Dinghy Outboard Hoist

[Jimbo2010]

I was trying to come up with a easy way to get my 5hp up top off my dink to hook on my stern pulpit.

Man handling it is just a bit much, I was at the boat show looking around saw a few arms extending from radar pole on the stern.

How are you folks doing it?

[Vasco]

I leave my outboard on the dink (15 hp Yamaha) and haul the whole lot upon my arch. If you need a pole Garhauer has a good one.

[Jim Cate]

G'Day Jimbo,

The short and inexpensive answer that we have used for 25 years now: use the main halyard! This has worked on all our various 15 hp 2-strokes (circa 80-90 lbs).

Obviously you need a harness of some sort on the motor. We made ours out of 1 inch nylon webbing with a couple of those flat black plastic "buckles" to get it off and on the motor. You position the dink amidships, just aft of the mast. If the motor is on a bracket near the stern of your boat, hook the halyard onto it, have a mate put enough tension on the halyard to just lift the motor off the mount and walk it slowly back until it is hanging above the dinghy. Then jump down into it and have the mate slowly lower it onto the transom. Takes maybe one minute when you have done it a couple of times. Removal is the reverse process. This works (IMO) better than a crane on the stern of the boat, especially if there is any sea causing the boat to pitch -- much more motion back there!

The beauty of this system is that it costs nothing to set up... everything you need is already there, so give it a try!

Cheers,

Jim and Ann s/v Insatiable II lying Trinity Inlet, Cairns Qld Oz

[Jimbo2010]

Jim its so simple, I'm surprised those snap can be trusted on the harness?

I'll have to try it.

tks

[Jim Cate]

Originally Posted by Jimbo2010

Jim its so simple, I'm surprised those snap can be trusted on the harness?

I'll have to try it.

tks

Jimbo, you can position the buckle(s) in such a way that they don't actually carry much load, but rather just keep the harness from slipping off.

To be honest about it, one time we bought an outboard in Fiji. The vendor brought it down to the Suva YC where we met him in the dinghy. Took an old piece of 1/4" line that was lying about and tied it roughly around the new motor, "just to get us going back to the boat". 12 years later when some bugger stole the motor from us in Hobart, that ratty bit of rope was still in use. (Blush!)

Cheers,

Jim

[Ziggy]

Originally Posted by Vasco

If you need a pole Garhauer has a good one.

I agree. I have a Garhauer hoist (this one). It works great and allows me to haul up the outboard by myself without any assistance. They make a similar lift that mounts to a radar pole.

[John A]

I used the Forspars Nova Lift. I was able to use a deck bracket that had been used for a radar post. It has two pullys at the top so I purchased a double pully with hook and re-rigged the line to double my lifting advantage.
By lifting and locking the motor every niight I elimated any reason to "borrow" a scruffy dink without a motor.

[slowshoes]

Originally Posted by Jim Cate

G'Day Jimbo,

The short and inexpensive answer that we have used for 25 years now: use the main halyard! This has worked on all our various 15 hp 2-strokes (circa 80-90 lbs).

Obviously you need a harness of some sort on the motor. We made ours out of 1 inch nylon webbing with a couple of those flat black plastic "buckles" to get it off and on the motor. You position the dink amidships, just aft of the mast. If the motor is on a bracket near the stern of your boat, hook the halyard onto it, have a mate put enough tension on the halyard to just lift the motor off the mount and walk it slowly back until it is hanging above the dinghy. Then jump down into it and have the mate slowly lower it onto the transom. Takes maybe one minute when you have done it a couple of times. Removal is the reverse process. This works (IMO) better than a crane on the stern of the boat, especially if there is any sea causing the boat to pitch -- much more motion back there!

The beauty of this system is that it costs nothing to set up... everything you need is already there, so give it a try!

Cheers,

Jim and Ann s/v Insatiable II lying Trinity Inlet, Cairns Qld Oz

We do the same thing with our 2 stroke 15hp Merc, except we lower ours into our cockpit locker when we take it off the dingy. The halyard is taking all the load while I guide the motor as my wife lowers it with the main halyard on the winch. Works great.

If I ever get a pole for a wind generator, I may incorporate a motor lift using the same pole. Until then, the halyard works fine.

[gettinthere]

our yacht came with the garhauer lift. works fine.