Transom Riser for a 22 cruiser?

[Kushtaka]

Has anyone ever tried to use a 25" shaft (xl) outboard on a 22 cruiser by building a transom riser?

I envision an aluminum structure that fills the transom 5" high, maintaining the width of the transom, and overlaying the transom on both sides.

I'm a big fan of overkill (someday ill post the windlass backed I had made and the process I went through to drain my anchor locker) and so would want to extend the riser to the bottom on the outside.

I like the idea of my motor being a little higher. I was planning to get rid of my spring loaded kicker mount on my port corner ( a death trap!) and move it amidships next to my main an tie the steering together. The mini jacker would get the kicker out far enough to clear the trim tabs, but if I had the riser build, I could extend it to the sides and weld a kicker mount to the transom that allows my kicker to tie in steering and cleaner the tabs. I could also put my transducer on there and have no more holes below my waterline except the lower motor bolts.

I wonder if I could reuse the same lower bolt holes?

I wonder if there would be major performance or handling issues?

I wonder if anyone else has done this?

I wonder if anyone has ideas to improve, warnings I should heed, lessons earned, or experience to share.

I live in a commercial fishing town, and know for a fact that anything can be done to a boat. That much I'm sure of. Whether it should be done or not, that's another matter entirely.

[rogerbum]

I'm a bit confused as to the "why?" part of this modification. What do you hope to gain by raising the motor and going with a longer shaft? At first glance to me, this seems to be a net gain of nothing at considerable expense. What am I missing?

[Chester]

Our 22's are sensitive to weight on the stern. I suspect you'll just create problems with your efforts to fix a non existent issue.

[Kushtaka]

The why is a good deal on the wrong motor.

Someday I'd like to put a bracket on it and enclose the transom, and I'd Ike to think that day is within the life of my next outboard. If I did that I'd want a 25 if not a 30.

[redbaronace]

Curious as to why you would want to use an XL shaft engine on a 22. Perhaps, if you already owned a XL shaft motor or a lead on a low priced one it would make sense.

I had an Arima previously and it had twin 45 Honda's. I preferred a Kicker and Main combo. In my search for a longshaft motor I came across a great deal on a newer XL Yamaha motor. I purchased it and installed a jackplate to get the height right. This raised effectively raised the engine height (cowling) and pushed the weight a bit further back.

The combination while not conventional, worked really well. Loved the motor.

[redbaronace]

Curious as to why you would want to use an XL shaft engine on a 22. Perhaps, if you already owned a XL shaft motor or a lead on a low priced one it would make sense.

I had an Arima previously and it had twin 45 Honda's. I preferred a Kicker and Main combo. In my search for a longshaft motor I came across a great deal on a newer XL Yamaha motor. I purchased it and installed a jackplate to get the height right. This raised effectively raised the engine height (cowling) and pushed the weight a bit further back.

The combination while not conventional, worked really well. Loved the motor.

[BrentB]

enter

jack + plate

in the Google custom search box

for previous discussions

[thataway]

Can it be done, yes. What will you gain--other than putting a different stress on the transom? Getting the motor head higher, will decrease the stability to some degree. The aesthetics are not good--but I have seen this sort of thing done in AK….

Swamping the motor is not a problem on the C Dory--they lift very rapidly. If you did take a wave over the transom--then it would have a lot more water, and be close or over the top of the splash well. Even with an enclosed transom, and putting a transom extension/pod on the transom to support the motor--you probably would stay with the standard shaft length…

I don't see it as a good idea.

[ssobol]

You should be able to swap out the leg of the motor (between the power head and the lower unit). It'll cost a few hundred bucks, but can be done fairly easily. On my RIB I used to own, I is was going to swap the leg on the Yamaha engine I had for the very same reason, but once I figured the cost, it was a lot cheaper in the case of that boat to build something to lift the engine up a couple of inches.

What you seem to be planning for your CD will probably be a wash as far as the cost goes compared to fixing the engine. The pain and hassle of modifying the boat versus changing the engine will probably be a lot worse.

[Captains Cat]

It's not just the leg that needs to be swapped out but that plus the drive shaft and shift shaft. Maybe you could get those along with the shorter leg. I also see no advantage to raising the height of the transom just for an XL engine!

Charlie

[redbaronace]

[potter water]

After you've paid a marine engineer for stress analysis and done some mockups to see how the thing will look and then made the change, you'll have spent a lot more money than getting a shorter shaft motor. I'm sure that the parts for a short shaft version of whatever motor you have that is driving you to such thoughts are available at reasonable cost relative to what you are proposing.

Also, think carefully through the whole re-sale issue. Lots of people on this board have expressed their unending love for their C-Dory only to be putting it up for sale a year or two or even a few months later.

A cobbled together mod, even if working well on a finely engineered boat like a C-Dory will knock a big hole in your resale value, almost guaranteed.

[Jack in Alaska]

Dr. Bob said it was not a good idea. "Nuff said" for me.

[Kushtaka]

Thanks for the warnings. I hear you.

But, onward I go. I've done very well doing things people said I couldn't or shouldn't when they make good sense to me and nobody else.

So, has anyone actually run a lifted 25" shaft outboard on your 22?

If so, can you comment on:

Performance?
Handling?
Experiences?

[BrentB]

I hope you request an album and post some project pics