Engine on the move!

[piranha580]

Heading to pick up the new boat this week( finally..and just intime for the good weather!!) .. Anyway.. I've a 300 mile drive with it and I'm wondering what the best way is to position the main engine? On the last boat I had I put a piece of 4 by 4 wood on the engine bracket and then tilted it down onto the wood.. The kept it secure but also kept the engine tilted out slightly keeping the Skeg up off the road for travelling! Any other ideas or would this be the preferred method??
Cheers

[uncle al]

thats good a block of wood, that is how i used to transport customers obms and i never had any damage or problems.there are some commercial bits of plastic that keep obms tilted up for transporting i have found a big block of wood is betterPlease dont tilt all the way up and use the safety clip to hold up the leg or use the hydraulics you could cause some damage.
regards
uncle al

[BogMonster]

The book for the Etec says to use the trailering bracket and that is all I ever did on my old Johnson with no problems.

Having said that, the bracket is not that substantial and I'd also thought about carving a block of wood to sit in the saddle and then ratchet strap the engine down to stop any bounce, though with the current trailer I'm more worried about the hull than the engine and it won't be going anywhere till that is sorted out!

[jambo]

If my memory serves me ( and that is doubtful nowadays!!) Nasher had a special tooled piece of kit for that purpose , why not PM him.

[jyasaki]

Several different methods around:

1) Block of wood between the motor and bracket, as has been mentioned.

2) "Transom Saver" type spring loaded rod that cradles the lower unit and attaches to either the trailer frame or other solid point

3) M-Y wedge type that slips over the tilt rams and blocks the motor up

4) Conglomeration of ratchet tie-downs and bungees to tie the motor into whatever position is desired.

Lots of dissention on whether they do anything or not, too.

Personally, I use option 2 (though the device usually lasts less than three years, and has to be replaced periodically. Might have a friend build me one out more robust material next time.) It keeps the motor roughly straight-on, keeps the LU up away from the road, and stops the yo-yoing that happens on rough roads (which, strangely, we have a lot of in California.)

jky

[Nasher]

Originally Posted by jambo

If my memory serves me ( and that is doubtful nowadays!!) Nasher had a special tooled piece of kit for that purpose , why not PM him.

I'll post some pics later when I'm at home

Nasher.

[Nasher]

Post No.6 here has the images, and the whole thread is worth a read.

http://www.rib.net/forum/showthread....highlight=wood

Nasher

[piranha580]

Thanks for the relies guys.. I think I'll stick with the wood anyway.. I've used it on the last 2 boats without any major hitch.. So fingers crossed !! Had a bad experience with my firs boat about 15 years ago when I picked it up and towed it home I left the engine right up on the catch.. It was a 135 hp Johnson and when ingot home one side of the bracket had snapped and the other side was just about swinging in the breeze!!
Nasher that bracket you set up looks great.. I must rig up something like it unless you've got a copyright on it!! 

[Pikey Dave]

Originally Posted by BogMonster

Having said that, the bracket is not that substantial

WHAT, you're avin a larf It's as solid as owt. Not that daft plastic wedge thingy, the double cast legs that spring down & wedge against the transom bracket, rock solid

[9D280]

Originally Posted by uncle al

don't tilt all the way up and use the safety clip to hold up the leg or use the hydraulics you could cause some damage.

Why not use the hydraulics? They are designed to hold the entire force of the thrust from the prop up while you bash through the waves, which is a lot more than the rotational momentum effects of the engine over a pothole.

Absolutely agree with the tilt stop pin commnet tho'.

Originally Posted by jyasaki

2) "Transom Saver" type spring loaded rod that cradles the lower unit and attaches to either the trailer frame or other solid point

My only concern with them is that un less the boat is absolutely rigidly fixed to the trailer, is it not going to casue as much damage to the transom as the dead weight of the engine?



I've not had PT until now, and for my previous three manual trim machines used a block of wood with a hole for the tilt stop pin (as opposed to a shape to engiage with it -means if the strap lets go you don't put a bouncing block of wood through the windscreen of the car behind you). Then I had a 4:1 cam cleat arrangement (a bit like a traditional dinghy kicking strap / vang) using soft rope (yacht jib sheet multi plait kind of idea - lots of offcuts at chandlers - to prevent damage to the paint on the leg) with a snap hook at either end. It clipped to the tilt stop pin either side of the wood & took about 10 seconds to fit.

