CD 36 Autopilot

[Bill Starck]

I am planning on replacing my wheel autopilot with a below deck unit.
I'm trying to figure out how to mount the linear ram unit to the boat and to the quadrant.
Has anyone done this?
Bill Starck
S/V RYAL CD/36

[bottomscraper]

Here is an old thread that shows the Raymarine we have installed on Mahalo. The ram is installed on the starboard side of the boat but I have seen others installed on the port. The ram installation was originally done before we purchased Mahalo. The control, brains and ram have all been replaced but the "new" ram was identical to the old. When we installed the new unit I added a rudder position sensor which is what this old post was really about.

http://www.capedory.org/board/viewtopic ... 45#p103845

[Bill Starck]

Rich, do you know if the bracket attached to the shaft and alongside of the quadrant was custom made or not?
also, could you show me what the mounting bracket for the fixed end of the drive unit looks like?
Thanks,
Bill Starck

[John Ring]

~small-AP-Drive-(2).jpg

~small-AP-Extension-M20x2-(.jpg

I installed a Garmin below deck Autopilot in Tiara a few years back. I made the mounting bracket, extended the arm, and modified a tiller arm to grab the rudder post. It was a lot of work, but well worth it. The system works great.

John Ring
CD36 #135 Tiara

[bottomscraper]

Rich, do you know if the bracket attached to the shaft and alongside of the quadrant was custom made or not?
also, could you show me what the mounting bracket for the fixed end of the drive unit looks like?
Thanks,
Bill Starck

I'm sure the tiller arm it is not a custom part. I suspect it might be an Edson part but I'm 100% not sure. I don't have any great pictures of the other end but I have some, check out the second and third pictures on this web page: http://sailmahalo.com/picture_collectio ... autopilot/

I did not make the mount for the linear drive, I suspect it was installed when the boat was new. It is heavily constructed of plywood which is about 1" thick.

[Bill Starck]

Rich, you're correct, it is an Edson product, found it in their catalog.
how did you mount the fixed end of the ram?
I see how John did it but he used a Garmin unit.
Bill

[John Danicic]

I did the same installation as John Ring did using a Garmin lineal drive unit. Mounted it like he did in the Port side locker. Using a 3/8 inch thick Aluminum "L" beam. The only difference was I used a bolt on Edson Tiller arm instead of a straight arm from Buck Algonquin that John Ring did. The Edson has a split end or groove where the drive unit connecter is supposed to fit. This groove tended to bind the swivel end of the drive unit. Not good so I ended up mounting the drive unit on the outside of the arm using 7/16 inch bolts and a insert between the flanges.

If you go with a lineal drive, go with the straight Buck Algonquin tiller arm.

The Lineal drive system has worked flawlessly and silently ever since although I need to check up the connecting bolt for tightness. (easy to do through the emergency tiller port in the cockpit) A great up date for the boat. John Ring was kind enough to send me his notes and photos. I agree with him that it was lots and lots of work. Also lots of body bruises from crawling in and out from under the cockpit.

Here is the Edson tiller arm mocked up with the drive connector fitted into the groove.


Here is the drive end attached to the outside of the tiller arm. This allows the drive unit to flex up and down and side to side as well as rotate. The groove was too confining.
The Garmin Drive unit is actually a Jefa https://www.jefa.com/steering/steering.htm a most powerful and well constructed brand. I highly recommend it.

[bottomscraper]

how did you mount the fixed end of the ram?

Bill,

I wish I had better pictures but these two (from link I shared above) are the only ones I have.

This picture below shows the rear end of the linear drive (the black thing). You can see the two plywood sides of the mounting structure (beige colored). There is a horizontal shelf between the two sides that the swivel base for the drive is bolted to.



The next picture shows the gray Raymarine course computer. This is behind an access panel in the quarter berth. You can also see above and to the right of the computer the black tail end of the linear drive. Below the computer you can see the plywood side of the mounting structure for the drive. The computer, terminal strip and wire bundles are all attached to that same plywood side.

[Bill Goldsmith]

Loonsong came to me with a below-deck pilot installed. I can get some pictures this weekend. Whoever installed it fiberglassed a block of wood to the hull in the cockpit locker, and attached the bracket for the ram to that piece of wood. I've had the boat for 15 years and no sign of strain on that mount.

[Doug Jesseman]

I installed a raymarine unit last winter on my CD36, #5, 1979. I still have the wooden template that I made. It attaches to the hull on the port side. I welded the final version out of stainless steel and epoxied and glassed it to the hull. The angles of the mounting plate are critical. I would be more than willing to send the template to you so you can see how it would fit in your boat.

[Bill Starck]

Thank you all for your help and advice.
Bill Starck