Several years ago, I built a stand for the only outboard I had at that time, and it made itself useful for maintenance and for flushing the cooling system with fresh water after an outing. When I got a second motor, I put off making a stand for it because I was running out of room and had the two motors share the same stand. That was awkward and I soon grew tired of shifting motors around. For off-season storage of the motors, a 2×4 screwed to the studs of the garage could hold the motors in a minimum of space and with no footprint at all on the floor, but the stand still took up a lot of space. If was going to have a stand for each motor, the second one had to fold so I could hang it up somewhere out of the way.I made a few sketches, bought a few bits of lumber, and after a few false starts, came up with a stand that works well when I need it and takes up very little room when I don’t. I had seen several stands on the web that were made of 2×4s, but I felt that was overkill for the weight the stand needed to support, so I used 2×3 and 1×3 stock. The nuts, washers, and bolts are all 3/8″, though 5/16″ or even 1/4″ could work. The stand is tall enough to take my 2.5- and 4-hp Yamaha four-stroke outboards, weighs under 25 lbs, and can support my full weight.
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I was just doing research on such a system. Thanks.
Perfect timing for a great solution, I’m making one. Thank you.
Guess who needs one of these? I think I’ll use a furniture dolly as the base. Thanks for the great idea!
I built a stand similar to this one about 10 years ago, though without the folding feature. It has one annoying flaw: The 3″ casters do not roll easily, particularly over rough ground (such as that in the dirt/gravel Port Townsend boatyard). And the heavier the motor, the more roll-resistant they become. The problem is tolerable with my 60-lb. 4 hp Tohatsu, but very frustrating with my newer 92-lb 8 hp Yamaha.
I’m about to build a new stand with 8-inch cart wheels. And I probably will use Chris’s good idea for a folding system on this one because unless I have an episode of bad luck, I don’t need to use an outboard cart more than once or twice a year.
As with so many of the boat parts I’ve made, it’s entirely normal to have to build something at least twice to get it right.
The casters I used were a set I had in my scrap bin. They’re fine on my shop floor and in the garage, but they rattle a lot on the old sidewalk in between the two. 8″ cart wheels would be much smoother and removed for storage the cart would be compact for storage. Good idea, especially for the 92-lb outboard.
Really nice idea – the folding concept makes so much sense. As an aerospace engineer I also appreciate the ‘just enough’ approach to the 2x3s and 1×3! Just bought an 8hp outboard and plan to build one to keep the motor off the floor and aid while doing maintenance. The discussion on the wheels is helpful – I’ll probably make up a bracket for some larger wheels under the front end at least.