How did you support your engine for installation of motor mounts.

[smokey73]

1994 Hunter 40.5
Yanmar 4JH2E
My new Ellebogen motor mounts have arrived.
How did you support or jack up the engine when replacing your motor mounts? I've seen straps around the engine, wood blocks under the engine etc. Has anyone used a scissors jack with a 3/4 inch piece below and a 3/4 inch piece of plywood against the oil pan fit under the engine? Seems this would allow easy adjustment when doing the shaft alignment. Any pictures of or tips on how you did this would be appreciated.

 

[danstanford]

Anything that will fit in there and be removable after the new mounts are in should be fine. A scissor hack should let you tilt as needed and raise and lower so it sounds great.

 

[Captain Larry-DH]

Used a come-along to hoist it from above, suspended from a 4x4 placed across the hatch opening. Could also use a chain hoist.

 

[dlochner]

1994 Hunter 40.5
Yanmar 4JH2E
My new Ellebogen motor mounts have arrived.
How did you support or jack up the engine when replacing your motor mounts? I've seen straps around the engine, wood blocks under the engine etc. Has anyone used a scissors jack with a 3/4 inch piece below and a 3/4 inch piece of plywood against the oil pan fit under the engine? Seems this would allow easy adjustment when doing the shaft alignment. Any pictures of or tips on how you did this would be appreciated.

Let me know how it goes, my mounts are scheduled to arrive tomorrow.

From the videos on the Ellobogen website it looks like it is not necessary to raise the motor, only to support it while removing the mounts. The brackets are bolted to the engine block, remove those bolts and slide and wiggle the old mount out, install the new mount on the bracket and put the bracket back on to the motor.

Something like this inflatable air jack should work. This particular on might be a little small, there are probably larger ones available.

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Johnson-Level-Air-Shimming-Tool/5001465067

 

[jssailem]

Block and tackle from the boom.
There are two lines (halyard and topping lift attached to boom). The mainsheet (block and tackle) does the lifting. Here is the 200-lb transmission being removed from the boat and transferred to the dock.

Two A-frames supporting an aluminum rail with a come-along attached to the engine block were used to remove my 500lb engine from the boat. Probably more beef then you will need to lift the engine to replace the mounts.

I have heard of basketballs being inflated under an engine when the lift is not more than a couple of inches.

Really may only need to lift the engine 6 inches to remove and replace the mounts.

 

[RitSim]

On my C30, I needed to remove the transmission. My oil pan was in good shape( not rusted). I loosened the top nut on the rear mounts and did use a deflated soccer ball followed by blocking to not rely solely on the ball. My mounts had a threaded stud on top and lag bolts at the base, so two to three inches was all the elevation I required

 

[twodzusfittings]

I used a 2x4 and my friend to lift one side, changed out the mount, did the same on the other, finally did the front. My engine is an M20 and uses only three points for the mounts.

 

[MikeHoncho]

cedar block with large and thin wood wedges. I used a pry bar with leverage blocking to make small adjustments. The idea of trying to balance anything on a half inflated basketball and putting you between what is being lifted and anything solid isn't smart.

 

[kloudie1]

I used a small scissors jack with a little piece of plywood to spread the load on the oil pan.. My 3GMF is not very heavy.. (book says 130 kilos with transmission) The jack worked fine as I could tip the motor slightly to one side and do one mount at a time..

 

[SVFreedom]

Basketball works fantastic, use an electronic tire pump for speedier lift, conform to the engine, lessens the potential for damage and you can roll the engine a little to adjust the engine to align it to the shaft.

 

[SoHaSailor]

I replaced the mounts for my little Universal M2-12 last fall. I had seen all of the suggestions mentioned above here including jacks, deflated and re-inflated basketballs or fenders, etc., but I had zero room under the engine to insert anything. Someone then pointed out that the old engine mounts can be used as jacks themselves. Simply crank the nuts under the engine flanges all the ay up to the top and the engine will be lifted up. This worked like a charm for me. I moved each nut up until it was about half-way off the stud, and was then able to remove and replace each mount one-by one by tipping them out and tipping the new one into place. I advise the use of some bracing for stabilizing the engine when removing each mount to prevent that corner from dropping.

Regarding your question about adjustment during shaft alignment, Note that the shaft alignment is done with the engine resting back down on the stud nuts in a position close to what you expect the final position to be. All position adjustment at that point is done by moving the stud nuts up and down or shifting the engine side-to-side on the mounts.

 

[Urban Hermit]

I used a trestle similar to the most excellent overkill one pictured above to get a 9kW genset out of and back into a trawler but I made it out of 2x6s, spacing two for the horizontal with a McGivered trolley and huge eye bolt between. I used the mizzen mast and halyard to remove a 2GM engine and transmission and install a 3GM in a sailboat. It took some faith in the posted tensile strength of the halyard and rigging but it worked. No experience with lifting from below. I like the airbag (basketball?) idea.

 

[capta]

I was pretty much thinking along the lines of SoHaSailor. After all, the engine mounts do support the engine and 3 should do as well as 4, if you have no plans to get underway.
I would mention that any alignment done out of the water will require further attention when you are in the water as the boat's shape will change from being supported on her keel, to floating.

 

[Sutric]

A basketball worked just fine for my little Yanmar 1GM. Your weight may vary!

 

[marcham]

Also used basketball and a manual air pump, change one at a time.