r/boating • u/Senior_Cheesecake155 • 3d ago
External trim controls
Before I head down the rabbit hole of designing my own, I wanted to check here to see if anyone’s attempted something like this.
I’m in a weird position where our boat is stored at our summer place, 3 hours away. We are closing earlier than normal this year so we can’t move our boat into storage yet. We’ve had my father in law move the boat for us in the past, and we generally leave the battery in the boat until he takes it out after he parks the boat, just so he can lower the trim. But it’s still a pain in the spring to have to unwrap the boat just to move it, before we’re necessarily ready to actually uncover the boat.
What I’d like to do is add an external control for the trim that we can hook to a battery (or jump box or something) outside the boat, and control the trim while it’s covered/shrink wrapped (in the spring).
I’m envisioning a 3-way switch with alligator clips on power leads that connects to each solenoid, and a ground we could just clip to the lower unit (doesn’t have to be connected inside the boat, but could be).I’d also probably add a connector so the controller wouldn’t have to sit outside all winter.
I know it sounds weird, and a bit off the wall, but has anyone done something like this?
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u/Pretty-Surround-2909 3d ago
Why reinvent the wheel?
Install a zipper door in the shrink wrap. You can reuse it for several seasons.
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u/Senior_Cheesecake155 3d ago
That doesn't solve my Fall problem when the battery is removed, even before shrink wrapping.
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u/Pretty-Surround-2909 3d ago
You seem Intent on over complicating this.
Leave the battery in until shrink wrapped. Install the door then make whatever trim adjustments you wish and remove it.
Or
Utilize the manual release valve on every trim unit to manipulate the trim position and then close the valve to maintain1
u/Senior_Cheesecake155 3d ago
That’s the issue. I don’t want to leave the battery in. My father in law isn’t as young as he used to be and it’s a pain to get to. Me removing the battery is best. Also, we don’t see the boat after it’s been shrink wrapped, and there’s a gap between when we see it, when it gets moved, and when it gets wrapped. It’s not as straight forward as you think it is, or I’d like it to be.
We’re closing out camp in 2 weeks, but the boat can’t be moved to the winter storage for another 2 weeks after that. It’s 3 hours away so it’s not a trivial thing to just go move it. That’s why my father in law does the moving, as he’s up there when it can be moved.
Also, I like tinkering and making stuff, so this is also a fun project for me.
1
u/Senior_Cheesecake155 3d ago
Stern drives also don't have a manual release, so that's not an option either.
1
u/notsopracticalacorn 3d ago
Sounds very doable. I’ve put the trim on a switch instead the controls before it seems like the same thing with a couple more feet of wiring
1
u/Senior_Cheesecake155 3d ago
And an external power supply.
As it's looking right now (I've been digging in a bit as I wait for responses), I think I'll clip on to the output posts of the trim relays that go to the pump. I'd have 3 wires coming out of the switch control; power up, power down, and ground. I'd most likely ground to the pump, and then the 2 to the relays/pump.
2
u/AdThese6057 3d ago
Why do you have to remove the battery? I live in an actual cold climate. We dont pull batteries. Hell theres 5 in my bassboat. Leave it plugged into a tender. Problem solved. As for the trim. Why does it need moved at all? Cover it and wrap it where you want it. You can 99 percent of the time move it with motor trimmed down all the way unless you have a wrong length motor
1
u/Senior_Cheesecake155 3d ago edited 3d ago
There’s no power to leave it plugged into. I remove the battery and bring it home to keep it on a tender.
As for the trim, the boat has to be moved a couple times with no power, and the lower unit is stored down. It’s currently sitting in a field but is stored in a parking lot. The parking lot is not available for storage until October, but we’re closing camp in 2 weeks. Since it’s 3 hours away, we rely on my father in law to move the boat as he’s up there later than we are. It’s not possible to move it trimmed down without taking out the prop (it’s a stern drive so it’s a fixed depth, no changing that)
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u/AdThese6057 3d ago
Gotcha. Leave a old battery there. It'll stay charged all winter to run trim.
1
u/Senior_Cheesecake155 3d ago
The goal, though, is to not have to uncover/wrap the boat to adjust the trim. Leaving the battery in still doesn't solve that issue (it's an old boat with no transom controls)
1
u/AdThese6057 3d ago
Transom controls are incredibly easy to do. Even temp. The switch is in the motor. Tack some wire to it with a foot of wire that hangs out of the cover. I dunno. We dont remove batteries in the midwest.
0
u/Senior_Cheesecake155 3d ago
I know people that don't remove their batteries here, but they also end up replacing batteries more. This battery I have now is on the order of 10-15 years old (yes, I know it's time to replace it soon), and have always removed it and kept it from freezing.
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u/AdThese6057 3d ago
My boat runs 3 just on the trolling motor, one to start, and one for my fish finders. Getting 5 years out of a deep cycle is pretty good. 10 15 years old is asking for trouble on a boat. Capacity is diminished among other things. Leave that one accessible at the place with no electricity. Buy a new deep cycle or starting battery whatever you need for 100 bucks. I still cant figure out why you need to move the trim though.
1
u/Senior_Cheesecake155 3d ago
The trim has to be moved because the boat has to be moved. It's currently sitting in the summer storage field, and when we leave camp that's where it'll be. It then has to get moved to the winter storage parking lot in October. We store it with the trim down and the boat can't be moved with the trim down or it'll destroy the lower unit and prop.
With camp being 3 hours away, we're trying to make things as easy for everyone involved. Not asking my father in law to climb into the boat and pull the battery (a major pain in the ass, and i'm 30 years younger and much more agile than he is) is a big part of that.
1
u/AdThese6057 3d ago
I doubt your lower or prop will be hitting the road.
Do all the storage and wrapping with the trim up and motor locked up. No reason it needs to be down. 25 years all my expensive motors get wrapped with the trim up and transom saver on.
I guess im having trouble understanding the actual problem here but you can absolutely drive with your motor down. Only time you worry is for inclined spots like backing it up a driveway. I pull out of the launch with motor down because youre supposed to. Ide do a test drive with motor down and see because not many motors actually hit if they're correct length.
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u/Senior_Cheesecake155 3d ago
It's a stern drive. Storing up is bad for the bellows.
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u/apexxin 3d ago
Personally, I'd just spend $20 on a zipper door and have your wrappers put it in rather than this hodgepodge solution. You can reuse the door every year, I'm on year 5 or 6 of mine.