Ideas for pulling an engine?

[AShipShow]

Nice! looks like a good find!

 

[nola mike]

Went up the road to the local mechanic, he wouldn't pull a boat engine (a bit of a **** about it too). Haven't seen a gantry on CL. Even if I rest the trailer on the hubs I'll need 86" of lift. I don't have a cherry picker, and that would be a difficult kludge anyway. Next nearest place is 20 miles away. By the time I'm done that's a few hours, and I'll need to put it back in at least once (being optimistic). Rental is worse, nothing close and I'd have to return it. So looks like I'll build a gantry. I like the ideas but am having a hard time picturing it...anyone have a link to some plans or a pic?

 

[Scott Danforth]

build a swing set.

for the top beam, use 3 2x10's on end sandwiched together
for the end a-frames, use 3 vertical 2x4's on each end, then a 2x6" kicker going down to a 2x6 bottom board.

then a diagonal brace at 45 degrees with a 2x4 going from about 3 feet down from the top on the end frames to about 3 feet in from the end frames on the top beam (about a 5' long brace)

 

[JASinIL2006]

This is my over-engineered gantry. If doing it again, I'd make the base a bit shorter. Otherwise, it worked well. Super stable.

 

[nola mike]

This is my over-engineered gantry. If doing it again, I'd make the base a bit shorter. Otherwise, it worked well. Super stable.

That looks perfect. Is that a 2x8 for the beam and 2x6 for the rest? Jeez Scott Danforth , 3 2x10s would be able to lift the boat, trailer, and truck (6200# if I'm reading the span charts correctly)! That will take less time than dicking around with people.

 

[JASinIL2006]

I used two 2x10s for the cross beam and two 2x8s for the legs. I mostly used carriage bolts as fasteners because I wanted to take it apart for storage between pulling the engine and reinstallation.

 

[AShipShow]

I used 3 2x6s for the cross beam and 3 2x4s for each leg...

 

[Scott Danforth]

Jeez Scott Danforth , 3 2x10s would be able to lift the boat, trailer, and truck (6200# if I'm reading the span charts correctly)! That will take less time than dicking around with people.

I had originally had 1 2x10 and it broke, so I wasnt taking chances, especially since the transom of the boat on the trailer sits about 6.5 feet in the air, needed to get the motor over 9 feet in the air.

 

[nola mike]

Huh. Thinking about this (too much), my assumptions were based on headers, which are uniformly distributed loads. A mid span point load would require more strength. So tried finding a simple chart for that, but got caught in engineering equations using lots of greek letters. Double 2x10s seem safe, but I'd love to find numbers if anyone knows where to find them.

 

[JASinIL2006]

I don't have the figures, but I did those calcs when building my crane. If I recall correctly, two 2x10s over a 12' span gave me more than 1.5 times the load support than I needed. I added in the upper 2x6 cross braces to shorten the span and boost the load carrying capacity of the beam. The cross braces also stiffened up structure and eliminated any lateral movement.

Obviously, finding clean, knot-free 2x10s for the beam is important. I also made sure I bolted the two 2x10s together at a couple points to make sure the whole thing functioned as on strong, semi-laminate.

I supposed you could, if you wanted, assemble the whole thing with screws, but I was more comfortable with carriage bolts for the important joints (e.g., beam to vertical supports). Carriage bolts are also pretty easy to remove when you want to take the thing down.

 

[nola mike]

Well, went beach combing today and found a couple of nice 2x10's (plus one that's used for sea walls and is more like 4x10) so I'll use some combo of that for the beam, plus I found a couple of 2x8 x 10', could use those for the feet or diagonals. I'll pick up maybe 3 2x4's per side in an i-beam configuration (2x4, or maybe 2x6 sandwiching the beam, and 1 perpendicular to the other 2, with the beam resting on it). 2x6 or 2x8 diagonals up top and on the bottom. Carriage bolts througout, maybe structural screws/lag bolts in less critical areas.

 

[nola mike]

So went ahead and built the gantry. Probably 2 hours to build it, and another 3 to postition it by myself--lifting it upright was an exercise in stupidity. That thing is HEAVY. If I did it again I'd built it in place. Also the I-beam idea didn't work because 2x lumber is 3.5" wide and 3" when 2 are stacked. Duh. Parts were maybe $20 for the lumber (I scavenged everything but the 2x4s and 4 2x6s), $20 for the hardware (I used a combo of 6" and 4.5" structural screws as well as 3.5" regular exterior screws), and $60 for the chain hoist. Pulling the engine took maybe 2 hours total (not including the stuck outdrive debaucle). Can't believe how much easier that is than pulling a car engine. Hopefully it goes back just as easily. I'm not sure about the state of the transom, I'll start a thread about that over in resto...

 

[nola mike]

[No message]

 

[JASinIL2006]

Looks good! Nice work!

 

[Scott06]

It will go back in just as easy. Biggest issue I had was the battery cable to starter. Since you’ll be making new mounts for side engine mounts - I set mine in, aligned, and used a long 3/8 spade bit at an angle could drill right through the motor mount holes for new lag locations. Easier than pulling it back out to drill

 

[telstar1]

Google teepee lift. 3 poles or 4x4s lashed at top. Old idea it seems to work great for those that use them. Ive never done one myself.