Engine hatch lift

TickledPink

One of my bug bears with my Fiesta Vee 250 is that due to the short engine hatch lift arm, the hatch only opens about 2ft.
In order to actually work on the engine, I have to disconnect the arm, manually pull the seat/hatch back and rest it on something on the swim platform.
Have any of you replaced the arm with a longer one? Recommendations would be useful please.
Thanks very much.

Ian

The key thing is the main body plus the retracted ram and coupling has to be of a length to be able to fit under the hatch when closed. 

deeman

I was wondering the same thing. I was also hopeful I could a replacement actuator which would fit in the space 

TickledPink

I was thinking of maybe fitting a manual one like you have on cars.

rasbury

Im a 270 and it opens enough to drop down in- heavy work I'm still unlatching to fully open.. so I'm not sure you can make that work much better...

Pat310

On my 310 i made an extension out of a piece of electrical conduit. I set the hatch on the safety kick stand (you can make one out of wood if your boat doesn’t have one). I the retract the actuator and add the extension to allow the hatch to open much further.  You see the extra piece with the black tape. Makes it much easier to work in there. 

Ian

I find nothing “easy” to work in my 310…

rasbury

My 270 is not to bad..if I didn't have the genset I could sit there and get to about anything..9'3" beam with one motor is a huge difference ...

Aqua_Aura

Progressive Automations is what I used for a replacement on my 280. They make all types and sizes and the prices are reasonable. They are based on my neck of the woods. 

TickledPink

@Pat310 thats brilliant 👏