posted 04-28-2004 10:07 AM ET (US)        

Based on good advice picked up on this forum, I decided to simply use the trailer jack to lower the transom rather than suspend the engine itself. All went well, so my recommendation to others would be to use the same technique - which was as follows:

1. Lower trailer jack (so transom is up).
2. Trim engine down so skeg is resting on a block of wood.
3. Strap engine on each side to the stern eyes to prevent sideways movement.
4. C-clamp engine to transom to prevent engine from falling backwards. This step turned out to be unneccesary, because the lower unit was at enough of an angle so that the engine actually leaned back into the boat rather than away.
5. Remove mounting bolts (adjusting trailer jack as neccessary to take pressure off).
6. Jack up front of trailer as needed.
7. Install bolts in new location.

The whole process took about an hour with a helper, but to do it again would probably take 20 minutes.