Motor lifting/removal help

I'm about to pull my 91' Merc 4 cylinder 40 hp ELPTO off a 87' Polar Kraft aluminum with a cracked transom. I am going to deconstruct the transom and replace the plywood. I want to do the whole job in about a week in spare time.

My question is about how to attach to the motor to lift it off the transom. I have looked and don't see any lift attachment point.

Any suggestions? I really don"t want to buy a lift eye as I HOPE I won't be removing it again.

Thanks.

Re: Motor lifting/removal help

One way is to buy some wooden 2x4's and construct a frame to keep the engine upright once disconnected from the boat. If you don't cut the wood and use screws, you can disassemble it when finished and use the wood for another project.

Once you have the frame built, and around the engine, unbolt the engine and using the tongue jack on the trailer, raise the tongue and when the engine is clear of the transom, pull the trailer/boat out from under the engine.

Mark

Re: Motor lifting/removal help

They sell a lifting Eyebolt that connects to the center of the flywheel, it's about $30. Personally, my 24 year old son and I lifted my Merc 4 cylinder 50hp off ourselves. I will warn you that the transom mount being able to swivel creates a little bit of a challenge when lifting it. Once off, we just layed it face dowm in the garage, mine has 2 handle looking things as part of the main casting.

Good luck with the transom removal, it took me 2 days to get the old one out! It came out a chunk at a time, hopefully yours is more intact. Do yourself a favor and only use Marine plywood, it's worth the money for that. I paid about $75 a sheet for 3/4" and you double it up. I also purchaed Marine epoxy on Ebay, $20 was enough to glue the boards together and then dilute to make a coating for the transom after they were married together. Knowing now how much better Marine plywood is, I would have used it on the floor too. I used exterior CDX, just like the boat came with, and coated it with fiberglass resin. I would highly discourage you from this method for the transom.