Any idea what this is?

[longjohnsilver]

It came with the boat, stored in the engine room, but neither myself or any mechanics I've asked have any idea what it is. It's about 2' long and the main part is extremely heavy. The prongs are about 2" apart.

Any suggestions?

 

[superheat6k]

Engine barring handle perhaps. It would require three holes in a suitable pulley on the engine somewhere.

 

[Dill et Bound]

Engine Room,
Heavy,
Unused
Is it an emergency tiller..???

 

[Beamishken]

At a guess id say emergency tiller handle possibly a hatch above steering mechanism to remove so you can install it
Only an educated guess of course

 

[longjohnsilver]

At a guess id say emergency tiller handle possibly a hatch above steering mechanism to remove so you can install it
Only an educated guess of course

No, nothing to do with steering, the emergency tiller is in the lazarette. And nothing matches the spacing of the prongs anywhere on any of the engine pulleys.

 

[Dill et Bound]

Sorry Longjohn, just a guess..
Anything on the Capstan ?

 

[longjohnsilver]

Sorry Longjohn, just a guess..
Anything on the Capstan ?

No, I'd have guessed along the same lines. Nothing on the windlass. After 6 years it still has me puzzled. I thought, as it's the same colour as the stabilisers, it was something to do with them, but the Trac engineer says definitely not.

 

[Dill et Bound]

Mystery then..

 

[sarabande]

to be honest, it doesn't look as if those prongs are designed for anything really heavy-duty like turning an engine.

Given the radius and angle of the arm, my thoughts turn it being a device for unscrewing something serious which is inset or surrounded by an upstanding part. My wee boat has a drain plug in the deepest part of the bilges which needs a slotted device on a similar arm.

 

[Imperial One]

FWIW, I have seen similar items on some dutch boats. On these, if I recall correctly, it was a tool to dog down the hatch cover in a bathing platform storage locker. Or maybe it is a home made fuel or water tank cap remover tool for someone with limited mobility or strength?

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

If it's the same colour and paint finish as the Trac stabilisers, I would say that it's an emergency handle for centering the stabilisers in the event of hydraulic failure, despite what the Trac engineer says. Other than that, I have seen deck filler caps with a similar 3 prong fitting but this handle seems way over the top for loosening a filler cap.

 

[Aardee]

I'm wondering if it's one of those "found on a pontoon, could be useful, so kept in the engine room" items, which has nothing to do with the boat it's on but missed terribly by someone else

 

[mtb]

looks powder coated I think you unbolt some thing then fit this put the bolt back, the roll pins will not take much torque

 

[david_bagshaw]

Undo a ring on the prop shaft seal?

 

[wakeup]

A hand starter for a genny?

 

[longjohnsilver]

A hand starter for a genny?

Tis possible but it won't fit on the crank and no mention of it in the instruction manual.

 

[hlb]

I know what it is John. It's one of those bits that's always left over when mending the engine.

 

[duncan]

the design suggests that it sits over a shaft and the pins then locate - all of which suggests the shaft has at least some significant element of vertical ie it goes on top, or it will easily disengage completely, or sufficiently to render the stud hold/strength very poor.

the relatively long handle suggests significant load, but low speed operation - the angles suggest an access/clearance issue.

reading this through I'm probably not adding a whole lot to sarabande's post earlier!

 

[henryf]

It's not an anchor windlass handle is it ?

Henry

 

[Firefly625]

John

if you really want to know what it is just throw it away....it won't be a instant answer, but I bet in a few months time whatever it was will become really important, and then you won't be able to find another!!