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Tips for trailering with a 225 that won't lift?

brettmarl

brettmarl

Regular Contributor
I have a 225 that tilt/trim motor has failed on and motor is in down-position.

I need to trailer the boat to work on it, but need to get engine up once I'm on the ramp otherwise I'll probably scrape the skeg. I know I can use the manual release to drop the pressure off the rams, but any tips for how to actually lift the motor once the pressure release it off from the water?

If I pop the engine-cover - would pulling horizontal-ish by the lift-rings be enough to tilt the outboard up?
 
I can't answer the question but my idea would be to use a 2×4....a 10 footer would likely do... as a tilt lever.

You come in at an angle to use the boat's transom as the fulcrum and engage the front of the gearcase with the board.
A very short piece of board screwed to the end to form a "V" area to engage the case would help keep it from slipping off the end of the board.

Go ahead! Shoot me down! Send me off in flames! But, then again, it just might work. :geek:
 
Well... got the engine up - there was zero chance of me lifting it from onboard the boat before getting it on the hard. Luckily I had 3-4 inches of clearance for my skegs->ground on my trailer when fully down, so was able to pull boat with engine down.

Getting it up the first 1/3 of the way was a bear - I had to lever it against the trailer with a long 2x4 just to move it maybe an inch. Then up-top I had ratchet straps hooked onto the lifting rings and tied to the roof of the boat. Each inch I came with the 2x4 - took up the slack in the ratchets (had to reset them a few times when they got full) until it was high enough I could lift it by hand.
 
Having never tilted a BIG outboard like those by hand I wouldn't know. But that sure sounds WAAAY more difficult than I would have imagined.

You doing all this with no help?
 
I lifted a leg in similar circumstances, bled fully down while at a gas station, (though not quite as large a motor), by using a floor jack.
We had to use a scrap piece of 4x4 at the rear of the jack to change the angle of loft & get it started, then blocked it in place, changed the jack & lifted again. It went pretty easy, then used Herc straps to secure it for the short distance home.
 
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