Engine removal advice ? MD6A Westerly Pageant

I took a similar volvo out of my Griffin some years ago. I put a stong back over the cabin hatch top and used a handy billy onto the lifting point of the engine . I eased it up a bit and freed it from the mounts and then swung it back partly into the cabin to get it so that it would come out of the hatch.
Now I lifted it to the level of the bridge deck so that I could get a line on it and swing it onto the cockpit floor, over some protection.
The handy billy now needed to be taken over to a nearby tree to lift the engine over the boat's side,with some padding to take any scuffing, and eventually onto the ground and into the boot of my car to take to the engineers.
Getting it out was ok. Getting it in again and onto the mounts was something else!

My brother and I also once helped a chap stuck in Le Havre with a duff engine in a 31ft Westerly to do much the same.
 
You will indeed need to use the yard crane or something similar to lift it out. It is often the case though that a large crane lacks the precision control to ensure that it comes out clean without hitting the hatch sides. A better plan is usually to rig a gantry either with wood or scaffold over the hatch and use a block and tackle to raise it. A chain block is preferable but a rope pull one is OK if of sufficient rating. I have seen people lift out using the mainsail downhaul but would NOT advise you try this as the terminal tackle is just not rated to this weight and can break. You could also bend your boom. Much better to rig a couple of solid spacers to sit on your cockpit seats and put a beam across sufficiently high to lift the engine up to cockpit sole level. Then put wood under to rest it on and THEN ask the yard crane to lift it off the boat. If you are going to replace it, wait until you have your new engine available beforehand, lift one off and the other on. You only get charged once that way. If you are lifting it out to work on you can do so when at cockpit sole level and don't need crane.
p.s. All above assumes you have a hatch over it. Otherwise you need to manhandle it into the cabin... Not very easy but possible. Then lift out of the main hatch.
 
My engine only has 1/2" of clearance on either side through the companionway. The way the old one was extracted and the new one fitted was like this:

The engine was slung on long slings and suspended from the yard's crane. Attached between the slings and the engine where chain hoists which gave very precise control as the engine needed to be lowered gearbox first at an angle of 60 degrees or so. Then rotated and leveled off to sit on the bearers.
 
When I took my Bukh 20 out for maintenance of various components I did the whole job in the saloon. Removed all cushions and any obstructions, covered the sole with carpet tiles rescued from a skip, then lined the sole, seat tops and fronts with cardboard.

I lifted the engine as described by others but I didn't have my chain block with me at the time, so I bought a cable device from a garden centre, very cheaply. It's a thing intended for pulling tree stumps out of the ground, similar to a Tirfer. Only needed to lift the engine about 12 inches, because then I pushed a plank beneath it and lowered the engine onto an old skateboard. This allowed me to move the engine forward, seesaw the plank and roll the engine into the saloon for stripping.

Bukhonboard.jpg


It helps a great deal to take the flywheel off first, although mine knocked off easily with a soft hammer, so I didn't need a puller.
 
Wiser forumites will say I shouldn't have done it, but when I replaced the Volvo on my Pageant, I removed the flywheel first. Then lashed a strengthening beam to the boom, With the boom supported by the topping lift at end, and main & spinnaker halyards spaced along its length. Then attached winch to boom.

It worked, but I suspect this system was at the upper end of its limit, although lifting the replacement BETA back in seemed easily withing its capability.

On reflection, the better way would have been to use a HIAB or as others have suggested if you have an onsite crane, use that.
 
Lots of help lifting out of boat but you have to get it off the mountings and into the cabin. I use a scaffolding plank as a lever and as a platform to slide the engine back into the cabin. Use a piece of carpet on the plank and pull the carpet not the engine.
Once inside the cabin either dismantle it in situe as Vyv says or the boom or the yard crane. 2 men can easily lift a MD6.
 
This is pretty much exactly how my old man and I got an MD2B out of Aeolus and a 3GM30F back in its place. The '2B had to come out two sections: Fly Wheel first, then the rest. Astonishingly heavy without a doubt.

Jeff.
 
I did the MD2b in my Pentland a couple of times before getting replaced professionally.

Once I used a ship's derrick that I was alongside & put it in the back of the car. But I had to drive round for a few days with very light steering until I could get an engine hoist to get it out of the car into the garage!

Next time, I removed the flywheel, starter & gearbox first which meant that I was able to sling it from a beam across the cockpit sides & lift a few inches with a multi-part tackle. Then a plank underneath to slide it into the saloon. Finally I used the main halliard attached to the centre of the boom with the main sheet attached to the boom at the same point. That allowed me to lift it clear of the cabin & swing it round off the boat. Not easy, but it is possible. If you can have a mate handy, a second pair of eyes may help you spot something that might be missed while focussed on just one aspect of the job.
 
I would use the yard crane, with a pull-lift (hand operated winch) fitted to the hook so you have more precise control of the lift initially. Once clear the crane can operate normally.
Willie
 
I would agree that the only safe way to use the boom is to support it at the lifting point to take out the bending moment. I would not use the halliard though. Climb the mast and attach a stout rope to the mast above the spreaders. then lead it down and tie a LOOSE bowline around the boom with an outhaul to the boom end. Then attach the lifting block to this bowline NOT the boom. That way you have no stress on the boom. It is a definite No-No to use the mainsheet block to lift anything as heavy as an engine. The block and tackle will probably take it but most block fittings on the boom track are not designed for that kind of load.
 
Well as you are still posting I guess you got away with it! They can make a big dent in t'boat iffen you drop em tho can engines......
 
One final point: if you want the old engine to be mobile once it's out of the boat and on the ground then make up a low, wheeled trolley from nailed together 2x4 softwood or similar and get it deposited on that when it's lifted out.
 
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