Davits

[BonesD]

Hello, I’m new to the boating world, just in the process of buying a used motor sailer.
The boat is a 1977 40’ Schucker. Big pilot house with lots of room.
My question is about the existing davits on the boat.
I don’t see any manufacturer or any other information on the two arms. Probabaly been painted a 1/2 dozen times over the years.
I’m concerned about how much weight I can safely hang on them.
Also, is it a bad thing to leave the outboard attached to the dingy when traveling?
I think I would have a tough time trying to hang a 9 hp engine on to a floating dingy.
I’ve attached a couple pictures of the davits. I don’t know how wide the transom is but the boat has a 14’ beam.
The RIB’s I have been looking at run about 120-140 pounds plus engine and fuel I think the whole set up should be under 300 lbs.
Any opinions will be appreciated
Bones

 

[Sailor of Fortune]

By the looks of those davits, your good....by a wide safety margin. Congrats on your new boat

 

[healhustler]

If these are metal, including aluminum, and are 5/16” thick or more, I wouldn’t be concerned about 300 lbs. if the attachments to the boat are adequate. They look as hefty as the vessel. Schucker 40...awesome boat.

 

[gunho1]

Hi Bones..Those seem to be quite strong. Can you provide pics of the attachments to the inside of the transom? The stresses on the transom with a dink/motor attached are quite large so thats the area to look at. I'm in the process of installing davits on my Schucker 436 and will be hanging almost 300 lbs of dink/motor from them.

 

[BonesD]

Gunho1
My davits are fastened straight through the transom with two 1/2” bolts on each leg. Seems kind of minimal to me. It also has a stainless rack and radar tower added to the top of it. The radar tower does attach to the top of the pilot house roof though I don’t know how much load it’s carrying.
I have considered som stainless plates to put on the outside of the transom where the anchor bolts protrude to spread that load out.
My dink is 175# plus 100# Yamaha and again fuel tank and fuel so easily a bit over 300#’s.
In order to hoist the dingy I installed the block & tackle on the stern of the dinghy. These davits had a simple pulley wheel mounted in the end of arms which provide no mechanical advantage.
I always lift the stern first and then the bow and make sure the plug is out so it doesn’t retain rain water.
Unfortunately the block and tackle rob me of being able to lift the dinghy very high. Crossing the Straits of Juan de Fuca in som big seas the dingy was floating up against the davits every time we headed up the crest of a swell. I would certainly make your davits as tall as possible.
Where is your Schucker located?

 

[BonesD]

PS. I would also like them to reach out further as my dinghy is several inches wider than the davits are long so it rubs on on the transom.

 

[firehoser75]

I had davits installed on my former boat (sailboat). They worked great, but you have to secure the dinghy from movement or damage can occur (especially over time). The recommendations of my davit manufacturer were to haul the dinghy up into the "elbow" of the davits, and secure the dinghy against side to side movement (eg. when the sailboat heels over), and against up and down and fore and aft movement. Don't just leave it "hanging" and able to "swing around". Failure to do that (secure) will result in chafe, much higher loads on the davits and stern (potential shock loads as he dinghy "swings") and maybe damage to the stern of your sailboat. I think you need to shorten your attaching/lifting lines. A good friend of mine made "supports" out of wood that he put padding on, to give some separation between the dinghy and his sailboat. These roughly "C" shaped supports (kind of a flattened C) reduced movement and chafe with the inboard dinghy tube fitting into the "C".

Hope that helps, but with some set ups, it is not easy to achieve.

 

[oscar]

Eeeehhh, welcome aboard but could you please figure out how to post pictures, there's a lot of over 60 here with delicate skeletal systems......

 

[BonesD]

Firehoser,
I can’t shorten my lines any more than they are. The bow end can be pulled right up to the davit but that keeps the stern end of the dingy even lower. Because of the block and tackle on the stern end it prevents me from getting the dinghy any closer to the davits.
I can hoist it up without the tackle but it kicks my behind.
I already have protection between the dinghy and the stern of the boat but it’s not ideal.
I believe I can gain a few inches on the stern end by changing the harness that attached to the dinghy.
Unfortunately it spans over the outboard head so not much to gain there.

 

[firehoser75]

Yeah, I hear you on the difficulties that can be involved.
Good luck with your davits. Do the best you can to minimize movement while underway.

 

[FF]

If you prefer an anchorage to a marina while cruising one of the first delights of davits is the ability to store bags of garbage to wait for the first shore run.

Be sure to pull the dink drain plug EVERY time the dink is brought up.

Full of rain it will be really heavy!

 

[timb]

i saw one the other day with a hand operated winch like on a sailboat rig no the motor end instead of the block and tackle.

 

[gunho1]

Gunho1
My davits are fastened straight through the transom with two 1/2” bolts on each leg. Seems kind of minimal to me. It also has a stainless rack and radar tower added to the top of it. The radar tower does attach to the top of the pilot house roof though I don’t know how much load it’s carrying.
I have considered som stainless plates to put on the outside of the transom where the anchor bolts protrude to spread that load out.
My dink is 175# plus 100# Yamaha and again fuel tank and fuel so easily a bit over 300#’s.
In order to hoist the dingy I installed the block & tackle on the stern of the dinghy. These davits had a simple pulley wheel mounted in the end of arms which provide no mechanical advantage.
I always lift the stern first and then the bow and make sure the plug is out so it doesn’t retain rain water.
Unfortunately the block and tackle rob me of being able to lift the dinghy very high. Crossing the Straits of Juan de Fuca in som big seas the dingy was floating up against the davits every time we headed up the crest of a swell. I would certainly make your davits as tall as possible.
Where is your Schucker located?

Hi Bones, we are located in Beaufort SC, thanks for the pics of your davit supports. My davits are the typical l shaped arms built of 1.25 inch stainless tubing. I cant seem to find any l brackets that fit over the transom rail to which I can attach the vertical legs of the davit arms. I agree with other comments that you MUST support a hanging dink to absolutely prohibit sideways movement in a sea way. The inertia is huge and if a rib leaks even a small amount of air the lashings will come loose and must be constantly tightened!

 

[Iggy]

Hi,

Looks like a great setup. As someone else mentioned, I would be concerned about the transom.