Budget for Engine Removal

[Terra Nova]

Z--Rather than address your request for an estimate, I would try to dissuade you from making a bad decision. If electric power is the answer, I think you asked the wrong question.

[captlloyd]

Yes, this is one of those post where so much information is missing. Is the boat in the water? Will the Marina or yard let outside people work on the boat? Are you able to turn a wrench yourself? (that doesn't mean, are you able to remove the engine) What do you expect to accomplish by going electric? (doesn't mean it is necessarily a bad idea).
If you can use a wrench and screw-driver, as stated previously, you can save yourself some money. Then it is pretty much a matter of just lifting the motor out. If the marina allows outside help, there is a lot of guys who will work for $20-$30 bucks an hour. And we are talking 4 hours or less. Ask around and get a reference or two if you can. There are usually boat-owners around who could give you some guidance. But most of all, we are curious as to what your main objective is? Good luck.

[jreiter190]

Why are you assuming this person has no money nor brains? All she asked for was a simple estimate for a straightforward job. Everyone's lecturing her about her choices. WTF?

[Lepke]

a64pilot has it right. You'd have to save 1000's of gallons to pay for the change over.

Local yards could give you a good idea on cost. Unless you have skilled friends, you'll probably have a 1 day labor charges for pulling. And installing will depend on the yards skill level. Getting a qualified mechanic is difficult. Getting a qualified installer in all but the biggest yards is near impossible.

[jreiter190]

You don't need a master mechanic to remove an atomic four from a sailboat. Even a shade tree auto shop graduate and I managed to pull the a-4 put of my Ericsson 27, rebuild it and put it back in in a couple days. About like taking a VW engine out. Someone estimated 112 hours. At thirty-five bucks an hour, that's about thirty nine hundred smackers. Plus whatever the electric motor costs.I have no idea, but it's not tons of money to repower a boat. It's normal ,and the OP gets what she wants. What do you care what she wants to run her boat on? If she wants to run it on candlepower, it's her boat.

[sailnow2011]

Only a masochist would remove a working engine and replace it with something that will work.... sometimes. Do yourself a favor, do a tuneup and get the electric engine out of your head. I would rather a gasoline then a diesel. Just make sure you have two bilge blowers, and run them for 10min prior to starting.

[TrentePieds]

Originally Posted by jreiter190

Why are you assuming this person has no money nor brains? All she asked for was a simple estimate for a straightforward job. Everyone's lecturing her about her choices. WTF?

I don 't think anybody is assuming anything about the OP or about anybody else. This sort of forum is just a modern version of the old port-bellied stove in the shed out back with a buncha people sitting around it chewing the rag.

Chewing the rag is traditionally one of the ways in which the new hands learn from the old, so let's not disparage that! It is also, traditionally, one of the ways old hands unobtrusively seek vindication for what they have been doing and will likely continue to do. But now and then you'll hear an old hand say "Damn — I never thot of that!". So let's not disparage that either!

TrentePieds

[a64pilot]

First we have no idea if this engine is a solid piece of rust, completely seized up, or a fine running engine.
But this is not nearly her first post here so some of us know a little from her other posts, enough to ask a polite or meant to be a polite question is all.
Now I don't know anything about electric propulsion myslef, except that it is enticing, or at least I think it is. Myself if I had a boat that I only day sailed, never really wanted any significant motoring range, well then the idea of nearly silent propulsion without all the vibration, smell and noise that goes along with internal propulsion is certainly appealing, I'd love to flip a switch and move a lever forward or backward and have the boat silently move. Then of course there is the theory of little to no maintenance.

But, are there any actual turn key electric installs? Or as I suspicion are they essentially all custom installations with the big pieces being avaiable, but actually a lot of fabrication goes on and a lot of decisions have to be made etc?

I was only asking if she had been lured into the promises of electric propulsion or if she is in a position to where her existing motor is essentially just scrap and she is faced with a re-power of one kind or another, and if so, has she considers all the possibilities.

She may for all I know have a relative or friend who is an EE, and has it all figured out.


