Adding electric start to 1976 6hp

[james__12345]

Title says it all. I have a 1976 Johnson long shaft 6 up that I plan to use for a kicker. I would like to add electric start to it. From what I can tell there is no factory option for electric start on this motor but I wouldn't mine doing a bit of creative work to make a different starter work if it would be possible. I have a friend who works at a machine shop and I can weld. Does anyone know of a starter that can be made to work?

 

[ondarvr]

Just about any outboard starter would work if your starting from scratch, but.....you also need a flywheel with teeth on it for the starter to engage. So, if there are no factory electric start motors (I've never looked into to know), then the flywheel will be the hard part.


The reason I say that is because the stock pull start gear that engages the flywheel is plastic, I'm not sure if the teeth on the flywheel are strong enough to hold up to electric start. Also the gear may have the wrong spacing on the teeth to work.

 

[F_R]

Consider the 9.9/15hp starter. They are compact, an important consideration since you don't have much space in there.

 

[oldboat1]

interesting. There are also devices that might allow you to pull up vertically on the starter cord, if that's of any use. Needs differ -- would have to be able to get to the stern and reach over the transom, so disabilities could obviously enter in.

 

[Scott Danforth]

Easiest way to convert a 6hp to electric start....

Sell motor, add cash, buy motor with electric start

 

[ondarvr]

Easiest way to convert a 6hp to electric start....

Sell motor, add cash, buy motor with electric start

Best option.

 

[james__12345]

Consider the 9.9/15hp starter. They are compact, an important consideration since you don't have much space in there.

Space is definitely what i think will be the biggest issue. It is a very small housing on the motor. As far as teeth on the flywheel this motor has the pull starter that mounts like an electric starter, not the one that sits on top of the flywheel like my 1968 18 hp. I'll start comparing some flywheel part numbers from the bigger motors and see if I can find a match for something with electric start as an option.

 

[ondarvr]

I have 3 of these motors, I know how it mounts and the space available. As mentioned, many times, while it may be possible to modify what you have, most of the time selling what you have and buying what you want is far more economical than trying to fabricate something.

 

[Scott Danforth]

FWIW, i picked up a running 9.8 electric start off a pontoon for a bit over $100 i couldnt buy the charge coil, rectifier and starter by themselves for that

 

[ohio stan]

Mercury did make a 7.5 electric start. Or use an electric(battery) drill. Hang on to the drill LOL Stan

 

[racerone]

The newer 6 hp Mercury was also avaiable in electric start.

 

[james__12345]

I plan on doing a stick steer and throttle and a kill switch on the very front of the boat. It is a bow fishing boat and we need to run the kicker from the front elevated shooting deck. The motor pulls super easy and starts on first or second pull, it just would be nice to not have to walk from the front elevated deck to the back to restart the motor. And if I could find electric start 9.8s for 100 bucks I'd buy 20 of them right now. I can't get a pull start parts motor for that around here unless it's from the 50s.

I looked up the 76 9.9 and 15, and they show a different flywheel for pull start vs electric. I can't see what the electric start flywheel looks like though. I donsee that The pull start for this motors looks very different than my 6 hp. Mine is shaped like and located where an electric starter would be, so it seems like the teeth on my flywheel would be in the right place.

 

[ondarvr]

Wouldn't an electric trolling motor work better for this?

 

[oldboat1]

Yeah, sounds like a bow mounted electric would be perfect, with foot control. People seem to change those out for the newest models (like fish finders -- sorry, graphs, gps....). Might be able to find a good deal on a used one.

The 9.9 flywheels have dual ring gears, btw, if electric start -- one for the rope starter, and one for the electric. And the electric flywheels are a little pricey -- manual ones pretty available. I don't believe the teeth on your flywheel wouldn't work with the bendix gear on an electric starter (same issue with the 9.9 manual), but maybe you could come up with a gear that could work.

 

[james__12345]

I have a bow mount troller with a foot control already (also have a slightly stronger tiller steer transom mount troller with the handle turned around 180 degrees to work on the bow with a small clamping bracket), and they work ok but for bow fishing kickers are better in most cases. They are able to tilt up and away from obstructions instead of getting hung and pushed under the boat. They also provide more speed (which isn't that important for regular fishing but makes a huge difference bow fishing) unless you get into huge 24 or 36 volt motors , and then you're dealing with lots of batteries (lots more weight and expense) and or much larger more expensive converters to run the troller off the generator. That in turn also requires a much larger more expensive generator than one to just run the lights. From what i hear they also have less issues with the props getting stuck in grass, and we spend alot of time running through grass. Our largest and most sought after target species is GRASS carp, and honestly carp and catfish in general prefer the grassy areas. The other main issue is that you're actually standing not sitting or atleast leaning against a seat like on a bass boat and running a foot control troller all night bowfishing is miserable because you're basically standing on one foot all night pretending youre Captain Morgan. As a result of that most people I know who run trollers run tiller steer bow mount trollers (or more commonly transom mount trollers with the handle turned around) or mount what is known as a pixie stick to the foot controls to make them steer like an airboat. Speaking of air boats generally speaking for bowfishing trollers are the least desirable, kickers are considered the minimum for people who take their fishing seriously, and fan motors or air boats are what most people dream of.

