Engine mounting

[PeterM]

With my boat being now about 6 1/2 years old I have been going over it chacking all the nuts/ bolts/ screws etc to make sure all is as it should be before (hopefully) lots of use over the summer.

One thing I have noticed that I never have seen before ;

- The top Engine bolts seem to be pulling into the transom.

I suppose over 6 years and 450 hours the loads through thse are pretty large, so to fix it & stop it happenings its been suggested I fit a ' distribution bar' - essentially a big cross beam to spread the loads away from the bolt holes.

I am planning on whipping the bolts out one at a time, with the boat still on the water to fit it in the next few days.

So questions are - does anyone have this fited already ?

does anyone think the motor will fall off if I take one bolt out at a time ?

[bedajim]

Originally Posted by PeterM

With my boat being now about 6 1/2 years old I have been going over it chacking all the nuts/ bolts/ screws etc to make sure all is as it should be before (hopefully) lots of use over the summer.

One thing I have noticed that I never have seen before ;

- The top Engine bolts seem to be pulling into the transom.

I suppose over 6 years and 450 hours the loads through thse are pretty large, so to fix it & stop it happenings its been suggested I fit a ' distribution bar' - essentially a big cross beam to spread the loads away from the bolt holes.

I am planning on whipping the bolts out one at a time, with the boat still on the water to fit it in the next few days.

So questions are - does anyone have this fited already ?

does anyone think the motor will fall off if I take one bolt out at a time ?

Yes, well a large stainless plate

And no it shouldn't be a problem if you do one bolt at a time as in remove one then refit it before removing the next one, can you fit a beam 1 bolt at a time or would some large washers(bits of square flat bar) be any good

Jim

[Avocet]

I know nothing about what you're proposing but the effect seems to be the same as fitting oversized washers to spread the load, so it makes sense.

On the basis that you've four bolts designed to take the forces applied at WOT, I'm sure that three will take the dead weight of the engine when stationary.

.....but I'm more than happy to come along and take the photos if I'm wrong.

[Chris]

If they are pulling into the transom then I would also take a good look when they are out to make sure you have not got water ingress causing the transom to go soft.

[PeterM]

Originally Posted by Chris

If they are pulling into the transom then I would also take a good look when they are out to make sure you have not got water ingress causing the transom to go soft.

I'm trying not to think about this possibility .......but yes a good opportunity to check.

David , I'll let you know if I drop the motor into 6ft of water & mud ............

[Mollers]

I've bolted through s/s plates on our SR4. We refitted all engine bolts with silicon to prevent water getting in there. If done neatly, it looks smart.

[PeterM]

Just to make clear I'm not going to take each bolt out in turn until there is loud splash and I see the engine vanish- I'll put them back in before I take the next one out........

I have visions of cheques being written with lots of zeros if its got water in it. So worst case who can I give it to to get it sorted ?

Ribshop sort it ? Biffer ? Anyone I need to start calling ?

[Nasher]

Pete

I wouldn't panic just yet, it's probably just compression over the years and hours of use rather that anything more serious.

Spreading the load over a wider area is something that should have been done from when it was new, and a good thick Stainless plate covering a wide area would do the trick. - Another annoying thing manufacturers don't do.

If it has got water in there then it's a case of de-rigging, cutting out the transom from outside or inside and rebuilding it. If you don't fancy having a go at it yourself then Biff is probably your best bet.

I will be interested to hear if it is water ingress, as you know I like the look of your boat, and thought Shearwater would have done a better job of building her.

Nasher.

[PeterM]

Originally Posted by Nasher

Pete

I wouldn't panic just yet, it's probably just compression over the years and hours of use rather that anything more serious.

Spreading the load over a wider area is something that should have been done from when it was new, and a good thick Stainless plate covering a wide area would do the trick. - Another annoying thing manufacturers don't do.

If it has got water in there then it's a case of de-rigging, cutting out the transom from outside or inside and rebuilding it. If you don't fancy having a go at it yourself then Biff is probably your best bet.

I will be interested to hear if it is water ingress, as you know I like the look of your boat, and thought Shearwater would have done a better job of building her.

Nasher.

Cheers Nasher , being an eternal pessimist I've got my fingers crossed. As mine was no1 built the hull was supplied direct by RING, and to be honest I dont think the previous owner took a great deal of care with It so who knows what hw did/didn't do.

Hopefully I'll find out mid week & let you know. Off to the boat jumble now

[9D280]

If you got transom towing eyes or an A-frame you could run a ratchet strap or a rope round the back of the engione to hold it up, then can take both bolts out at once - probably easier if you are fitting a bar or plate......

Much as the bolts will be fine to hold it strength wise, I'd be more concerned by the torque of the weight on the lower bolts making a nasty mess of the bottom two as it tried to fall back, unless of course your engine is old enough to still have the "transom screws" you get on wee portable engines (to hold the top of the clamp against the transom).

[Downhilldai]

Originally Posted by 9D280

...unless of course your engine is old enough to still have the "transom screws" you get on wee portable engines (to hold the top of the clamp against the transom).

Yes, they'd be handy on a 200 Opti

[9D280]

He could have been talking about the Yam 50.........

...errr ok, so I didn't read that bit........

[PeterM]

Originally Posted by 9D280

He could have been talking about the Yam 50.........

...errr ok, so I didn't read that bit........

Not sure the Yam is heavy enough to break much (although I do seem to push my boats quite hard......)

I'm crossing fingers and have put Biffers number in my phone memory just in case !

[PeterM]

With some trepidation I took the top bolts out tonight ( while using 9D280) idea of ratchet straps - good suggestion thanks).

With some relief all seems fine and dry in there. It seems that the angle between bolt/washer and the gel/glass has started to cut the gel/glass away around the top edge of the washer, so it seems to have progressively cut a neat disc out of the flow/gel/ GRP surface.

So the big bit of steel will be fitted tomorrow as Mr posty left me a nice note saying it was too big to push through the letter box.

However it started me thinking ;

Are these bolts ever put in with a shim inside the transom to avoid crushing ?

Why oh why dont manufactuers install metal frames inside the transom, that extend under floor into stringers to spread the load - these could have shims built in ( surely weight isn't that much of a issue ? - I'm thinking something like small aero engine mounts/ caterham chassis etc)

Why dont they fit a nice bit of steel plate either side of the transom as std anyway ? ( As can be seen on several boats on here ).

So it seems mild panic averted . Many thanks to Biff for his emails inferring its a doddle to fix ( maybe for him - nightmare for me !) and everyone who as usual listens to my eternally pessimistic posts ...... ( hopefully this allows me, the boats and everyone in them vaguely safe).