Homemade tilt ???

[Reg312]

I have a mid 70's Merc 115 with NO tilt or trim. I posted some time about hitting mud and my cabin being in low water. Used tilt and trim for this motor is $300 - $500 and parts hard to find and expensive when repair needed. The CMC thing used is $500. Tried to sell the boat to buy something with tilt and trim. No luck. So, figured I'ld see if I could make my own.

This will ONLY be used at idle to get to my dock.

A & B are original shock mount posts.
Point "C" is a cantilever point.
Point "D" is new mounting point.

Steering is NOT interferred with

Using 3/4 x 1.5 solid aluminum

Plan 1 - If I were to mount and Automotive air shock to "A" and "D" and a used automotive leveling pump or small 12 v air compressor to raise and lower unit. Cost about $100

Plan 2 - A pair of 12v Linear Actuator on "A" and "D" Cost $300

http://www.amazon.com/Northern-Indu...ie=UTF8&s=miscellaneous&qid=1254150113&sr=8-6

Plan 3 - Getting a used Convertible top setup. Cost $100

COMMENTS ????

 

[BLU LUNCH]

Re: Homemade tilt ???

Check these guys out they have a ton of parts outboards laying around
http://www.outboardexchange.com/outboard_parts.htm

 

[Reg312]

Re: Homemade tilt ???

Thanks Blu - But trying to get away from old used parts that are hard and expensive to find And like a challenge.

Just got done fighting with school board so in pissy mood.

After 40 + lookers seems like my idea doesn't interest anyone, its stupid or everyone has $$$ for tilt and trim.

Air shock probably a bad idea cause I think they have more of a push than pull force. Linear actuator may work but for the size i need force is a little weak. Convert top parts may be my best option. I've seen some small tractor guys build front end loaders with them. Hooked a small winch to a 2x4 to see if the the arms would bind. Motor raised nicely, operated fine and was quite pleased. May just use the winch. COST $0.00

 

[redfury]

Re: Homemade tilt ???

It's not a bad idea, I think you could pull it off. Can I assume that you don't have a shallow drive lever on the motor? I haven't had the pleasure of really dealing with the larger motors yet...( 25hp is the biggest ) and they have a lever you can flip that will hold the motor in a shallow drive configuration until you lift the motor up a little more and the lever snaps back with a spring and you can let the motor all the way back down again. Of course, in this mode, reverse will most likely lift the motor up enough for the thing to drop back down all the way, so it's only really any good in forward.

I suppose finding something to replace the original lift shock on the motor mount with something hydraulic would be hard to find.

I guess it depends on how much effort you want to put into it.

What about a Jack plate?

 

[Reg312]

Re: Homemade tilt ???

its a 1975 merc 115. Full up or full down. Took one of the shocks off and it's toast so i'll assume the other one is too. No wonder the damn thing was so hard to lift. I have all winter to work on it. Once I figure out what to use for lift the rest is easy. Those brackets I cut work perfect.

 

[Lion hunter]

Re: Homemade tilt ???

Might take a look at these and rob some engineering ideas from them.

http://www.powrtran.com/cgi-bin/cart/showdetails.cgi?parts_id=9608

 

[Reg312]

Re: Homemade tilt ???

I was looking at a 12v scissors jack but thought it would stick out to much and the angle wasn't right. May put that back into the plan. Thanks

PS - Nice boat LH. Been looking for and old one myself.

 

[Willyclay]

Re: Homemade tilt ???

The website at the link below may give you some ideas. Good luck!

http://www.dillon-racing.com/jackplate/index.htm

 

[BLU LUNCH]

Re: Homemade tilt ???

The website at the link below may give you some ideas. Good luck!

http://www.dillon-racing.com/jackplate/index.htm

I could have saved 225. on the jackplate I bought........

 

[Reg312]

Re: Homemade tilt ???

Thanks Willyclay. That looks almost to easy.

 

[Moody Blue]

Re: Homemade tilt ???

Keep an eye on ebay and similar sites. There are always used systems for sale for a very reasonable price.

Got mine for $200 complete with a parts motor. PTT operates perfectly.

Don't think its worth the time or trouble to build something custom.

 

[49thdiver]

Re: Homemade tilt ???

Reg312m how much progress have you made on this project.
I am interested in doing the same thing. I have a pair of 50hp yamaha's on my small boat and I am tired of paying the big bucks to keep the tilt and trim functioning, not to mention replacing the switches that fail in the console.
It seems to me that there must be a good third world kinda fix to this situation.

I have been thinking about some kind of cam with a big arm that sticks up above the motor, when up runs with leg fully submerged, when down lifts the leg so that just the props in the water.

I have my boat trimmed out pretty much so don't need to adjust it when running. I just want use it when creeping through the shallows, to save on prop repairs.

Let me know how your doing.

 

[Home Cookin']

Re: Homemade tilt ???

How about 2 different diameter dowels, tied off to the boat on strings, stuck under the motor? Works on small motors. With two you have two height settings.

Look at some of the homemade "transom savers" where people put a block of wood or hard rubber for the motor to rest on rather than using the tilt lever.

