Safe Harbor Newport Shipyard needed two MAN V8 diesels—1,800 kg each, coupled to ZF gearboxes—removed from a 95-foot Benetti and replaced with new engines. The engine room was tight, access was through the saloon floor, and nothing could touch the boat on the way out. Projects like this are some of our favorites—working close to home with a yard and tradespeople we know and trust. It was also the chance to put our winter intern, Giovanni Perrotti, to work on some fun 3D modeling and 2D drawing.
The Two-Gantry System
The extraction required two purpose-built gantry stages (shown above).
The first operated inside the engine room. After cutting the soft-patch opening in the saloon floor, we installed a gantry over the first engine, lifted it, and set it down on a wheeled carriage sitting on transverse rails. Same process for the second engine. With both diesels on rails, one was moved to centerline—directly below the saloon opening.
The second gantry was assembled in the main saloon above the opening to the engine room below. At this stage, the engine being removed was separated from its ZF gearbox, which stayed behind in the engine room. The engine was then lifted straight up through the deck. While the engine was suspended, rails were installed beneath it and casters fitted to the cradle. The engine was then lowered onto C-channel beams and rolled out through the saloon to the deck, where a forklift took it the rest of the way.
Second engine, same sequence. After some deep cleaning in the engine room, the entire sequence was repeated in the reverse to install the two new engines.
Fabrication
All the metalwork was built by Brad Nelson, a talented local welder we’re always glad to work with. Brad turned our engineering drawings into clean, accurate steelwork—both gantries, the rails, carriages, and all the hardware. The Safe Harbor service crew managed operations throughout; they do this kind of work day in and day out, and it shows.
Outcome
Both engines out, no damage, yacht ready for the new installation. The animation below shows how the system worked.
