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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

My Engine Lift has to be cocked to put or remove a engine from the stands I use. Good thinking on your design.

I finally got a little time this week to at least remeasure my uprights’ length, cut with a 15-degree angle at the base, and tack weld it so that I can start drilling holes for bolting the outboard to it. I do have a 3D-printed outboard mount hole template that helps line me. After I get the holes drilled, I should be able to tack weld the upright to the base and confirm my measurements for the diagonal braces. I’ll do all final welding once I have the rest off of the pieces tacked on to help keep my dimensions.

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I’m tied up for the next few days, and with the weather dropping into the 20’s for the lows, I decided to move some stuff around to get my truck back into the garage to keep from having to remote start the truck to defrost (if needed) before I hop in to go to work. I think that we will also have an extra visitor, so keeping as many of our vehicles in the garage as possible is best for the parking situation—my wife is not the best at driving or parking.

I just got off the Bobcat putting all the Citrus trees in the big building. Weather forces us to change plans at times. If your 3D printed drilling fixture is on the money I would like to borrow it when you're done to make a couple if 1/2in aluminum ones. For a long while I had a Bob's Machine Jackplate Engine-Side Slide panel that I used for a drilling fixture but I fixed the Jackplate and installed it on a boat.

Yes, you may borrow it when I get done with this project and confirm how true this template is. It even comes with a hardened tool steel guide to keep the 1/2”drill bit straight. I’ll definitely know more as soon as I get the outboard off the boat.

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Slowly but surely, I finally got all holes drilled. One of the holes was a pain when I accidentally broke a drill bit in and couldn’t shatter it with a center punch, but a carbide grinder bit helped save the day. I doubt that I get to setup again until Friday or Saturday to tack weld the upright to the stand base and confirm measurements for the braces. Once I get it all welded, I plan to paint it this weekend so that I can start pulling the outboard off either before or after Christmas.

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Oddly enough, while I was doing all the drilling and oiling, I kept hearing an late co-worker from the auto supplier that I previously worked for talk about one of his former co-workers always said “Tap Magic is your friend!” while machining—I think that dude must have been using Tap Magic for something else besides machining, and this site is too family friendly to type what I really think this dude was using it for.

I finally got a chance to finish welding up the outboard stand. Once I lined up the upright section and confirmed that there were no issues with gaps with the ~15-deg angle, I tack welded it to the base so that I can figure out the cuts for my diagonal pieces.

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Once I had an idea of what I had left to work with, I was able to fit up the diagonal pieces and make my cuts

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Once I fit them up and confirmed placement and if I needed to make any adjustments, I tack welded it up. So that I can see how it looks against the transom and outboard before I finished welding it up.

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I’m done welding, and now I need to prep it for painting to it so that it doesn’t get covered in surface rust in southern humidity.

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Looking good :ThumbsUp

Coming right along, cool project. I’d be happy with enough concrete to use it on.

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.

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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.

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Bud I don't know where I would be if not for Tap Magic for Aluminum. I had to thread a panel on Bon Temps' boat last week so I showed him how good the stuff works. Took this picture for you while the bottle was out.

After a fingernail test, I decided 48 hours is good enough to let me to finger tighten the casters back on and use a lift sling to help flip it over to paint the top surfaces. My daughter was happy to help with getting the casters on and learn how to use the lift, and this allowed me to control the flipping to keep from scratching the paint. Fortunately, a lot of the area where the outboard will mount to didn't really need repainting because I got it when it was flipped over. I am restarting the clock on the cure time now that I did hit the areas that I couldn't spray paint with it flipped, so I'm thinking that I might be able to transfer the outboard to this stand on Friday or Saturday without issues of transferring paint from the stand to the outboard's mount. I'll finish torquing down the casters to the caster pads later this week before I start the transfer process.


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That's a Stud Engine Stand for sure. :ThumbsUp