Lund Laker 14 Honda BF30 - CMC PT-35 Install

I bought this boat back in Jan or Feb, had the carbs cleaned and she runs like a champ. The side console is great and the boat is a good size for me and my boy. The only problem is the lack of tilt and trim. I run rivers from time to time and it's a PITA to have to leave the helm to tilt the motor by hand - dangerous if there's any amount of current. I also want to be able to let my 74 year old dad run it so the tilt/trim is a must for him; a 200 pound 4-stroke is not a light motor to be tilting by hand.
Some pics of the boat as she sits today.

The Honda BF30 is 22 inches from the top of the transom to the cavitation plate and the cav plate is about 2.5 inches below the bottom of the hull. The red carpenters level in the pic is flat against the bottom of the hull and is about 1.5 in thick.

I have a buddy in the marine parts business and he got me the CMC PT-35 at his cost. I opened the box tonight and began reading about the install instructions from the manual. The manual says the cav plate should be about 1-3" above the bottom of the transom.
I would say this means mine needs to come up a lot, however I am worried about putting it too high and then ventilating the prop.
Given that this unit is about 2.5" below the floor I think I have room to go up an inch or two. However I have also heard that these shorter hulls are more sensitive to the height than others.
Another consideration that makes me lean towards higher, is that there always seemed to be a lot of drag on the leg; there was always a lot of water splashing into the boat from in front of the leg. Maybe this will help?
Any suggestions would be welcome.

Before I can remove the motor, I need to get this outboard motor lock off. The key cylinder is underneath so I can't drill it and the manufacturer doesn't seem to be around any more to buy a key.
Looks like mild steel so a cut-off wheel on my mini angle grinder should take care of it easily.

Engine hoist is on it's way so I got at it. Here are the results of this mornings grinder session.
Took about 15 min, 30 if you include the time it took to take the battery and fuel tank out.

Steering cable disassembled and undone and the CMC unit on the bench. I decided to make a template of the transom side of the CMC PT-35. Should make layout testing easier.

A little off-topic but could you pop the cover and post a few pics of the shifting and throttle cable linkages? Thinking about converting a tiller to remote.
Thanks

[url=https://www.tinboats.net/forum/viewtopic.php?p=325151#p325151 said:

PATRIOT » Today, 12:44[/url]"]A little off-topic but could you pop the cover and post a few pics of the shifting and throttle cable linkages? Thinking about converting a tiller to remote.
Thanks

Click to expand...

Sure, no problem. I'm on my way to pick up the hoist, so won't get back to the computer until after dinner. I will make a new thread with the pics.

Thanks . . . =D> =D> =D> =D>

Got the hoist this afternoon and this evening I lifted the motor off the transom. It could not have gone much better.
Bolt holes were well sealed and dry.
Did a test fit of the CMC unit, hooked it up to the battery and checked for clearances on the transom clamps.
Measurements for cav plate and height work out something like this: with the cmc mounted at the same height as the motor was, the cav plate will raise about 2". Since the cav plate was 2.5" below the bottom of the transom, with the 2" increase it will still be 1/2" below. Not sure what the best way to deal with this is. I could drill 2 holes in the CMC lower down and mount it and inch or two higher, or just run it as is and see how it works.
I am leaning to running it as is; the stock setup just looks so clean and will certainly be more stable with the holes farther apart. I think I will need to sleep on it tonight decide in the morning.
Here's some pics, **** that CMC unit looks well made. A thing of beauty.

It's on! The install went as planned. Mounted the CMC PT-35 so the top of the transom side plate was ~flush with the top of the transom. Basically the top holes were drilled 1" on center from the top edge and the lower ones were exactly 8.5 inches below that.
They lined up with the CMC perfectly. All done, with the motor installed and the cav plate dead parallel to the bottom of the boat, the cav plate is about 3/8" below the floor level. Not perfect, but I have read a lot about these smaller boats needing less height than one even 1-3 feet longer. In one of the the pics below you can see the slotted hole. The bolts are at the top of the hole, meaning that I can loosen these and raise the motor by about 1.5 inches if needed.
I also had some luck with the steering cable. I was pretty much positive that it would have to be replaced, but when I started looking at it I realized it would be very close. I removed a couple of clamps holding it down up the side of the boat and voila, it fit! Saves me a trip to my buddies warehouse and a few bucks.
As I said, there were no hiccups or problems except one; the silicone I used to seal it up doesn't seem to be curing for some reason. The tube was one I had from a previous project but I actually have no idea how old; 5 years, 10? So I'm going to take all the bolts out one by one, clean as much of the goop out and then redo.
Other than that I am pretty happy so far, I still need to mount the electrical (relays, fuse and switch) and I will relocate the battery while I'm at it. The current location is on my side and when I'm out alone or with my 12 year old, I need some ballast on the other side!

