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Catalina/Capri 25/250 Sailor's Forums

Catalina 250 Specific Forum

Yamaha OB Clearance problem

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Dick Dyer
Deckhand

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16 Posts

Initially Posted - 01/18/2006 : 20:56:21

I have a Yamaha 8HP with powerlift mounted in the motorwell. The motor tiller is oversized to accomodate the extra controls and the result is that I cannot turn the engine because the tiller hits the fuel tanks enclosure. Has anyone ever dealt with this issue? I'm thinking of cutting down the fuel enclosure. I talked with my local Yamaha dealer about a remote kit for the engine, and they tell me it would be less expensive to buy a new motor and sell the old one.

Edited by - on

Tom Potter
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1913 Posts

Response Posted - 01/18/2006 : 21:26:40

Hi Dick, I have a 8 Tohatsu 2 stroke and have the same problem. My tiller arm hits the fuel locker. I've learned to live with it, I keep the motor straight and learned to do what I need to do with the rudder. Without seeing your motor and knowing the amount of clearance you need. That being said, here are a few options.

1. Slide the motor over on the transom toward the starboard a little. I did this and it gave me just a little movement. Just enough to compensate for prop walk while backing.
2. Is it possible to trim away part of the tiller arm enough to clear without weaken the tiller arm.
(Maybe a combination of the above two)
3. Buy an motor bracket that that moves the motor back off the transom.

The one thing I would not do, is cut into your fuel locker.

Edited by - Tom Potter on 01/18/2006 21:29:29

kevinmac
Admiral

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USA
732 Posts

Response Posted - 01/18/2006 : 23:53:24

Dick,

I have the same motor. When I bought my boat, I ordered an outboard bracket from Catalina with the boat. This bracket moves the outboard aft from the transom about a foot or so, it is just enough to make it possible to turn the motor fully in each direction. If you search the forums with the words "outboard bracket", you can find pictures of what I am talking about.

You will have to put the tiller nearly vertical to get it around the vertical portion of the stern rail, but you can get the movement you want.

I plan to add Arlyn's soft link bungee system to use the tiller to move the motor, and just leave the motor tiller vertical. I think that is the best solution with this motor. But with this motor, if you want to be able to turn the motor for a starboard turn, you need the bracket. I think it cost $85 from Catalina. The are of course other brackets available, I just got this one because someone else on this site posted pictures of it, and it looked like the right thing.

Edited by - on

Arlyn Stewart
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
2980 Posts

Response Posted - 01/19/2006 : 00:01:29

A question to those who consider adding the bracket... are any distance hauls contemplated? I trailer long distances with my 250 and leave the motor in place and have never had cause to be concerned about doing so. I would hate to have to remove the outboard for hauling.

Will adding the bracket cause any concern about hauling the boat with the motor in place?

Edited by - on

sailorman
1st Mate

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USA
69 Posts

Response Posted - 01/19/2006 : 00:06:39

Hi Dick. I have a Nisson 9.8 hp.4 stroke and do not have room to turn the motor. Having come from a keel boat this has never been a problem as I keep the motor staight and and steer with the rudder. If steering with the motor is an issue with you, you can add a motor mount which will allow you to mount the motor away from the hull and achieve rotation room. Give this a try; think of your boat with an inboard motor.

Edited by - on

AADIVER
Admiral

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USA
966 Posts

Response Posted - 01/19/2006 : 01:18:37

Best solution for a 9.8 Tohatsu: mount the engine on the transom a bit to starboard, even though the clamp covers part of the transom drain hole. With the tiller elevated, the engine moves just enough to compensate for prop walk. I have to back out to starboard to leave my slip. If the engine was fixed fore and aft it would fight the rudder backing out, but it moves just enough not to. My sailing buddy also has a 250 with his Honda on the Catalina 80 buck bracket. It puts his engine too far out so he's going to lose the bracket and remount on the transom.

Edited by - AADIVER on 01/19/2006 01:20:48

kevinmac
Admiral

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USA
732 Posts

Response Posted - 01/19/2006 : 13:45:22

Arlyn,

I am not sure I understand your concern about hauling with the bracket. I would think the forces on an outboard on the bracket would be the same or worse in any kind of seas i.e. why is the problem any worse out of the water than in. In both cases the boat can get slammed going over a wave/bump. Perhaps the static loads are higher for trailering, but if you are motoring, I would think the additional stress of the motor pushing on the boat would even that difference out.

