Outboard Bracket | It Doesn't Fit!

Having spent a lot of time and effort getting the selected aluminium outboard motor bracket into a usable state, it occurred to me that I should check that it was actually fit for purpose.

I had no doubt that it now worked beautifully from a mechanical point of view, but would it accommodate the motor correctly? Until now I had assumed that it would, because otherwise what use would it be?

My first worry was that there might not be sufficient room for the motor between the bracket and the transom when it was raised to maximum height and tilted back, out of the way for sailing.

I had not yet tried to tilt the motor on its new stand, so I did so - and immediately thought there could be a problem.

Oh Dear! Next step was to measure up properly, to see how much room was required by the motor head when tilted - at both half and full tilt.

This is the motor at full tilt.

And in this pic you can see that the motor head and associated metalwork do indeed intrude into the space behind the mounting pad.

I then set the motor to half tilt. This is it.

Again, it occupies the space behind the mounting pad - although to a lesser extent. Like this.

I knew of course that the outboard bracket which I had selected has an adjustment arm which projects vertically upwards behind and beyond the mounting pad, so it was obvious that we had a problem.

So... I measured the amount of room required by the motor, at full and half tilt. This drawing shows the situation.

It shows that at 'FULL TILT' the motor occupies a space 13cm wide by 5cm deep below the top edge of the mounting pad, which is the datum line on this drawing.

Similarly, at 'HALF TILT' the motor occupies a space 13cm long by 2cm deep above the datum line.

A quick glance at a pic of the chosen bracket in an intermediate position shows immediately that this is not going to work.

The adjustment arm projects directly into the space required for full and half tilt, as shown on the drawing.

This pic shows the adjustment arm projects above the top edge of the mounting pad when set to maximum height - right through the middle of the required space. 

That leaves no room for the motor to be tilted, so this bracket is in fact of no use.

That, as they say, is a right pain in the a**e!

What to do? Luckily I have a fall back option, in the shape of the stainless steel bracket which previously took second place when making the final choice.

This is it, remounted on the test facility.

The adjustment arm on this bracket does not intrude into the required space for the motor, although it could potentially interact with the transom - unless the rearward sloping transom skirt provides enough clearance for it.

Next step is to make further measurements to see if the second bracket is a viable alternative, and then no doubt set about fettling it to make it fit for purpose - like the first one!

What I completely fail to understand is how the aluminium bracket, first selected, can possibly be of any real use in conjunction with any motor. It does not afford room at all to tilt an outboard motor backwards, so its only use is to raise and lower the motor in and out of the water - which is at best sub-optimal.

Once again I am find myself saying, "What a piece of crap!".

Onwards and upwards... I am sure we will prevail eventually. It just takes an incredible amount of patience.

Outboard Motor | It's on the Stand!

With the motor stand ready to go I moved it inside so I could install the motor.

Here is the motor, newly mounted.

This has two huge benefits.

One, it is off the table and portable so I can store it somewhere less in the way.

Two, I can now start to understand how it works and how to use it.

To that end I printed the Mercury user manual - all 56 pages of it. Here it is.

This will be my evening reading for the next few days, fiddling with the motor as I progress.

Exciting!

PocketShip Plaque

Some time back my son Nick was experimenting with casting malleable metals to create various artefacts.

One of the things he cast was this fabulous PocketShip wall plaque.

I have had it in my study for a long time but decided just last week to mount it in my workshop, so others will see it.

This is it.

I think it's pewter - I must remember to ask him.

Thanks Nick!

Motor Stand | Assembly

I mentioned in a previous post that the otherwise excellent outboard motor stand had a couple of faulty components, which were quickly and helpfully replaced by the vendor.

Here is the fully assembled stand, which as you can see is very substantial and also serves as a trolley for moving the motor around.

I'm very pleased with that!

Outboard Bracket | Finishing

Having made a new mounting pad for the selected outboard bracket, I set about finishing it so I could fit it to the bracket and figure out how to install the whole thing on the boat's transom.

I mentioned in a previous post that I also made a buffer pad, to fit between the outboard bracket and the transom, to save wear and tear on the transom veneer.

Here are both pads after their final coat of varnish, hardening off.

Next came a trial fit of the spring which holds the adjuster arm in place. This is it.

That looks good. It was time to fit the pad to the bracket with new fastenings, like this.

That looks excellent. This next pic shows how the spring fits between the back of the pack and the adjustment arm, holding the arm in place to set the height of the motor.

And lastly here is the bracket set up and fully functional, with the pad set at half height. Just to be sure that it works!

I'm looking forward to seeing the motor hanging off it.

A Message for Our Visitors!

Hello all.

I have been writing this blog since early 2019. It is my photo diary to document the building of my PocketShip "Journey".

We get a lot of visitors, apparently!

According to the Stats facility on Blogger, this site has received many thousands of visits since I started posting.

And our visitors hail from all four corners of the globe, which is amazing.

I have been curious for a long while about who you all are, and where you come from, and what draws you all to my blog.

If you have the time and inclination, leave a few words about your interest in PocketShip.

It would be good to hear from you!

Motor Stand | Choice, Quality & First Impressions

Having collected the outboard it became obvious that I needed somewhere to store it properly. So I checked out the internet for stands.

As with the outboard mounting bracket I found a plethora of cheap and nasty stands, made of thin tubing and not looking as if they would stay upright or last any length of time.

Others were quite expensive and didn't look to be worth the money.

One, however, stood out.

This is it.

It is made of galvanised steel with a good-sized wooden mounting board and large wheels for easy moving around. I duly ordered one.

This is how it arrived, in a flat pack as expected.

The parts seemed solid but I wasn't happy with the finishing. The axle did not fit the axle lug on one of the side frames, apparently due to excess weld or maybe galvanising. This is the lug.

And the axle itself has been filed or ground at one end, probably to remove excess galvanising dross. This is it.

The vendor has promised to replace them, so we will see what happens.