I have had two of those CMC units over the years and never had any trouble out of them. On the height of the motor you will be surprised even with that small 4" setback just how much you can lift one depending on the boat.

The only thing I see you doing I suspect you will wire in a remote switch to tilt/trim the motor from your transom for when your are trailering your boat. It makes it much easier to put a motor toter on with one person and is a very simple task.

Good luck with it not cavitating. I have a feeling you are going to have to lower it to about 1.5" below the bottom to keep it from cavitating. Or you are going to have to buy a SS prop that has a cup built into it.

Nice boat,nice outboard too.We have a Lund 14' with a Honda 25 hp....great match !

Finally found time to finish the install last weekend, had far too many visitors over the summer and far too little time off.
So I finished things up; moved the battery over to the port side for better weight balance, mounted a 6x6x2" box for the relays (6x6x4 is too huge, same with 8x8) and now she's done.

Took her out for a run after supper last night with the kids, the tilt was so nice at the ramp and made a huge difference on the hole shot. She jumped up quick and trimmed out nicely. The prop slipped a little when it was fully tilted up (just beyond dead vertical) and I am thinking that I might eventually lower it a little some day.
As tomme boy mentioned before, probably 1" lower would have been perfect, and that is why I went to so much detail on this thread; I found very little info online about CMC PT-35 and where on the transom to install it.
I hope this helps someone else get it right the first time.
For now, the Coho (silvers) are in the local bays getting ready to head upstream. I plan to use my Lund as much as possible the next month or so and put as many of those in the freezer as I can.

I started reading about hole shot issues and so many people suggested a hydrofoil that I figured maybe something to it. I remembered that the boat had a Happy Troller trolling plate on it when I bought it, maybe it would help. SUre enough I put it on last night and today it seems to make a big difference. Better hole shot (still not great though) and less RPM at WOT, WOT dropped about 2-300 RPM but speed was pretty much the same.
I always figured the plate would create drag but I guess not, or not enough to counteract the benefit.

Finally got the boat out from under the tarp this weekend. I borrowed a hoist from work and got busy.
I lowered the CMC unit 1.5 inches and installed a stingray stabilizer. Everything went as planned and tried it out this afternoon. What a difference! The boat pops up on plane like never before! It seems to ride better than ever and trimmed up she holds a grip without blowing out in hard, high speed corners!
I am so glad I took the time to lower the bracket, it is a different boat. I'm greedy though and want more top end. New prop?
Thanks to those who offered advise.

Leave it mounted high. Trim it in when turning. A prop with some cup will help too.

Also-the CMC relays are absolute garbage. Every one that I install gets a winch contactor before it leaves the shop. I remove the relays completely and put the contactor in it's place. BUT word of caution. Don't cut the plug off of the CMC actuator. Once the plug is cut off, the warranty is voided. CMC doesn't sell the actuator parts, they sell it complete and it's about the same price as a whole PT35 complete. A friend asked me where to get the brushes for the actuator motor recently and I directed him to CMC directly, then he calls back and tells me that CMC doesn't sell actuator parts at all, just the actuator assembly.

Thanks TurboTodd,

Trimming it in helps in the turns for sure but now it is barely needed, she holds like on rails. It does feel like it's dragging a bit. I've got about 1.5" of upward travel to play with on the slotted mounting holes on the motor, so I'm going to try and get it up as high as possible, probably move it in 1/2" increments until I find the sweet spot.

Can you please post a photo of the contactor setup? The last thing I want is to have this thing stop working while I'm on a trip somewhere this summer.

Grant