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[Scout 30]

Elco's EP2000 is my dream engine. However, after $9,000 for the motor, twelve 6 volt batteries, a generator, an AC charging system & a solar charging system it becomes cost prohibitive for me right now. But if I was repowering & I already had a generator I would absolutely go for the Elco.

[GrahamHO]

Originally Posted by zengirl

I know it will differ and I will shop around, but I need an approx figure for someone to hoist my atomic4 out and replace with Elco electric engine. No-Rewind is a 30' 1972 Bristol. I know all you handy men can do it yourself, but I don't have a prayer of doing that way. Thanks for all input.

Easy. Find a friend to do it. I did mine using a couple of purchases hanging from the boom and onto the marina finger. My friend mainly watched and took photos.. It took a couple of hours each way.
However as you're changing to a new motor you might best remove the old one with a friends help and get a professional to install the new one. An electric motor sounds interesting.

[jreiter190]

Scout 30 answered the question of how much money the Elko costs. That IS a bucket full of cash! I , also, made an assumption in that I figured that an electric propulsion system would surely have solar panels and wind generator as part of the scheme. I'd never read any posts by the Elegant Hippie, so, I took her post at face value; a mistake on my part. The mistake she made was mentioning the electric motor, which triggered the "I want to save you from. ..",and only a masochist. .." responses. Obviously, Occam's Razor don't fly around this Pot Bellied stove.

[Scout 30]

The Elco electric propulsion systems are well thought out & are basically plug n play. They install like a small diesel & come with the control system. The EP 1200 is probably what the OP is thinking about installing. It costs $8,000 with an additional $500 for the charger. It's a 48 volt system so you could get by with 4 12 volt deep cycle batteries. The Elco site estimates a range of 7 hours at 5 knots but that's clearly a generalization. Of course the problem is what do you do if you need to motor farther than that or what if you're motoring into a strong headwind & you've got to push the throttle up. Your range will diminish rapidly. In this case you will need a generator & it will need to be pretty big. For a small sailboat that is not cruising long distances I think an electric motor without a generator will work most of the time but for cruising I think a generator would be a must for most boats. That's not all bad. Once you add a generator you can add air.

Electric Boats, Motor Yachts, Launches, Electric Powered Boats

[zengirl]

Originally Posted by jreiter190

Why are you assuming this person has no money nor brains? All she asked for was a simple estimate for a straightforward job. Everyone's lecturing her about her choices. WTF?

Thanks for the backup!! haha and yes, I can use a wrench and disconnect it all myself and was just wondering approx for lifting out. However, I truly thank everyone who participated in this thread. I took no offense to anything said, it was all great. Y'all saved me from making a big blunder. And I tell you true, if the Atomic4 is shot, I will dump it and not replace it with anything for awhile, and see how that works for me. I don't think it is shot and I don't even think it has to be rebuilt. I love all the input, you all are the best!!

[Time2Go]

Hi Zen
If you should need it
I have a copy of the Moyer Marine
Universal Atomic-4 Service and Overhaul Manual
Just drop me a PM with your address
All I ask is that when your done with it
You send it back A day or a year both are fine
A good read for any owner of this engine
Cheers

[Don C L]

Originally Posted by zengirl

Thanks for the backup!! haha and yes, I can use a wrench and disconnect it all myself and was just wondering approx for lifting out. However, I truly thank everyone who participated in this thread. I took no offense to anything said, it was all great. Y'all saved me from making a big blunder. And I tell you true, if the Atomic4 is shot, I will dump it and not replace it with anything for awhile, and see how that works for me. I don't think it is shot and I don't even think it has to be rebuilt. I love all the input, you all are the best!!

I know you aren't asking about going with an outboard, but I have a similar boat and I bought mine from an engineer who had put together a pretty good bracket/hoist for an outboard. It is strong, light and lifts easily. The engine goes down far enough that I haven't had any issues with it coming out of the water and it lifts the engine clear out of the water without tilting. I can reach back and turn the engine making my full keel boat downright maneuverable! I have an old mainsheet block set up on the pulpit to lift it that works well. I would prefer no engine, but sometimes we need one. Feel free to see the shots of it in my album if you are considering that option.