Paul — regardless of tiller arm or radial drive (NOT quadrant — thanks, Chuck
Gilchrest! :^), the geometry of the drive to the rudder post is the same: you
need to mount the drive pin X inches from the center of the rudder post. So
the angle through which the drive has to rotate is the same. The biggest issue
with the Octopus drive on the Landfall 38 (besides the fact that there's no
room around the steering area) is the fact that the rod that Octopus uses as
the ram actually extends out past the mounting base when the drive is
retracted, which limits the mounting locations as the stern pinches in so much
on the LF38.
The 1212LAM12 (or the version with the remote pump, the 1212LAR12) would be my
choice, as well; I’ve been looking at this issue of below-deck drives for my
boat for years, and I really like the Octopus drives. I’ve sold several to
people on the list; I just haven’t gotten around to doing it myself. :^)
Anyway, the geometry is fine for the Octopus drive, if you can find the room,
along with a mechanically-inclined very small person with very long arms to do
the install…
— Fred
Fred Street -- Minneapolis
S/V Oceanis (1979 C&C Landfall 38) -- Bayfield, WI
> On Sep 6, 2016, at 10:58 PM, Dreuge via CnC-List <cnc-list@cnc-list.com>
> wrote:
>
> Has anyone installed an Octopus linear drive on a Landfall 38? If so,
> obtaining info on which model and how it was installed would be great.
>
> As been discussed, the space for mounting a below deck autopilot drive on a
> Landfall 38 is extremely limited. Successful below deck autopilot drive
> installations (like Bob’s and Doug’s) connect the drive shaft to the
> radial/quadrant using, I believe, a modified Edson rudder stop bolted to the
> rudder radial/quadrant and then mounting the drive base to some hull or deck
> substructure. In these cases, the Raymarine Type 1 linear drive was
> installed.
>
> I would like to install an EV-200 autopilot with the Octopus drive (either
> 1212LAM12 or 1212LAR12), but installing an Octopus drive looks to be more
> complicated then the Raymarine drive installation. The reason is that the
> Octopus drive base is fixed. The linear shaft moves in and out but is
> restricted from moving sideways by more than a few degrees. The Raymarine
> Type 1 linear drive on the other hand has a pivoting drive base mount which
> allows the whole drive to rotate left and right as the shaft moved in and
> out. Note, the actual movement of the drive shaft end is not linear but an
> arc.
>
> My guess is that when connecting the Octopus linear shaft to a small rudder
> mounted arm, the sideways movement is negligible due the small radius
> compared to the shaft length. But when mounting the Octopus shaft to the
> outside edge of a radial/quadrant, this sideways movement is quite
> substantial. Assuming +-35deg rudder swings, it’s likely to be a 2.5-3
> inches of movement.
>
> So, it seems that to use the Octopus drive, one needs to fabricate some type
> of heavy duty rotating mounting plate. How have folks solved this issue?
>
>
> -
> Paul E.
> 1981 C&C 38 Landfall
> S/V Johanna Rose
> Carrabelle, FL
>
> http://svjohannarose.blogspot.com/ <http://svjohannarose.blogspot.com/>
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