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Trim & Tilt control installation for my houseboat

by Danny
(Indiana)

Any trim, tilt, or trailer system for my houseboat outboard?

Any trim, tilt, or trailer system for my houseboat outboard?

I have a 1987 42 foot houseboat with a 75hp Mercury outboard. It has no trim / tilt control, or any way to pull (or lift) the propeller out of the water. This motor is in the water all year long, and I would like to have a way to repair or maintain it.


Any idea's on how to resolve this and what it might cost?

Thanks, Danny from Indiana.


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Reply - Answer


Hi Danny, thanks for posting in the houseboat forums.

I can understand how you feel about not being able to trim your outboard, because being able to “trim & tilt / trailer it” has many advantages.

Sometimes just adjusting the angle of the propulsion (or propeller thrust) can save you some money in reference to your fuel economy. Another big advantage is the fact that you can lift the propeller higher up should you travel in shallower water and reduce the risk of prop damage.

Now in your case, you have no way of lifting the propeller (or gear case) out of the water for any service or maintenance work.

I am however surprised that your outboard didn’t come standard equipped with a trim/trailer piston, as the majority of the ones I’ve seen come with it.

You could have the trim assembly ordered from a dealer and have it installed, but I am sure that it is surely cost prohibitive. Of the top of my head, I seem to recall they all have a lever that you can push (or pull) that releases the outboard from locking in the down position, and allows you to manually lift it for trailering.

So if you could lift it for trailering, it would allow you to change the prop should you strike something and damage it.


Lastly, hopefully some of our readers and visitors will share and post comments about their related OUTBOARD TRIM & TILT houseboat experiences and tips.

Feel free to use the CLICK HERE TO POST COMMENTS link found near the bottom of this page.

Thanks again for sharing, IAN from all-about-houseboats.com

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