Lifting outboard bracket

[pmasters]

Hi All,

I thought other swifties might be interested in my solution to the outboard problem I mentioned in a previous post. My boat lives in an area which seems to suffer badly from fouling (top of Southampton Water), and I didn't like the idea of leaving the outboard down in the well. I equally didn't want to have to haul it in and out of the water every time I wanted to sail. I looked at various options (transom bracket, cutting holes in the boat to tilt the motor, etc) and didn't like any of them. I then came up with a new way of doing it, which I've not seen anywhere else - effectively taking a lifting outboard bracket that would mount on a transom, but putting the outboard inside the bracket rather than on the back. This has the advantage that I have an outboard inside the boat, where the controls are easy to use, and when the outboard is down, there is no real additional space taken up (and the outboard still has enough room to breathe in air).

The bracket is constructed of aluminium, with A4 stainless bolts. The lifting mechanism is variable S/S gas struts which you can adjust to get the right amount of lift. It took a little bit of dusted off trigonometry and measuring, but I can now raise the outboard with 1 finger and the strut has enough upward pressure that the motor is solidly up when not in use (I don't need to lock it off). When I push the motor down, I lock it in place with 2 gate hinges with carabinas through (sadly I hadn't added these when I took the photos, so they're not visible), so its solid to the deck when in use. I've designed this so that I can lock the motor securely to the mount, and the mount is locked to the boat, so whilst nothing is secure, its reasonably safe.

My outboard was modified by the previous owner to make the gear shift easier to access, so the whole setup now works very nicely. You can also see my modified B+Q sack truck which transport the motor around

Anyway, hopefully this will be of interest:
https://goo.gl/photos/oA6aefoPA8uRn23k9

Cheers, Pete

[phil@tob]

Looks great!
if only someone could run a few off..

[pmasters]

I did wonder about that. The shopping list of bits is fairly straightforward. I bought the aluminium bars from ebay sellers and the gasstruts were from (unimaginatively) gasstruts.co.uk. I can certainly put together a list of the bits and measurements if anyone if interested. Mostly its just a case of drilling a few holes in the right places. Anyway, it certainly made life easier this season!

[johnsti]

Hi Peter - most ingenious. I have been thinking about how best to raise and lower . my outboard for some time and would certainly appreciate parts list and dimensions etc. I also use a Honda but mine is a longshaft with battery charging facility which is great but If I want to beach I need to raise the outboard as it protrudes below the keel. Raised too high and it fouls the tiller. I have an amended gearshift mechanism but i notice your cowling has a vent does this assist with airflow when the engine is in the well. I have been thinking of of modifying the throttle too - i do find a twist grip cumbersome
when trying to manager the rudder and otherthings when docking singlehanded.
kind regards

Ian
ian.johnstone@sky.com.

[Brio]

Hi Pete
Its getting to that time of year for.coming out of the water having had some great autumn sailing and time for winter jobs. Are you happy to share your measurements and materials list for your lifting outboard bracket? Its such a neat arrangement and would suit my (occasionally) drying mooring. I have a transom lifting bracket but it puts the engine weight way beyond the design position and the engine lifts too high if I go to the bow single handing. Your plan would deal with that.
Cheers
Dave @Brio

[bluesman1955]

Hi Pete. Looks a great solution to raising the outboard. If you still have details of parts and measurements I would really like a copy.

[pmasters]

Hi All,

Sadly I sold my swift in the end (still gutted, I loved that boat!) , and I don't have the dimensions anymore for the bracket - I should also apologise for not checking back here following my last post. However, the bracket is 4 aluminium bars which hinge up and down on bolts, the stationary end of which is attached to some angled aluminium. The angled backet then screws to the back wall of the outboard well. That angled piece needs to be long enough to take the 2 bars and also the gas strut. On the other end, I put a piece of hardwood (sapele if memory serves) which I treated to prevent sun damage,etc. I cut off the existing outboard bar on the boat (that made me nervous but its fine) and then filled the whole with epoxy and gelcoat (just from one of those repair tubes). In terms of measurements, you've got 2 things to work out - the bracket has to travel far enough that your outboard leaves the water, and also doesn't swing so far forward on the way up that it hits the front edge of the well (though you can tip most outboards a little if that is an issue). Measure the front-back distance of the outboard well, and also how high you need the bracket to swing - picture this as 2 triangles, with the swinging bar as the hypotenuse in each case, and (front-back outboard well distance) as another side, then the 3rd side is half the height you need the outboard to move vertically. A quick A²+B²=C² will give you the length you need for the aluminium. As I mentioned in an earlier post I recommend the variable struts from gasstruts.co.uk (or similar) as you can use an allen key to slowly take a little gas out of each strut and test until you find the right strength (https://motioncontrol.metrol.com/gas-st ... truts.html) and their stainless which you need on a boat of course. Good luck! Peter