Optical alignment

Common scenarios

  • Engine alignment
  • Marine gear alignment
  • Cutless bearings
  • Stern tubes
  • Stern tube seals and seal carriers
  • Strut and stern tube alignment
  • Engine mount replacement
  • Detroit Diesel Series 2000 Resilient Mounts
  • Complete running gear setup

Customer service-my focus, and why I'm in business

View of an optical alignment target in a large bore without cutless bearing.
Optical alignment equipment with a skilled and experienced operator gives shipyards, boatyards, and builders the most accurate, efficient, and economical shaft and engine alignment service.

Optical alignment saves time and money in the shipyard, on any yacht, commercial, or military project. The equipment is accurate and suited for the purpose, portable, and quick to set up. Marine Alignment has fixtures for all common bearing and marine gear output flanges, and can quickly fabricate if the need arises. After fifteen years and 1500 vessels it is unusual to have to fabricate, and bearing fixtures can be quickly and easily adapted should it be necessary.

In 1990, while I was mechanical supervisor and yard manager at Harbour Towne Marina in Dania (before it was Dania Beach) Florida, we did target alignments with a wire and accepted as gospel that engine alignments had to be done in the water. John Allen had just moved to Florida and started Quantum Marine Engineering, and arrived at Harbour Towne with his telescope and a customer for haulout and said he was going to do an alignment job. I watched him set up and after seeing how it worked I walked into the shop and threw out the wires and wire fixtures and never looked back. I worked with John as a customer through the 1990's as a manager at Associated Marine, and then joined Quantum when the opportunity arose in 1998 and took over the alignment work.

Optical shaft and engine alignment remains the quickest and most accurate way to set marine gears, cutless bearings, stern tubes, struts, and engine alignments.

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Deck targets

One of the most common questions I get is about boats changing shape out of the water, and how that affects engine alignment.

Deck targeting, the generic term for different systems that measure the shape of a boat in the water as a reference while it's hauled and blocked, confirms that alignment work done out of the water will retain its accuracy and effectiveness after the boat is launched.

I would never advise against a deck target. However, almost all successful realignment work is done without benefit of a deck target for a number of reasons, the most common being that the alignment work was not in the forecasted scope of work prior to the haulout. There are a couple of cases where deck targets should be part of the repair plan- wooden vessels, vessels with a history of unsuccessful alignment work, and large fiberglass vessels (probably over 100-110'). And, it is my suggestion that yards include deck targets when they anticipate alignment work, or when they are asked.