Car jack to raise motor?

[fishhawk16]

I read somewhere, maybe here, that you could use a hydraulic car jack to raise your motor by placing it under the skeg. Is that right?<br /> <br />I am thinking of rasing my 90HP rude, I just had the skeg reworked and don’t want to damage it. <br /><br />Thanks for the help.

 

[Terry H]

Re: Car jack to raise motor?

I am thinking a hoist will work better...in order to move the motor you neet to remove the upper mounting bolts...that's gonna make it sorta unstable if you're lifting from the skeg...just a thought

 

[imported_JD__]

Re: Car jack to raise motor?

fishhawk165,<br />Put your boat trailer on level ground preferably concrete. Unhook your truck and scotch the trailer wheels. Put a block of soft wood under the skeg then with the trailer jack, raise the front of the boat up until the skeg contacts the block. Loosen/remove your transom bolts and get someone to operate the trailer jack while you watch for correct hole alignment/position. No auto jack needed.<br />JD

 

[fishhawk16]

Re: Car jack to raise motor?

Interesting JD, engineering at is finest <br />I may give that a try, though I think the Chiefs idea may be a little safer.<br /><br />I'll let you know

 

[JasonJ]

Re: Car jack to raise motor?

I have used a car jack to raise my Merc 1250, but it was a bit unstable. Got it done, but an engine hoist or equivelant is optimal.

 

[Ronald1]

Re: Car jack to raise motor?

I just raised my Evinrude 60 (big triple) using a hydraulic floor jack (car jack) under the skeg. I removed the top 2 bolts and loosened the bottom two. Had a friend help steady the motor and went slowly. I did not have any trouble. The way the brackets are made on my motor it is for the most part unattached from the transome when the top two bolts are removed. I would not attempt this with out help.

 

[imported_JD__]

Re: Car jack to raise motor?

fishhawk165,<br />I agree that Chief's recommendation is safer but since the Honda's lower bracket holes are slotted, there is no reason to remove these bolts. Just loosen enough to let the engine move.

 

[Terry H]

Re: Car jack to raise motor?

Fishhawk<br />You can also tie the motor off to a tree or overhead beam of sorts and use the trailer jack idea...just a thought

 

[fishhawk16]

Re: Car jack to raise motor?

Great input guy's, I'm hoping to do this this week and will provide an update.<br /><br />I know that motor height is a bit of a trial and error thing, on my boat (Crestliner 16.5' with 90HP) the cavitation is about 1 to 1 1/2" below the bottom of the boat. <br /><br />At wot the cavitation plate was below the water and water was spraying in a large V pattern from the plate just above the cavitation plate. Just didn't look right.<br /><br />This is my second boat and never noticed this type of behavior on my old boat 15" Thundercraft w/70Hp<br /><br />Thanks again

 

[Terry H]

Re: Car jack to raise motor?

good luck and be careful...your motor weighs over 300#, get some help...

 

[fishhawk16]

Re: Car jack to raise motor?

Ok it is raised the motor two holes, it now sits about an 1 to 1 1/2" above the bottom of the boat. <br /><br />I'm really not sure where I should be mesureing from since Crestliner welds a 1” strip of aluminium the length of the hull on the bottom for protection, I am taking this in consideration when measuring. I didn't in my post above. Over all the motor is 1 3/4" higher.<br /><br />Haven't water tested yet.

 

[Bass Runner]

Re: Car jack to raise motor?

I have the cav. plate about 1" above the bottom of my boat, it's a 16' deep v with almost flat hull at the transom, mine has three keels one down the center then one on each side of the hull.

 

[Dave Abrahamson]

Re: Car jack to raise motor?

Originally posted by JD__:<br /> fishhawk165,<br /> Unhook your truck and scotch the trailer wheels. JD

Really JD! Shouldn't you save the boozin' for after the job is done?!?

 

[NOSLEEP]

Re: Car jack to raise motor?

Waiting for your water test fishhawk.<br />I have a similar hull and am very interested in<br />your before and after results.

 

[NOSLEEP]

Re: Car jack to raise motor?

Fishhawk did you get her wet yet!^

 

[mischief]

Re: Car jack to raise motor?

Hey Fishhawk!<br />I'm dying to find out what happened with your motor relocation. I have a similar set up and want to know if raising the motor helped your problem.

 

[GeeFrankk]

Re: Car jack to raise motor?

Made my own lifting device, take the cowling off, look on the top of flywheel, 3 holes which are threaded, place paper on top and outline the holes with a pencil, then transfer to 1/4' steel plate and drill oversize holes through it, next drill out the center for your lifting ring. Bolt the plate to the flywheel. I then use my engine hoist to lift the OB off the boat safely. <br /><br />B O A T bring on another thousand

 

[phatmanmike]

Re: Car jack to raise motor?

i used a car jack and 2 other friends to swap out my 1976 merc 1150 inline 6 tower of power.... just be carefull...

 

[fishhawk16]

Re: Car jack to raise motor?

OK I was just reminded that I didn't post my water test results. Sorry!<br /><br />Last week we went up to Balsam and did some camping with the family. So I got to spend some time with the new boat, finally!<br /><br />As mentioned I raised the motor 2 holes. The anti ventilation plate is now 1 to 1 1/2" above the bottom of the boat remember that this is a Crestliner with a 1” aluminium strip down the keel. See above post for more info.<br /><br />All testing was done with typical loads 2-3 people and about ½ tank of gas;<br />I noticed about a plus 100 RPM difference. The boat handles better but if I turn really sharp at WOT it will start to ventilate. I really don’t think sharp turns at WOT is a very good idea so I wasn’t concerned. My application is more water skiing and fishing. While pulling a water skier the boat was great, if I had to turn the boat around after a fall I found that I could turn very sharp. Very little if any sideslip, I’m not sure if this is a result of the motor being raised or the design of the hull. <br /><br />I really didn’t have a look to see where the anti ventilation plate was sitting however I did notice that I no longer had a 12’ vee spray coming from the motor. The wake now looks more natural.<br /><br />O, I did have another problem that I noticed before raising the motor. The boat was very difficult to turn left while running on plane. To correct this I adjust the trim tab on the anti ventilation plate. I am now able to release the steering wheel while cruising at about 35mph with out the boat taking a hard right turn. It also turns much more easily to the left almost equal pressure for both right and left turns. I can’t say if raising the motor had any impact on this since I only made this adjustment after I raised the motor. <br /><br />Over all I am pleased with the results and do not plan on changing it back. I think the boat is much closer to being dialled in correctly. I am still only getting about 5100RPM at WOT at 44MPH but believe this is a prop issue and am thinking of going to a 17 pitch (current prop is a 19). The boat came with a 21 pitch prop with this prop the boat will go about 47mph at 4800 RPM.<br /><br />Anyone have similar setups that can comment on the prop pitch and any recommendations.