Tilt on older Mercury 50 hp

[gpfishingdude]

I am thinking about adding power tilt to the old 85 Mercury 50 hp motor on the pontoon boat. Can this be done without having to make a lot of changes to the motor housing or mounts. Would I be better off buying an old used tilt unit with the center part of the motor housing attached and trying to change that out or to buy the new converter kit? I don't like the idea of starting over with a completely different motor now that I have this one running decent.

 

[steelespike]

Re: Tilt on older Mercury 50 hp

There are after market tilt units and tilt and trim units.
You understand tilt is just tilt you can use it to navigate shallow water at no wake speed but you can't do trim.
Trim on a pontoon is usually only good for finding the best spot with the least ventilation.
Usually has little affect on the boat.
A friend now has our pontoon ;the tilt is probably about 20 years old.While it has had a couple of repairs as far as I know it is still working.

 

[HarborRat]

Re: Tilt on older Mercury 50 hp

Buying a tilt unit on ebay or wherever would probably cost more than finding a entire used motor like yours with tilt/trim. Just take off the parts you need and keep the rest of the motor for spares. Keep an eye on craigslist. Personally, I'd look for a newer motor and sell yours.

 

[gpfishingdude]

Re: Tilt on older Mercury 50 hp

I'm thinking that there should be a lot of old motors around that still have the power tilt that works. I will keep my eyes open and maybe run an ad to see what all I can find. I saw one on Ebay that said it was the middle section of the chassis with the tilt attached but when I looked at the shipping it weighed 100 pounds on a pallet so it looks like I would be paying for a lot of shipping. I will keep an eye out for a good deal on a newer motor too.

 

[Reprieve]

Air lock in tilt and trim classic 50

 

[GA_Boater]

First - This is an old topic. Second - How does it relate to the topic? If you are asking for assistance with a problem, the best way is start a new topic so you get the best exposure. Welcome aboard, Reprieve.

 

[gpfishingdude]

First of all I started the subject because I wanted to know what was needed for a used mercury trim and tilt. I found one unit with two cylinders that mounts in place of the shocks that many of these motor come with. Unfortunately my motor had the cheaper mounting bracket-without shocks- and would have needed the whole bracket changed, removing the upper and lower units on the motor to accomplish this, so that didn't work out for me. It looks like the simplest way for me to go would be to go with a CMC unit but that would cost more than I want to invest right now. Thanks for all of the advice, at least I know what I can use and what I can't now.