Swing-lift

[Hank Kivett]

I was thrumbing thru Youtube and ran accross a video of a "swing-lift" a device that allows u to lower your dingy motor from its block down to your dingy single handed...It really looks neat and is something i have looking for or at least like item...My question is...does anyone have one...if so how do u like it...and how much was it...thanks

[ShaktisBoy]

Yes We have one and it works as advertised. That said if the anchorage is rough you still have to deal with the tender bouncing around next to the mothership while lowering or raising the outboard into place.

[Hank Kivett]

Thanks...how much was it and did u enstall it yourself....as a single handed sailor i am having to deal with no help so to speak...I plan on using my whisker pole to off and load the tender onto the fordeck...so any help in this dept will be greatly appericated....open to anything

[ShaktisBoy]

The previous owner installed it. Its a simle attatchment with a ball shaped rest mounted low on the hull then u bolts to the railing. Im not sure how much he paid. You will also need to rig a harness for your outboard. Again if its rough it can be tricky getting the motor on or off its mount. You'll want to protect your topsides as well in such conditions.

[Mycroft]

Another option to consider is the Forespar Nova Lift. It's a little more money, but it looks to have more applications.

[Jim Cate]

Or, you can simply use the main halyard with no added hardware or costs. We've been doing this on our last two boats, covering nearly thirty years of usage. Works for out 15 hp motors...

Cheers,

Jim

[Mycroft]

Jim, where do you store your outboard? I take it you lift it up amidships using the halyard?

[Pirate999]

Nice contraption. I know someone who took that idea and used it for the entire dinghy. It worked great and after a few years of cruising it seems to still work well for them.

It would never work on my boat. I lashed a block and tackle to my davit cross beam and raise the engine that way.

[Oceanride007]

Here it is.

Swing-Lift Outboard Motor Hoist Demonstration - YouTube

[chouliha]

Have you looked at these? http://garhauermarine.com/catalog_process.cfm?cid=41

Been using one for the past 8-9 years and it works great

Safe sailing

Chuck

[Jim Cate]

Originally Posted by Mycroft

Jim, where do you store your outboard? I take it you lift it up amidships using the halyard?

Yep, that's what we do: dinghy alongside with the motor just aft of the shrouds, lift motor off the transom, walk the halyard aft, which raises the motor some more, reach the storage mount on the stern pulpit/arch and deposit it there. Can be done single handed (requires careful marking of the halyard or many trips back and forth) but is much easier with two hands.

The process is reversed to mount the o/b on the dink. REquires some coordination if there is much of a sea running and the dink bouncing about, but it can be done in surprisingly rough conditions.

Incidentally, we note that having the dinghy near the pitch center for the boat makes it easier than with the dink at the stern. Conversely, if the boat is rolling much the process gets more difficult... in fact can be dangerous with the motor dangling from the top of a 65 foot mast.

Cheers,

Jim

[GILow]

We have an arm about 1 foot long which swings out perpendicular to the davits with a robust bock on the end. Very easy to lower the engine to the dink plus useful for lifting stuff aboard.

[Stu Jackson]

The Garhauer lift is great. If you're singlehanding you can set it up so that you can lower the motor from down in the dinghy. Great strong unit. Superb price. One of our skippers suggested that if you get two of them you could use them as davits!

[builder dan]

wonder how swinging your boom out with a preventor and lowering outboard with mainsheet would work.

[delmarrey]

Looks like a good idea! It would make a good MOB retrieval device as well.