Outdrive stand

[Dave M.]

I was asked what I am using for an outdrive stand, or dolly. The one that I have comes from Bims . It looks like what you see here. You can put the outdrive on it, and roll it around the shop. Makes removing an outdrive easy for one person.

There is an issue using this stand with some boat/outdrives. Because of the way it is built, I cannot slide the stand under the outdrive from the front of the drive, it has to slide in from the rear. That puts most of the weight on the front wheels. It would be better balanced, I think, if it were sitting on the stand the other way. You can see in the photos that sometimes the vertical support part of the stand is towards the front of the drive, and sometimes towards the rear. On mine, you have to slide the stand in from the rear. You could, of course, put the outdrive on a chainfall or something, once removed from the boat, and turn it around. But it is not that big an issue.

I believe there is another stand on the market that claims to not have this issue. I don't have a link for that one. This stand that I have is not cheap, but will last a lifetime.

 

[280 SeaRay]

Dave... I own this stand as well... works very well... for both my BIII and now my alphas. :thumbsup:

 

[Gunn]

Thanks Dave for the link. Nice stand. The only one previous to this that I ever found and was contemplating purchasing was the U-Pod stand: http://www.upodstand.com/. Found for about $60.00 total online.

I like the wheels though on your stand; those would be very useful in a 1-man job.

I also found this one on EBay where it looks like a guy is building them himself and selling them. Also has wheels, for about $83.00 total...

 

[Dave M.]

I need the wheels so I can roll the outdrive away from the boat as I pull the drive shaft out of the coupler and gimbal bearing. Even more so putting it back in.

The one on ebay has an issue. You can see the vertical support pieces come up the middle of the stand. This is where the horizontal fins on the lower section of the outdrive are, so it appears to me it will only fit under the side fins on the lower half. Mine is totally open along the side, so it fits into the space between the fins on the upper and lower halves.

Also, if you are sanding and painting the lower unit, you want that area clear to work. But the ebay one probably is easier to get under the outdrive, and balances better.

You also have to be careful if you working on a Bravo II drive that there is enough width to fit the larger lower drive section.