In any case, the bracket is very beefy, and transmits the weight of the outboard to four points on the transom. So the question in my mind was, can the transom take the extra stress of the motor on a 2' or so lever arm (the length of the bracket, I gotta measure that someday), as opposed to the same force with the motor actually mounted to the transom. I talked to tech support at Catalina, they assured me that it could, and that trailering with the motor mounted would not be a problem. But the tech support person could be mistaken I guess.

I any case, I will find out. I have already trailered it 200 miles with the motor mounted on the bracket with no ill effect. I will be doing that several times a year, so we'll see...

Edited by - on

Bubba
Admiral

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USA
542 Posts

Response Posted - 01/19/2006 : 19:39:59

I don't know if this will help with the Yamaha, but I cured the turning problem on my Nissan (Tohatsu) 8hp 2-stroke by removing the bar across the front. This bar is designed for remote steering cables and, as far as I can tell, has no other purpose. By sliding the outboard a little to starboard, it clears both sides of the well as long as the tiller arm is up. (Shown here in my basement.)

[url="http://mywebpages.comcast.net/davendeb/misc/ob_high.jpg"]Click here [/url]for a larger image.

Edited by - on

Bubba
Admiral

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USA
542 Posts

Response Posted - 01/19/2006 : 19:49:50

Dick, if you decide to try a fixed motor mount to set the outboard back a bit, I have a [url="http://www.boatersworld.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10051&catalogId=10051&langId=-1&productId=9168069"]Garelick fixed outboard bracket [/url]that you can have for the cost of mailing it to you. I bought it to get the clearance you're talking about and then discovered I could shave a little off the outboard (see above post). I assembled the bracket but never put it on the boat and never got around to returning it.

Edited by - on

Tom Potter
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1913 Posts

Response Posted - 01/19/2006 : 20:11:24

Bubba,
Our motors are about the same I have the 8 Tohatsu. Let me think here... What I remember was my tiller handle hitting the fuel locker. So what your saying is, by cutting the bar off it allows you to move the motor over farther to the starboard which would allow the tiller not to hit the fuel locker and the bar (now being gone) won't hit the starboard side.
Brilliant! I tell you... Brilliant!

Man I love this forum!

Edited by - Tom Potter on 01/19/2006 20:12:56

Dick Dyer
Deckhand

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16 Posts

Response Posted - 01/21/2006 : 00:39:54

Thanks for all the ideas! The issue I am having is that the tiller and the bar take up most of the space in the transom cutout; as a result, the tiller contacts the fuel locker and leaves the motor at a slight angle to Port. Since the motor is offset to begin with, the boat turns to Port, particularly at slow maneuvering speeds. i have been able to acheive some movement of the steering/lifting bar and move the motor about an inch, which corrected the angle of the motor. The issue I am left with is that since the motor is offset, at very low speeds and in a cross current, the motor thrust overpowers the rudder until I can get some significant way on.

I'm going to take the motor off and see if I can further modify the bar; I'm not usre how much this is needed for the power lift.

Bubba, I think I'd like to take you up on your offer if its still open.

Edited by - on

atgep
Master Marine Consultant

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1009 Posts

Response Posted - 01/21/2006 : 05:34:18

The bar is primarily the carry handle. Since the motor is not "portable" who cares.Great tip and idea. The offset engine is a fact of life on these boats and the inch or 2 outboard you move the engine will not make much of a differance. Now you can turn the motor to steer at low speeds.

Great tip.

Edited by - on

Bubba
Admiral

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USA
542 Posts

Response Posted - 01/22/2006 : 10:58:07

It's been mentioned before that moving the outboard to starboard might cover the cockpit drain hole. I picked up a cheap plastic cutting board and trimmed it to use as a backing plate. I cut a notch in it to fit over the drain. The 1/2 inch thickness allows water to get by. It also sets the outboard back an extra 1/2 inch, which also improves turning clearance. I haven't bothered to mount it to the transom, I just slide it in when mounting the outboard.

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Tom Potter
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1913 Posts

Response Posted - 01/22/2006 : 11:06:56

Bubba, did you take the old backing plate off?

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Bubba
Admiral

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USA
542 Posts

Response Posted - 01/22/2006 : 20:06:57

Never had one on my '97.

Edited by - on

dwadle
1st Mate

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29 Posts

Response Posted - 01/23/2006 : 12:23:14

I moved my 9.8 Tohatsu over about a half inch. This brought my clamp off the metal plate, so I went to a sheet metal shop and got three sample pieces of sheet metal and shoved those under the clamp. The sheetmetal seems to do the job of protecting the fiberglass on the transom. Now my engine rotates both ways.

My next step is to install a soft link.

dmw

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