Thread: Outboard stand

I had already ordered some steel 3/16” square tubing before I talked to @Rojo about an outboard stand ideas, so here I am starting to build it. I got the base done because I wanted to double check a measurement with base before I started cutting the uprights and other supports. I went ahead and cut one of the crossbars that I’ll use for the engine mount knowing that it will also be good to help confirm that my base is square and to prevent the welding from causing heat draw, based on an old job from 20 years ago where I learned how to weld and some machining because I programmed welding robots. I got to fire up the old MIG welder for the first time in a while. My goal was 34” wide for stability and for the inside to be 30” wide so that I can clear the engine hoist’s legs when mating up.



I confirmed that I was square, so I started welding. The base pieces together. I liked what I saw so I started welding the feet for casters consisting of 3/16” flat bar to mount the casters onto. I had a brain fart and welded the 30” cross piece to one of the feet. The welds were good and required a lot of grinding and chisel pounding before I could pull on it enough to break the welds.



Once I clean up the excess metal, I finished welding on the back feet so that I could start drilling holes. Tapping into some of the machining skills that I didn’t forget yet, after I marked the slots for the casters, center punched where I wanted to drill, and I used a small center drill countersink to get a good starting point before switching to drill bits. Oil, using the right speed for the bits, and using the right pressure are key to not destroying drill bits and wasting time.



After stepping up through the bits, I had the holes large enough for the bolts provided with the casters (5/16”). If you step up too quickly, you waste time and dull the bits; if you step up properly, it’s almost like cutting through butter with a hot knife.



When I flipped the base to put it on the ground, I confirmed that it sat even on the ground, and didn’t have any noticeable heat draw causing warpage that would require heating and bending to get the shape right. I also confirmed that the hoist will slide inside the base of the stand.



I didn’t cut the uprights yet because I wanted to double-check my measurements with the base and casters to confirm what I measured for height with about a 15-degree angle to mimic the transom angle. Because I had to stop in the early afternoon to take my daughter to a birthday party across town, the uprights, outboard mount crossbars, and diagonal support cutting and welding will have to wait for another day.

Due to the kids’ crazy schedule this week, I’m not sure if I’ll have much time to work on it before the weekend—the end of the semester and Christmas time always means lots of concert/recitals, tests, and performances to attend before the last day of school for the semester.

After some prep work of grinding, sanding, and scrubbing, my son helped me flip it to remove the casters and do a little more scrubbing and sanding. We used acetone to cut oils and whatnot and then 93% isopropyl alcohol before spraying primer and paint. Now we need to let the paint dry, cure and harden some before we reinstall the casters to finish painting the top side and touch on some areas where the paint isn't so even. The end goal is to just not have a pile of surface-rusted steel, and steel has gotten expensive. I figure that my personal time and needed cure time might be fine on Tuesday or Wednesday for flipping and spraying the top side; after that cure time with the warmer weather that we are having next week, I might get the outboard off sometime next weekend.



For the time being, I'm just letting it air out in the garage with the rear garage door open while the temp is good (currently 71 and wind isn't too bad blowing into the garage). It's a waiting game now, so I'm just watching football, smoking a prime rib on the grill, and will start cooking gumbo later.