I probably went “overkill” because my first install done by someone I hired and didn’t supervise 
very well well. That install self-destructed and fell apart while single handing on a trip. The hydraulic ram remained attached to the tiller arm, but not to the hull, because the mount tor off the hull. The ram was dragging around in the bilge. Consequently it resulted in no autopilot (duh!). I could hand steer the boat…but I was only able to make turns to Starboard as the ram kept jamming against the hull and hoses, etc. wen turning to Port. I managed to get to an anchorage, at which point I removed the aft bulkhead and water tank to discover the damage and disconnect the ram from the tiller arm. All-in-all, not a fun trip!
My next/current install, while maybe overkill, is working well and should last the life of the boat. Knock on teak!
Yeah, I read that Noah. We’re aiming to replicate your level of ‘overkill’. I was hoping someone might have done this already with a Raymarine arm.
We, think we’ve found enough space to do this by mounting the arm upside down. At the moment, it looks like we don’t need to reshape the water tank. I’d still love to see some pics if anyone has done the same.
The alternative, which a guy called Graham describes somewhere on here, is to mount the ram longitudinally by bolting it to the underside of the sugarscoop. But that does need the tank to be reshaped. Plus, I’d like to avoid putting bolts through the hull structure.
