What to Look for in an Outboard Motor Lifting Crane

There are many outboard motor lifting cranes available on the market.  Most of them are based on a pole with a horizontal boom or crane attached.  If you have a pole mounted on the stern of the boat, why not be able to use it for multiple purposes such as a solar panel mount, an anchor light mount or an antenna mount?   I started out researching poles made by various manufacturers including Garhauer (my favorite) and concluded many were over designed for what I needed or didn't offer multiple features.  Taking the best of each and adding my own ideas, I built several prototype poles until I came up with a design that fit the needs of the cruising sailor yet could be manufactured for a competitive price.

Here are some of the features I wanted to achieve:
1. Relatively light duty - The unit should routinely lift boating gear up to 100 lbs. yet be robust enough to lift a 250 lb. body from the water. 
Note: If I fall overboard and am impaired, hopefully my first mate (The Admiral), would be able to pull me out and onto the transom platform or dinghy.
2. Easily removable - The unit should be easily removed and stowed.
Note: I did not want to unbolt a bunch of fittings to take the unit down.  The pole simply slides out of two sleeves mounted on the stern pulpit.
3. Easily stored - The unit should easily fold up for storage in a locker.
4. Easy installation - Installation should not require a bunch of holes to be drilled in the boat (holes are a bad thing on a boat) for brackets and supports. 
Note: This design relies on the strength of the stern pulpit only.  It attaches to the one or two horizontal rails on the pulpit. 

Note: We offer three options for the pole base:
   a. A swivel on the bottom with a rubber base and sets on the deck.  This is ideal if the pole is perpendicular to the deck at the pole base.
   b. A ball mounted to the deck with double sided tape or bolts and a mating receiver inserted into the base of the pole.  This is ideal for supporting the pole base at the transom or if the deck is not perpendicular to the pole.  It is also a good solution for boats with a single stern rail.
  c. A slotted base that fits over the outside rail.  This is ideal for boats with limited deck space for the pole base but with an extruded outside rail.  See pole base pictured elsewhere on this site.

5. Support for other equipment - The pole should accommodate mounting brackets for equipment such as a solar anchor light, a solar panel, or an antenna cluster. 

Note: We currently have an 85 watt Kyoceria solar panel mounted at the top of the pole on our boat and it works well.

Design specs:
1. Pole diameter - The pole is made of 1.5 inch OD thick walled stainless steel.
2. Boom - The boom is .375 inch stainless formed into a U channel.  The length may vary depending on the distance from the pole to the motor mount on the stern rail.  The crane is typically 18 inches long.
3. Stern pulpit brackets - The pole is attached to the stern pulpit rails using stainless  brackets.
4. Block and tackle - A 4:1 ratio for the block and tackle is ideal for most lifting jobs.  The line should be long enough to reach the water; typically 50 feet.

Design alternatives to consider:

Transom mount - In some cases, the stern rail may not be strong enough to properly support the crane or may not be configured to support a pole.  In this case, a transom mount may be the best solution.  This will require a bracket bolted to the transom to support the pole and braces from the pole to the stern rail or the deck to hold it in place.  Yes, holes in the boat required.   The Custom Marine Products system will work well in this configuration.

I have seen many such designs with radar units mounted to the top of the pole but few with a crane integrated into the unit.  I like the PYI, Inc. (PYIINC.COM) product and the Garhauer (garhauer.com) product for heavy duty pole based systems.

Hopefully this will give you some ideas of what to look for at the boat shows and what to consider if you build your own or custom order one of our units.

Once you develop your specifications, we can quote you a price for a custom unit.