TOPIC: Flipping a Boat

I've watched all the videos on Youtube and talked to a lot of people about the best way to turn a boat upside down. I've done it with straps, chainfalls, come-alongs, whatever. Today, we wasted about 90 minutes trying to flip a 17' Donzi and had all kinds of problems. After thinking about it awhile, I came up with this idea. I made this in 30 minutes with stuff I had sitting around the shop. By using a rope and come-along on the bow eye and another come-along hooked to this rig, we flipped this boat in five minutes.

I used two meaty pieces of maple, two 3/4" pillow block bearings and a 3/4" eye bolt with a 6" shank. The inside pillow block is used without tightening to the eye bolt and so can slip right out for installation/removal. The maple was drilled for mounting to a transom drilled for a Mercruiser Alpha outdrive but can be easily re-drilled to match other bolt patterns.

As always, another awesome job! Cant wait to see that Donzi finished.

Nice work.

You cant get by with a good grade 8 bolt a 1/8 inch galvi plate a shackle and some chain . I flipped my 21 foot jet boat in my yard by myself in about 10 minutes after i spent twenty minutes setting it up .

Great job you make it look easy! I guess the only part i dont understand is how you keep it from rolling as you lift? Is there any control? How hard is it to roll back right side up? Seems easy to set up but im thinking at least two guys. Thanks for the pictures now i am less scared of smashing my boat instead of flipping it!!!

Given that the front bow eye is stationary, the rear mechanism needs to be positioned such that you find the center of balance, or at least close. When it's in the right place, the boat will turn easily with one person and can be held in the flat position with one hand while you lower the come-along with the other. It really is quite easy to do.

The picture where its suspended bow and stern was the natural attitude of the boat so it was easy to flip to the top or bottom basically because it was almost on its side when i lifted it off the cradle. The only thing i would suggest would be to make very sure the bow eye and the hull where the eye is attached to is up to the task which meant me crawling up to the bow with fresh backer blocks , nuts and over-sized washers .

Thanks again for the help full info!!! I cannot wait until it's above 10 degrees outside to get back to working on my hull's. Cabin fever is setting in pretty heavy and it's still January, at least i have the jet pump's in my basement to keep me occupied. Will be flipping as soon as it warms up using the great information provided! Let the dust fly.

BC, not to hi jack the thread, but what model Buehler are you restoring? I have a 1961 Jet 35 that I am in the process of restoring. Hull is just about ready for paint. My Jet unit was supposed to be fine and newly rebuilt, but untested. I was wondering what is involved in knowing if it is correct or not? Will I just have to wait until I launch it?

Hey hornet, i actually have 3 buehlers im working on. Two are late 60's boleros and one is a 1960 unknown model but seems to be a baseline model, nothing fancy. As far as the pump is concerned they are really basic and pretty straight foward in design.With the 3 stage pump i am working on now i have lightly modified the cutlass bearing areas and installed new cutlass bearings purchased to fit in the existing diameter. It also has the same i.d. to fit the sleeves between the propellers. They are johnson brand and they are nice! I believe they are 4 3/4" long, 1 3/8" i.d. , 1 3/4 o.d. and there are two in a three stage pump. also s.s. tig welded prop blades to replace worn away material and they are being balanced now. Besides that its a few large o-rings. I was talking with Luke and it sounds like his early 60's jet 35 has brass props i have yet to crack open the 2 stage pump on my 60 just picked it up late fall. So my thought on your pump is if it turns over freely, without any grinding noise, and if theres not excessive play up and down at the main shaft towards the back of the pump you should be all good! They are easy to work on and repair, so if you have tight tolerances your all set.