Back to the electric starter, the dual ring gear thing is one of the reasons I asked about the flywheel difference. I thought that might be the case. I'm pretty sure my friend could get a gear machined to fit the electric start that would match the teeth on the pull start though. I know they have machined some other outboard parts there along with some parts for their fishing bows.

 

[oldboat1]

Interesting post and thread, James. See your point(s) -- like to see what you come up with.

(Chrysler made little Autoelectrics in the '60s/'70s with the starter mounted on top, btw. I've played with a couple of those, and they are interesting little motors -- come with a light on top too. Something that might be worth watching for -- maybe another option. I think the Autoelectrics might have ranged from 6 hp to 20 hp.-- Morse cables and boxes, I think.)

[Edit. thinking 9.2 hp might have been the smallest. compact little motors, though.]

 

[james__12345]

I'm not positive yet that I'll be keeping the motor, because I haven't run it on the boat yet to see the speed I can get from it. It's hard to get an answer of what size is going to give you what speed because bowfishing boats vary so much. Most people are running old aluminum boats from a lot of different manufacturers so there are so many weight variables, from the hull itself to the generators, from the little super light weight Honda eu2000 on up to my champion 4500 or bigger, and lights, some run LEDs that weigh next to nothing, some of us run high pressure sodium parking lot lights that weigh around 30 pounds each (I have 3 and need atleast 1 more). Then there's the shooting decks, some use 2x4s and plywood, some use all aluminum, some flush with the gunwales, some a foot or two above them. Then you still have to factor in the fish, which is going to be over 200 lbs on a decent night. I'm my research I've found people with roughly my size boat happy with 4s and I've found people with 9.9s talking about moving to 15s. I will definitely keep this thread updated whatever route I end up going though.

 

[ondarvr]

My first bow fishing experience was around 20 years ago, for what we did the electrics were better, but we weren't in the weeds as much. One of my friends was into it heavy for a long time.

​You haven't said what boat you have, got a pic?

​The 6 hp J/E's are great motors, but you may being putting more time effort and money into modifying it for electric start than it's worth. There's no doubt that it can be done if you have access to a skilled machine shop that's willing to do it, but the effort may have limited payback. There are any number of electric start 9.9s on the market from old to new, you may not find one on CL tomorrow, but get the correct CL app and you can easily search the country for one.

 

[james__12345]

No Title

The boat is a 1971 low line 1648 flat bottom. I've only had it a couple weeks so there's still a lot left to be done but here's a couple pics of it now. The console is just temporary until I get my new cables (The cables and motor I have now came off an old fiberglass boat that I had 500 bucks in), it will be a stand up center console when I'm done. I started yesterday on the deck, and should have it done by tonight. I also have to rebuild the transom. It's been rebuilt once before and is still in ok shape but it was a kind of sloppy job, and since its being rebuilt anyway, I'll be raising it up to make the long shafts work. If it didn't need rebuilt I would probably have waited on a short shaft motor. I know it may not really be worth the work to convert it to electric start, but I enjoy the challenge sometimes of finding a way to make things work even when it may not be "worth it". I guess I might have watched too much MacGyver as a kid.

 

[Sandor27]

I love a good project (if you have the time, skill, and $...). You can try to adapt a utility engine starter and flywheel into your 6hp.

You can get a starter for $24, http://www.ebay.com/itm/Starter-Motor-Fits-Honda-GX160-GX200-with-Solenoid-for-Generator-Many-Kinds-New-/330525312884?hash=item4cf4d80774:g:Cc8AAOSw5VFWF9zM

and a ring gear with holes for $70 [FONT=&quot]http://www.arcracing.com/6679g-honda-gx200-ring-gear/[/FONT]

or without for $10. [FONT=&quot]http://www.nrracing.com/product-p/200starterring.htm

You will have to machine the flywheel to accept the ring gear and will also have to fabricate a mount for the starter. If you call up the arcracing guys, they are great with customer service and can tell you the diameter so you can try to see if it will work on your flywheel...

Keep us posted! [/FONT]