For low speeds, as you suggest, seems like an easy fix.

 

[Guest]

Re: Homemade tilt ???

I too am looking to replace my old OMC OEM tilt system. The motor does work, and so does the pump, but the cylinders leak, it seems like there is always something that is wrong with these old systems in my experience, and like some have said here, ever increasingly hard to find expensive parts. For me, if the boat isn't a racing boat, the motor is up or down, really just a tilt system more than a tilt and trim.
I have used a manual system that I made before, I used a foot operated pump from Northern Tool. http://www.northerntool.com/shop/to...o Body Repair&cm_cat=Google&cm_ven=Aggregates

As you can see it is decently priced, as most of those pumps are highly priced. I plumbed it with 1/4 hydraulic line, 3/16 is adequate for all motor weights though. Since the motor it was installed on was not released from the factory with a tilt system it had an aftermarket add on system. I took the seized motor assembly off and hooked the up feed to the pump. Since this outboard had the tilt lock (again being released without power tilt) I did not need the "lower" side of the right cylinder to have fluid in it to lock the outboard down in running position. So I left the original hose on it and fitted a 1/4 NPT breather vent with bronze element material, water and moisture can only enter under considerable pressure. It worked very well and did not take all too many pumps to lift the motor out of the water. To lower I just cracked the bleed knob and gently eased it down with no trouble. Keep in mind this tilt system was off of a 75' Johnny 85, so this was not a system that sat between the mount brackets.

 

[Reg312]

Re: Homemade tilt ???

This was an OLD POST, but I did get the homemade tilt working. On the old Merc 1150 I removed the upper and lower shock bolts on one side and built a crossing type frame out of .75 x 1.5" aluminum bar and attached to those locations with longer bolts. A clevis pin and cheap 12v elec. winch from Harbor freight tools and seriously re-enforced where the winch was attached to the fiberglass. Worked perfect with that big heavy motor. Never used it to trim over idle speed. If someone replies to this I will look for pictures I took of the setup. PS - Due to my ignorance and newbyism I choose to run boat with top carb running a bit lean. Therefore scoring #2 cylinder and trashing motor.

 

[Willyclay]

Re: Homemade tilt ???

Thanks for the update. I wondered what you did. Sorry to hear about the Tower of Power problem.

 

[Guest]

Re: Homemade tilt ???

Oh man...:facepalm:...... I to am sorry to hear that. I always liked the looks of those motors, just beautiful. I wanted to install a hydraulic cylinder where the shock absorbers go and on the other side, mount the old lift assist cylinder from my Johnny parts motor. But those cylinders have a 5 or so inch stroke and are 8-1/2 inches long pivot center to center, closed, and 13-1/2 inches extended.
It is nearly impossible to find a cylinder with those stats. I could find a suitable one to be chopped, but it is difficult to get them to those stats, but theoretically can be done. It would be nice to get one installed perfectly, I do know people that are very skilled in chopping hydro cylinders that build Capillary Injectors and machines of the like. I can do it myself, but do not have the tools.

To elaborate a little more on that old manual system I made, I actually chopped the tilt bracket to only use the right side, the left side cylinder was not needed and leaked terribly. I used this system till the o-rings gave out on the cylinder and shortly after that the boat started to show its age from previous owners storing it outside with no cover and one even said that he found it for sale with the trailer tongue on the ground.
Needless to say it was rotted terribly and totaled in my opinion, it now rests under many tons of garbage. Back on subject: But I wish i knew where that old chopped bracket was, I will not chop the one I have now as I will sell it for $ to fund my next tilt system. I am still thinking of using something similar to yours but using a universal linear actuator that is easy to find. Going all electric is appealing to me so I do not have to fool with hydraulics.
I could even carry an extra, in case it ever goes out I can change it out in a few minutes, same that I do with my OB's starter, fuel pump, and prop. Its nice having a donor motor! Before too long my Evinrude will become a Johnnyrude! It already has the Johnny cover on it, think I might paint Johnnyrude 85 on it.

 

[Reg312]

Re: Homemade tilt ???

I didn't see my original picture on 1st post. I found out the actuaters would not work. You have to shim A & B properly and I found that aluminum bar was rubbing on transom due to weight of motor. I got 2 solid 4" rubber wheels and cut a little off and with a bolt thru "A" and the cut part of 2 wheels rested perfectly on transom. Worked perfect. Clevis pin at "D" and where winch mounted on fiberglass was heavily re-enforced with CCA 2x6.

 

[Chris1956]

Re: Homemade tilt ???

Hey Reg, when you engineered your PTT unit, did you provide for the motor to pop up if you hit anything? You don't plan to rebuild that TOP?


To all those who plan to engineer their own PTT units. Remember PTT units have hydraulic releases on them. If you hit something hard, the motor will pop up, rather than break off.

 

[Guest]

Re: Homemade tilt ???

Good idea Chris, I didn't think of that before. Strong Neodymium magnets might work in many cases for a breakaway system, statically those magnets can hold and never quit, but suddenly bumped loose they will come apart. A pair of center drilled and countersunk "pill" mags would do the trick.