Lifting and removing the engine

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Bob McGovern
Posts: 283
Joined: Fri Oct 26, 2012 3:08 am
Location: Wyoming, USA

Lifting and removing the engine

Post by Bob McGovern »

Any clever ideas for hoisting the MD6A off its mounts & up through the companionway, then over the starboard side & 3m to the ground -- with the boat on stands & the mast down? I've decided to pull the engine completely & probably either have it rebuilt or replace it with a remanufactured engine.

Took off the original water-jacket exhaust, prop shaft, and (totally destroyed) motor mounts today. Nasty.
MarkRyan1981
Posts: 165
Joined: Fri Oct 12, 2012 7:47 am

Re: Lifting and removing the engine

Post by MarkRyan1981 »

Hello Bob!!

Hope the project is coming along well - any more photos of your pride and joy? I haven't undertaken that job before myself (thank heavens), but the beardy, wise folk on my other forum here: http://www.ybw.com/forums/showthread.ph ... +an+engine have.

Hope you are well!

Warm regards,

Mark
Bob McGovern
Posts: 283
Joined: Fri Oct 26, 2012 3:08 am
Location: Wyoming, USA

Re: Lifting and removing the engine

Post by Bob McGovern »

Hi Mark. Thanks for the link. We're creeping along on the refit: have most of the structural done, the forepeak area completed, new foredeck hatch, etc. I want to get the engine out before starting cosmetic on the main saloon. Still torn on the engine, which is why I've waited so long to address the issue. On the one hand, the Penta MD6A is here, it fits the boat, & we have any number of diesel mechanics in this town if we want to rebuild it. OTOH, rebuild kits are vanishingly hard to obtain, the main engine block is cracked (previous owner's JB Weld repair is failing), and it is 46 years old. Also, really heavy for 10hp. I'd like to upgrade to ~14hp, fresh-water cooled instead of raw water, and water-lift exhaust instead of water-jacketed. At the very least, the thing has to come out to get repairs and new motor mounts.

I'm leaning towards a home-built gantry with a sliding harness for the chain hoist, to get the engine over the side, It has to be very tall, however, to clear the coamings. And it really has to roll or sledge fore and aft, to get the engine out of the companionway & then back far enuf to clear the sides. A minimum of 4m tall and 4-5m across. Not too worried about the weight -- only 150kg or so with the alternator & Dynastart stripped off. Got a chain hoist that will do that easily -- we lifted a dozen 300kg batteries out of the basement with it.

Also thought about a rotating jib crane, since I have a bunch of 5" galvanized tubing sections lying around (old wind turbine parts). I'm less confident about that sort of cantilever, tho. When a leveraged crane fails, it tends to fail catastrophically & without warning. Also, when the day eventually comes to lift the Ballad onto a transport trailer, two of these gantry cranes should be able to lift it far enuf to back a trailer under the keel. We got it off the delivery truck using a 20T forklift, which was ... not relaxing. Or safe. Also cost $450 USD for about an hour's rental.
jocke76
Posts: 11
Joined: Tue Sep 20, 2016 4:37 pm
Location: Västerås, Sweden

Re: Lifting and removing the engine

Post by jocke76 »

Hi

There are 2 episodes, in swedish, when the youtube channel "Sailing Västkusten" replaces the engine on his Ballad.

Episode 1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z5ONiTNQTqM

Episode 2
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOjSRFXCDNE
Albin Ballad 211, Västerås Sweden
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prjacobs
Posts: 235
Joined: Fri Oct 12, 2012 4:06 pm

Re: Lifting and removing the engine

Post by prjacobs »

I used a Back Hoe.
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Bob McGovern
Posts: 283
Joined: Fri Oct 26, 2012 3:08 am
Location: Wyoming, USA

Re: Lifting and removing the engine

Post by Bob McGovern »

Heavy machinery is definitely an option. My various friends have diggers and forklifts and tractors, but none tall enuf to clear the boat's structure. I could rent, but our town's rental company is a notorious, over-charging monopolist, plus I live 15 miles out of town so the delivery is expensive and you have to pay full-day rates. It was $450 for one hour's use of the loader we lifted the boat with. That was off-season rates. Engine out/engine in plus eventual lifting the boat for transport would cost at least $1500 USD rental fees, which is half the cost of a reman engine. :( I can build a single gantry for under $100, using #1 Doug Fir lumber. 150kg isn't much weight at all. Egyptians moved 60 ton blocks of stone 3500 years ago & they didn't even have wheel technology -- or chain hoists! :) We can do this. (Probably.)
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prjacobs
Posts: 235
Joined: Fri Oct 12, 2012 4:06 pm

Re: Lifting and removing the engine

Post by prjacobs »

I like the gantry idea. You could make it wide enough to slide the raised motor clear of the boat to lower it to the ground. A track would be nice, maybe even an electric hoist. That would make re-installation easier too. Having the remote on the hoist would make it a one person job, and I'm sure you'd find other uses for it :D
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