evinrude 9.9 long shaft

[Mr.Stuart]

This might sound like a stupid question, but I'm new to boating and really don't know the answer.

I just bought a boat that came with a Evinrude 9.9 long shaft electric start trolling motor, I would like to get something like a 12 foot car topper boat, something similar to the picture, but what's this long shaft short shaft stuff? I know ones taller then the other, but what difference does it make on the boat? Or maybe I should be asking, what type of boat should I be looking for that will work good with this motor? my thougts were to look for something that has a transom like the one in the picture, but is a long shaft still going to hang to far down under the boat? it's a low hour great running motor, and I hardly think I'm going to be doing any fishing or trolling from the big boat it came on and would like a smaller boat that I can take camping at the many back woods lakes we have around here

I know I'm probably leaving myself wide open here, but hey, I need a little education, so educate me

 

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Re: evinrude 9.9 long shaft

Along shaft is 20" from transom down, a short shaft is 15". The shaft length required depends on the ht. of the transom. I ran 6 hp long shaft on a little aluminum boat for crabbing for years. When the tide was out it would sometimes hit the ground, when this happens it is possible to suck up dirt. I used it this way for twenty years at least. It also puts some unnecessary drag on the boat, but if you are just puttering around a crab line I didn't care much.

 

[Mr.Stuart]

Re: evinrude 9.9 long shaft

Along shaft is 20" from transom down, a short shaft is 15". The shaft length required depends on the ht. of the transom. I ran 6 hp long shaft on a little aluminum boat for crabbing for years. When the tide was out it would sometimes hit the ground, when this happens it is possible to suck up dirt. I used it this way for twenty years at least. It also puts some unnecessary drag on the boat, but if you are just puttering around a crab line I didn't care much.

I think I figured it out, I found some info in a google search, looks like I need to mesure the distance from the top of the mounting clamp to the cavatation plate, and find a boat that has a transom with the same mesurement, or close to it, from from looking at some photos on google, I'm thinking that the outboard I have might be an extra long shaft? 25" or so. I'll have to do my homework and see what kind of putzing around boat I can come up with that has a taller transom

 

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Re: evinrude 9.9 long shaft

I know there was some models for sailboats that were 25". I don't know for sure if they were 9.9's.

 

[mikesea]

Re: evinrude 9.9 long shaft

you will probably have a bit of a time finding a boat that size ready to accept a long shaft engine there are a few possibilities,one is(since you say its a great eng)you can convert to ashort shaft by purchasing the shift shaft and drive shaft that will be needed to make the change,and it may only be the drive shaft u need,many of those engines had an extra long shifter link that can be removed and a short one used,the water tube will need to be cut to the shorter length,these are not super hard parts to find and the job not bad for anyone you may know that has mechanic qualities.anothe possibility,is finding a used short shaft lower unit,it will have the parts u need,if you look at your engine ,the lower unit will be bolted up to the mid section via 6 bolts,but note ,on your engine there will be another section bolted in the exact way,its a spacer,it can be unbolted and removed,if you then had the correct short drive shaft and the shorter shifter(which may be just removing the link )cutting the water tube the same length a your spacer,the lower unit would then bolt together,then u have a short shaft,a tougher possibility,whatever boat you buy,you build the transom up the size of the spacer,if the transom is built for a 15in eng,its possible to buy a larger boat that may meetthe length ,but it wont be a car topper,those 9.9 are compatable with 15 hp johnson evinrude,but since you didnt include the yr,be sure to double check back here with the yr

 

[Mr.Stuart]

Re: evinrude 9.9 long shaft

The engine is an 89 electric start, it has less then 20 hours on it and looks like the thing just came out of the crate, it's pretty flawless, from the condition of the engine, I really don't want to trade it off for a short shaft, but doing a short shaft conversion to it would be something I would consider, I'm not afraid to tear into it to shorten it up, I'm mechanically inclined, and working on the stuff doesn't bother me in the least, I just ordered the maintenance manuals for it and the big 115 horse Evinrude that's on the boat I just bought.

I measured the distance from the top of the mounting clamp to the cavatation plate and it comes out to 23 inches, so am I going to be that hard pressed to find a boat with a 23-inch deep transom? It doesn't necessarily have to be a car topper. But I would like to find an open boat that's built similar to a car topper (ie) no windshield or steering wheel or closed bow or anything like that, just something I can use in shallow water or the smaller rivers around here, or the smaller lakes. I'm not even real picky about the type of boat, I just want something different then what I already have that would be a good match for that motor