Raising the Transom.

[Nasher]

Fingers crossed, I’ve done a deal and picked up a late 90’s 200HP Suzuki EFI at a good price. I’ll know in the next couple of days. Only trouble is, it’s an Ultra long (25inch) shaft and my RIB is built for a long (20-21inch) shaft.
Actually raising the powerhead would help, as my hydraulics are a very tight fit in the bottom of the tapered well behind the transom.

I’ve two options.

I can fill in the cut out in the transom by 4 inches, something I’ve done before to convert a smaller RIB from Short shaft to Long shaft.
This I would do by building up a marine ply sandwich with epoxy to the right thickness, epoxy and fix with long stainless screws into the gap and finish off with Fibreglass all round.
Then fit Stainless plates on either side which overlap the original transom as much as possible. Then use a slightly longer piece of Ali U section on top.

Or I could fit a Manual Jack Plate that the guys on ‘The Other Forum’ are always going on about.
I’ve never had one, so don’t know their pros and cons. Plus don’t know the cost of an off-the shelf item. I’m presuming if I make one myself, the materials alone will be more than those for raising the transom.

Nasher.

[Hightower]

If funds would stretch I would go for the jack plate as I'm sure I'd regret it later if I didn't. As for the raising of the transom.......If the outboard could be bolted though the original transom as per the rigging instructions then you wouldn't really have and building work to do. My outboard bracket is over 2" above the transom. Your only problem is that if, when you come to fit the outboard, your 2 uppermost mounting holes are in fresh air. That is when you will have to do some building work.

Hope you make sense of my ramblings.

Andy

[jwalker]

Jackplates, generally, don't have a great range of lift so, presuming you bolt one into your present tansom holes, at maximum up you'll only be about the required height for the motor. I'd go with your transom mods plan. You could still add a jackplate on top of that if you wanted to play about at a later date. It also wouldn't be particularly difficult to reinstate the transom to original if it became necessary in the future.

[Nasher]

Mmmm, 1 all at the moment.

I'm coming to like the idea of using a jack plate as Its a bolt on job.
Just happens to be the expensive option though.

Nasher.

[Swifty]

Or flog it on Ebay then buy the right length motor

Just a thought...
Tim'mers.

[Hightower]

Or flog ya boat on Ebay and get a decent one !!!

[Pete7]

I asked Malcomn at Ocean to do just this a couple of years ago and he reconded about £200 asuming the transom was clear of the previous engine.

since its one of his boats it would be worth having a chat with him.

Pete

[Nasher]

Pete

You should know me better than that.

Never paid anyone to do anything I can do myself. Except wash the car!

I have all the materials to do the work on the transom in the garage, just need to get the old engine off first.
Sent a deposit off on the engine now, so will need to do something.


Nasher

[Pete7]

Originally Posted by Nasher

Pete You should know me better than that. Nasher

Shout if you need a hand with the engine,

Pete

[Mark Halliday]

Nasher

I would be inclined to route out a rebate in the transom and form a lapped joint. You be able to use the engine mount bolts to hold the sandwhich together as well as the epoxy and glass and st/st plates etc. It would be a tad stronger than just screwing a lump on top.