[Chris]

Originally Posted by BogMonster

The book for the Etec says to use the trailering bracket and that is all I ever did on my old Johnson with no problems.

Having said that, the bracket is not that substantial and I'd also thought about carving a block of wood to sit in the saddle and then ratchet strap the engine down to stop any bounce, though with the current trailer I'm more worried about the hull than the engine and it won't be going anywhere till that is sorted out!

What you talking about , I hope you are not trailering using the little swivel thing at the top.

THere is a really robust bracket that springs out and you just flick it out and lower the engine onto it. Evinrude are the only manufacturer that do this AFAIK.

[BogMonster]

Originally Posted by Chris

What you talking about , I hope you are not trailering using the little swivel thing at the top.

THere is a really robust bracket that springs out and you just flick it out and lower the engine onto it. Evinrude are the only manufacturer that do this AFAIK.

The one you refer to is the one I'm using. I'm just not sure it's really robust with the best part of a quarter ton of engine on it on our roads (it's exactly the same bracket as my old Johnson which was 140kg). Really robust for me would be a couple of 4 inch girders

[gotchiguy]

Originally Posted by BogMonster

quarter ton of engine

Sorry, are you confusing etec with a four stroke?

Originally Posted by Chris

THere is a really robust bracket that springs out and you just flick it out and lower the engine onto it.

We've always known about this, but have until now been hesitant to use it. When he sold it to us Roy reckoned it should be lowered down until the second set of rams engaged, and that it should be left there. Having tried to use the (frankly pathetic) trailering bracket on our DF50 once, it was never up to the job and so we simply lower it down like Roy suggested. Surely lowering the bracket would also raise the prop higher than normal and make it more dangerous for other road users/pedestrians?

Do most with etecs use the bracket then?

Edit: Just had a look through the manual, and it would appear that there are two different tilt support brackets:

"Tilt support lever" and "Trailering Bracket".

Both would appear to do the same jobs, but the tilt support lever is only to be used when stationary.

TSL is page 28 here (page 25 in a hard copy)

TB is page 29 here (page 26 in a hard copy)

[BogMonster]

Originally Posted by gotchiguy

Sorry, are you confusing etec with a four stroke?

No. My Etec weighs 196kg according to the specs, which as I suggested is in fact "the best part of quarter of a ton". 78.4% to be precise.

[gotchiguy]

Originally Posted by BogMonster

No. My Etec weighs 196kg according to the specs, which as I suggested is in fact "the best part of quarter of a ton". 78.4% to be precise.

Of course, sorry, I forgot that you had the 150!

Ours is 234kgs which is only 10 or so more than the Honda BF150 which you could theoretically have. At the lower end (power) of the market, (2.3- ~50ish) there seems to be quite a difference in weight between hps, however to gain an 83.33% power increase from your engine to ours takes only an extra 38kgs.

Pity that to achieve only a 16.6% power increase between the BF150 and B175, Honda has to gain ~40 kgs

[Downhilldai]

Originally Posted by gotchiguy

Pity that to achieve only a 16.6% power increase between the BF150 and B175, Honda has to gain ~40 kgs

That's 'cos Honda 115-150hp motors use the same 4-cylinder 2.3 litre powerhead, whereas the 175, 200 & 225hp units are V6 and 3.5 litres.

So, for the same weight as the 175, you could have a Honda 225.

[gotchiguy]

Originally Posted by Downhilldai

That's 'cos Honda 115-150hp motors use the same 4-cylinder 2.3 litre powerhead, whereas the 175, 200 & 225hp units are V6 and 3.5 litres.

I'd have never guessed that's how advertising worked We could not have won either of the world wars without it

[Pikey Dave]

Or for the weight of the 225 Honda you could have a 300hp Etec & still be 37kg lighter

[Downhilldai]

Yes, which could be crucial in a race boat, for example.

[gotchiguy]

Originally Posted by Downhilldai

Yes, which could be crucial in a race boat, for example.

Or in this modern world where we're all being encouraged to be as efficient as possible, to plumb for an etec is the surely the thinking man's choice - no compromise whatsoever on power, lightweight for greater thrills, but also economical and efficient to keep the greenies happy