is power trim necessary?

[shwoop_soobie]

so I've got a 1970 16 ft ski type boat with a 69' merc 95hp outboard. I've been dealing with leaky power trim ever since I've owned the boat and last time at the lake the whole system just let loose. so my question is powertrim really necessary? its an old boat and I dont want to spend the money too get it all fixed so can I just run some hydrolic shocks and call it good?

what do you guys think?

 

[Frank Acampora]

Re: is power trim necessary?

Lots of early engines came without power trim. You can find the best running position and put a stainless bar though those holes in the transom clamps or you can use a couple of stainless bolts.

Of course, power trim and tilt is very nice when towing a skier and when tilting the engine in shallow water or when trailering.

Personally, I would not do without power trim/tilt and would invest up to a couple of hundred to replace/repair if I were not going to sell the boat soon. It is worth that much to me.

Why don't you contact RRitt and see if he can do anything for you? He is the resident T/T expert.

 

[metriccrescentwrench]

Re: is power trim necessary?

I sure wouldn't enjoy pulling skiers without the ability to trim. I suppose you could set the engine to the best height for running and just deal with doing a "wheelie" when getting on plane.

I'm wondering something though, what do you plan on doing with hydraulic shocks?

 

[shwoop_soobie]

Re: is power trim necessary?

really don't pull any skiers. the small boats I fave seen with no pt usually have had shocks I guess just to keep the engine lowered in reverse

 

[smokeonthewater]

Re: is power trim necessary?

the shocks are to keep it from dropping too fast.... I can't say for certain on your motor but on my 78 merc 115's there are quite a few differences between manual and power trim models... not the least of which is the reverse tilt lock... the power trim model doesn't have it.... without the rams the engine will tilt up in reverse.

My .02 is repair what you have.

 

[5150abf]

Re: is power trim necessary?

the problem is I don't think you could find shocks small enough with enough force to hold the engine, you are talking hundreds and hundreds of pounds, it seems to me that a reseal kit can't be that much or be too hard to install but I don't know Mercs.

 

[N3UP]

Re: is power trim necessary?

I just was around this last summer with a Johnnyrude.

The running motor we aquired had T/T that was completely hosed.
It was an "external" mount type that was easily removed.
In our case, the motor had been built with and without T/T so there was a manual tilt version, but the parts were NLA.

I had to buy a complete manual tilt parts motor to convert our running motor to manual tilt.

You might want to consider that scenario when trying to decide to repair it or not.

You will need to do something about the reverse lock.

 

[shwoop_soobie]

Re: is power trim necessary?

my powertrim does not just need a reseal kit. where the hoses screw into both the poower trim and the cylinders are competently stripped out. I tapped them to npt and ran adapters but I think the metal was too thin after I tapped because the cylinder developed a crack. and on the ac power trim I dono whats leaking. when I would go into reverse sometimes the motor would pull itself out of the water and sometimes it wouldn't. there is a screw on the valve body ofthe power trim for reveerselock but despite which way itis turned the motor will still sometimes lift outof the water in reverse. it sounds like that was a problem all in itself

 

[Texasmark]

Re: is power trim necessary?

You want to low ball it?????? Take it off. We went for years with it and without shocks. All shocks do for you is to soften the transom impact should you hit a solid submerged object at WOT. If you boat where there are no hard submerged objects (mountain lakes....deep end, soft mud bottoms with no stumps....coastal shoals) then forget the shocks. You can adjust the fixed tilt bar to find the sweet spot as far as performance you expect is concerned.

I had a 125 OMC back in '72; before OMC made trim for these 4 cylinder cross flow engines, and had no trim. I added tilt later on to facilitate load/launching and beaching, but could have lifted the engine manually. At one time I got 5 skiers up with an 18' tri hull Caravelle with no trim.

I have been insisting trim for the past 30 years, but as I said, if you are low balling it and that is paramount, then forget it.

Mark

 

[NSBCraig]

Re: is power trim necessary?

You don't need it but I'd rather have it!

Maybe some smarttabs with no tilt.

 

[shwoop_soobie]

Re: is power trim necessary?

sorry for the horrible spelling and grammar, my phone dosnt work well with this site. im thinking I'm just going to ditch the power trim and be carfull in the shallows. for all the headaches and embaressment of oil spills behind my boat, its not worth it to me to get fixed. thanks for the input everyone