.

 

[micha571]

Thanks!

 

[prv]

Looks good. One question, as I'm planning on installing a Raymarine Linear Drive, too:
The installation guide says the rudder needs to have a "mechanical stop" at 35 degrees on either side, to prevent the linear drive running into it's drive ends. How did you achieve this?

FWIW in my case I installed a couple of blocks of timber, faced with rubber for a little shock absorbtion, screwed to handy cross-members either side. The pilot tiller hits these shortly before the end of travel of the ram.

The original installation, before the pilot, didn't appear to have any particular rudder stop except presumably for the eye on the end of a cable coming up hard against its fairlead, which seems less than ideal.

Pete

 

[LadyInBed]

The installation guide says the rudder needs to have a "mechanical stop" at 35 degrees on either side, to prevent the linear drive running into it's drive ends. How did you achieve this?

Similar to Pete, a wooden block does a job.

 

[micha571]

Thanks. I'll have to think about how to solve this on my boat. It's tiller steered, so no rudder quadrant...

 

[pvb]

Thanks. I'll have to think about how to solve this on my boat. It's tiller steered, so no rudder quadrant...

Simply attach the drive a little closer to the rudder post, so that the drive doesn't reach the limit when the rudder's hard over.

 

[prv]

Simply attach the drive a little closer to the rudder post, so that the drive doesn't reach the limit when the rudder's hard over.

Then it’ll just reach the other limit when hard over the other way

Pete

 

[pvb]

Then it’ll just reach the other limit when hard over the other way

Maybe I didn't explain that very well, although I know you're well aware of what I meant.

 

[prv]

Maybe I didn't explain that very well, although I know you're well aware of what I meant.

I genuinely wasn’t. Thinking about it, I guess you mean effectively having a shorter tiller than Raymarine specify? That doesn’t seem very desirable either as you will reduce the available steering force.

The only real solution is as Raymarine say - ensure there are stops to limit the rudder angle to the specified range, and fit some if the boat doesn’t already have them.

Pete

 

[Finbar]

I seem to remember fitting a rudder reference unit and setting limits on the course computer to address this issue

 

[pvb]

I genuinely wasn’t. Thinking about it, I guess you mean effectively having a shorter tiller than Raymarine specify? That doesn’t seem very desirable either as you will reduce the available steering force.

There would be a minimal reduction.

 

[micha571]

I seem to remember fitting a rudder reference unit and setting limits on the course computer to address this issue

But that wouldn‘t prevent the linear drive from being taken over its limits when the pilot is on standby, and the rudder is turned more than the 35 degrees.