After riding on a guides boat down in Louisiana who had a power pole and then becoming friends with another cajun and getting a close look at one and the transom stand off bracket he had, I decided that was the way to go after all. Talked to the wife and she didn't object since that would lessen stress on me etc.
So did my order through BPS on a 6 month payment plan for the Sportsman II model along with a travel cover and a 25 watt VHF radio. Friday the doc gave me a shot in the wrist (getting operated on it soon) and by 9pm it was feeling pretty good. Plus all my packages arrived. I also ordered a port side power pole mounting kit from Cabela's. Don't know why BPS doesn't have those available. So at 9pm I get started installing the mounting plates. It wasn't too awful bad but keep in mind I'm 100% disabled so it was a challenge, so anything takes me longer even if its simple for most folks. Sure am glad my mercury has a lift hook as I already had an engine lift to support the motor.
So next step is removing the bolts from port side (since I got a port side mounting adapter) and loosen the bolts on the starboard side. At first I didn't think I had the strength to loosen them up but took a little break and went again with new vigor and got them out, and loosened up. Surprising to me is the motor didn't budge loose as it was expecting, even with me rocking the motor. So used the engine lift to rack it up and let it down and that finally loosened it from the sealant. Then used a punch/scriber to hold the bracket bottom hole aligned with a bolt hole so I could line up the upper bolt hole and finally got the bolt through transom, adapter plate and motor mount. Repeat process for lower end which also required me to use the tilt/trim on the motor to help change the angle of the lower end to get the bolt through, then tighten up the bolts a little.
Now I got some confidence going as that adapter plate is a little hard to handle with one hand. Now to the starboard side to put in the shim. Now I know what to do and how to get it done so it didn't take as long. Starboard shim plate in.
Ok, so now I'm wore out, chest is hurting and its 11pm so I call it quits for the night. What I didn't know, I go to bed at 2am and didn't wake up until 1pm so it was 2:30pm by the time I got back on it. So next is finding a suitable place to mount the hydraulic pump where I can add fluid and route the hydraulic lines in without too much of a bend as that tubing is pretty stiff and it was coiled up (real pain). What I didn't know was what a PITA it was to mount the pump to its mounting bracket. My first location didn't work out because I didn't realize that the pump bolts come in from the BACK of the bracket through a rubber grommet and into the back of the pump. My eyesight ain't that good in dim conditions. So I get the bracket mounted, now its time for mounting the pump. What a headache it caused. You have to lift the pump 1/4 of an inch or so, feed the bolt and washer through the bracket, through the rubber gasket into the pump and thread it. If you bumped the one of the bolts out of place, the rubber grommet would swivel out of the way so you remove the pump and reposition everything and start over (and over and over etc etc) for 20 minutes (seemed like 2 hours to me). I think everyone in the neighborhood heard words they never heard before
so I took a break and vented to the wife about it. Went back to it and got it done finally in 2 minutes. By then it was almost 4:30pm and getting too dark to see since I had disconnected wires from my batteries so no interior lights in the bilge area.
So now day 3 I mount the power pole, get the hydraulic lines run into place, trim them, get the "sock" on over the lines and hook up all the electrical connections I had removed from the battery along with pump wires. Next I primed the pump and since the arm was already in a deployed condition, figured just hold the up button down until it retracted fully and I could hear the air escaping from the line, then repeat going down. Only took about 4-5 cycles and it was fully primed and ready. I then paired up the remotes to the pump and I was done.
and a little short video of it in action - I was really proud of myself that I didn't have to rely on somebody to help me (hate being dependent on others).
So did my order through BPS on a 6 month payment plan for the Sportsman II model along with a travel cover and a 25 watt VHF radio. Friday the doc gave me a shot in the wrist (getting operated on it soon) and by 9pm it was feeling pretty good. Plus all my packages arrived. I also ordered a port side power pole mounting kit from Cabela's. Don't know why BPS doesn't have those available. So at 9pm I get started installing the mounting plates. It wasn't too awful bad but keep in mind I'm 100% disabled so it was a challenge, so anything takes me longer even if its simple for most folks. Sure am glad my mercury has a lift hook as I already had an engine lift to support the motor.
So next step is removing the bolts from port side (since I got a port side mounting adapter) and loosen the bolts on the starboard side. At first I didn't think I had the strength to loosen them up but took a little break and went again with new vigor and got them out, and loosened up. Surprising to me is the motor didn't budge loose as it was expecting, even with me rocking the motor. So used the engine lift to rack it up and let it down and that finally loosened it from the sealant. Then used a punch/scriber to hold the bracket bottom hole aligned with a bolt hole so I could line up the upper bolt hole and finally got the bolt through transom, adapter plate and motor mount. Repeat process for lower end which also required me to use the tilt/trim on the motor to help change the angle of the lower end to get the bolt through, then tighten up the bolts a little.
Now I got some confidence going as that adapter plate is a little hard to handle with one hand. Now to the starboard side to put in the shim. Now I know what to do and how to get it done so it didn't take as long. Starboard shim plate in.
Ok, so now I'm wore out, chest is hurting and its 11pm so I call it quits for the night. What I didn't know, I go to bed at 2am and didn't wake up until 1pm so it was 2:30pm by the time I got back on it. So next is finding a suitable place to mount the hydraulic pump where I can add fluid and route the hydraulic lines in without too much of a bend as that tubing is pretty stiff and it was coiled up (real pain). What I didn't know was what a PITA it was to mount the pump to its mounting bracket. My first location didn't work out because I didn't realize that the pump bolts come in from the BACK of the bracket through a rubber grommet and into the back of the pump. My eyesight ain't that good in dim conditions. So I get the bracket mounted, now its time for mounting the pump. What a headache it caused. You have to lift the pump 1/4 of an inch or so, feed the bolt and washer through the bracket, through the rubber gasket into the pump and thread it. If you bumped the one of the bolts out of place, the rubber grommet would swivel out of the way so you remove the pump and reposition everything and start over (and over and over etc etc) for 20 minutes (seemed like 2 hours to me). I think everyone in the neighborhood heard words they never heard before
so I took a break and vented to the wife about it. Went back to it and got it done finally in 2 minutes. By then it was almost 4:30pm and getting too dark to see since I had disconnected wires from my batteries so no interior lights in the bilge area.So now day 3 I mount the power pole, get the hydraulic lines run into place, trim them, get the "sock" on over the lines and hook up all the electrical connections I had removed from the battery along with pump wires. Next I primed the pump and since the arm was already in a deployed condition, figured just hold the up button down until it retracted fully and I could hear the air escaping from the line, then repeat going down. Only took about 4-5 cycles and it was fully primed and ready. I then paired up the remotes to the pump and I was done.
and a little short video of it in action - I was really proud of myself that I didn't have to rely on somebody to help me (hate being dependent on others).
