When I bought my 1967 7KCAB and got the insurance company required 5 hours of dual in it, the instructor who'd been teaching spins, aerobatics, etc in it said he didn't use the fuel boost pump on take off and landing for some reason that he could no longer remember. However, he then covered himself somewhat and said if the checklist says to use it, I should use it.
The checklist in question here was a plastic third party checklist that I've frankly comer to regard as being pretty useless, what with knots and mph and 7ECA, 7GCBC, 7GCAA and 7KCAB all listed on it.
I have a few different manuals for my 1967 7KCAB. The oldest of them covers "1970 and earlier" - which obviously hits my model. The only references in it to the emergency fuel boost pump are:
1) for priming purposes at start; and
2) in case the engine quits in flight.
I also have a 1975-77 manual that has the mention of using it on take off and landing, along the lines of what you'd do in a low wing aircraft like a PA-28.
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Normally I would not worry too much about it except I'll be doing a check ride in it in the near future and I assume the DE will want me to use written checklists and not just CIGAR and GUMPS (even though that covers it adequately) since the FAA seems to have gone over the edge on checklists and wants you to fly a 7KCAB like a DC-9-40.
Unfortunately, my experience with using the fuel pump on takeoff and landing has been similar to Big Ed's and I'm just not seeing much up side.
I incorporate it into CIGAR with fuel quantity, mixture, alternate air and boost pump all falling under G, so turning it on before every take off isn't an issue. In contrast, it's easy to forget and leave it on after take off. In other aircraft I've flown with a boost pump it either has an annunciator light, or a panel mounted rocker switch or both, so a quick scan confirms it is on or off. With the switch mounted back behind the pilot, a distraction or radio call at 500' can screw up your best intentions to turn it off, and there is nothing to see in a scan of the panel, although I have started looking over my shoulder to visually scan switch positions at the top of my climb. Still, I've made a couple flights where I have not remembered it's still on until 15-20 minutes after take off.
I also incorporate it into the GUMPS pre-landing check, again with alternate air, mixture fuel quantity boost pump incorporated in the G. However, there isn't a post landing checklist, so I've had a few flights where it gets forgotten and I hear it when I take my headset off, before shut down. That worries me less but it does put a big drain on the battery at low rpm as my 1967 7KCAB 9 is generator rather than alternator equipped. Worse, since I fly power off approaches with the power pulled to idle abeam the touch down point the rpm is at or well below 1000 rpm for a couple minutes before touchdown and then during taxi. Consequently, the fuel pump drains the battery unless you throttle up on the ground for a few minutes before shut down - which adds wear to the prop on an unpaved airport. If you leave the pump on during taxi, you double the hit on the battery and double the time needed to recharge on the ground.
The downsides then are lots more boost pump wear (and it will not start without it, so that's a concern) and a lot more drain on the battery during landing, more work for the generator and more wear on the prop.
The upside however is that I can now reach back cup my hand on the lower rear corner of the switch panel and hit the boost pump switch with my hand with no through or effort. That'll come in handy if the engine does ever quit on take off due to an engine driven fuel pump failure.
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I have already written my own pre-flight checklist as the one in the 1964-70 manual is woefully inadequate and very disorganized, and the one in the 1975-77 manual is adequate but still disorganized. I wrote my own based on two concepts:
1) Checking oil and fuel drains and quantity first, as both oil and fuel bring things to a full stop until any issues are addressed; and
2) the rest of the walk around proceeding from cabin to the right main tire and gear, to the door hinge release mechanism and on around the nose, left wing, tail and right wing back to the start point in an orderly, flowing, easy to follow pattern that covers everything.
It's worked very well, and I plan to rewrite the pre taxi, run up, take off and landing checklists in the same way - a method that covers the essentials, and flows well in a natural progression. The fuel boost pump won't be in it, and if the DE asks, I'll show him the 1964-70 flight manual appropropriate to my 1967 KCAB.
