Inboard outboard air cooled engine

[maxum247]

Re: Inboard outboard air cooled engine

Hey Maxum..that transom looks like it is sitting pretty low in the water or am I just seeing things?

Talking about another motor with higher horse power, as I mentioned in the past don't forget a motorcycle motor or something to the likes would be pretty neat.

How fast will that thing go?

Does sit a little low but not as low as the picture makes it look.

Talked to a guy some years ago about putting a motorcycle engine in a boat, seems at the time keeping it cool would be the problem. I guess now they have fans and so on.

 

[sprouticus1]

Re: Inboard outboard air cooled engine

this sounds like a project my ex father-in-law would have taken on. He once put a snowmobile engine on his ride-on lawnmower. got it up past 60 kms/hour. well done is all I can say, I wish I had the time to play like that.

 

[kayakn]

Re: Inboard outboard air cooled engine

been thinking of putting a push mower motor on a cheap kayak. I just have to find out how to make a shaft from the motor to the propeller?? any suggestions?? i do not want to have an outboard lower unit just a shaft with a prop like an inboard.

 

[reelfishin]

Re: Inboard outboard air cooled engine

How is that thing on gas? Better or worse than an equivalent outboard?
I've been knocking around the idea for some time of modifying one of the small boats I have here to something simple with a Briggs Motor. I also have a 23HP Kawasaki industrial motor that's air cooled and near new. It's a horizontal shaft but has a 30mm shaft and 10 degree taper like a golf cart clutch has.

What you built there has got to have far more torque than any small outboard, one due to the four stroke factor and second due the flywheel itself. You could probably go with a much higher pitch prop if one is available for that old lower unit. You may end up having something re-pitched or custom made to really get the most out of it.

I saw an old fishing boat a while back that used an old single cylinder large frame Wisconsin motor, a chain drive and an over the transom outdrive. It was mounted mid ship with the motor sitting on a raised platform and the outdrive hanging on the mid ship well.
I like the idea of the turntable design, put the motor on a turret and let the whole thing turn, but it would take up valuable boat space in a small boat.

 

[maxum247]

Re: Inboard outboard air cooled engine

this sounds like a project my ex father-in-law would have taken on. He once put a snowmobile engine on his ride-on lawnmower. got it up past 60 kms/hour. well done is all I can say, I wish I had the time to play like that.

Have'nt had too much time for my boat projects lately the little man's John Deere tractor and Yamaha Four Wheeler have been down, so I'm learning battery powered ride on toy repairs. Can't say I'm good at it though!

 

[maxum247]

Re: Inboard outboard air cooled engine

been thinking of putting a push mower motor on a cheap kayak. I just have to find out how to make a shaft from the motor to the propeller?? any suggestions?? i do not want to have an outboard lower unit just a shaft with a prop like an inboard.

I had thought about the same setup at one time or another, but it just seemed to come around to useing a lower unit.
Seems like some of the outboards back when used something like your talking about instead of the modern type lower unit.

The only sure way to do that, that I'm aware of is to run a shaft through a stuffing box and use an upright Briggs engine with the shaft coming out the back of the caseing.
You'd need to make a 90 degree turn at the bottom of the boat useing gears or something like that with the push mower engine with the shaft coming through the base. There's probably a way to do that I just haven't researhced that far into that type of setup.

If you build this useing a push mower engine with the shaft exiting through the base of the engine and that starts with a pull rope make certain the engine has a cast iron flywheel on it, with the aluminum fly wheel it will kick back hard snatching the rope out of your hand, hurts like you wouldn't beleive for a while. Busted myself right in the nose like that one time, that's how I learned that the blade on the lawn mower counters the kick back giving it the balance needed to start and not snatch the rope back. Needless to say I paddled to the dock and tied the boat for the day!:redface:

 

[maxum247]

Re: Inboard outboard air cooled engine

How is that thing on gas? Better or worse than an equivalent outboard?
I've been knocking around the idea for some time of modifying one of the small boats I have here to something simple with a Briggs Motor. I also have a 23HP Kawasaki industrial motor that's air cooled and near new. It's a horizontal shaft but has a 30mm shaft and 10 degree taper like a golf cart clutch has.

What you built there has got to have far more torque than any small outboard, one due to the four stroke factor and second due the flywheel itself. You could probably go with a much higher pitch prop if one is available for that old lower unit. You may end up having something re-pitched or custom made to really get the most out of it.

I saw an old fishing boat a while back that used an old single cylinder large frame Wisconsin motor, a chain drive and an over the transom outdrive. It was mounted mid ship with the motor sitting on a raised platform and the outdrive hanging on the mid ship well.
I like the idea of the turntable design, put the motor on a turret and let the whole thing turn, but it would take up valuable boat space in a small boat.

You know! I haven't run it enough to decide on the gas factor with the setup I have. I had an 8hp electric start Briggs on an outboard lower unit and I could troll for about three hours on a tank of gas, I think it was about a gallon and a half tank but I can't remember for sure, That was a few years and a few projects ago, but I can tell you I ran that setup for three years before selling/trading it to a friend for the Shaker!

Make sure yor boat is longer and wider than the "Shaker" I'm a little cramped in the 12 footer, useing the 12hp Briggs.
You'll want a much longer boat for that 23hp, say 16 and up I would think.

I'm in the hunt for a good used higher pitch prop now, have found a new old stock lower pitch prop, the guy will let me have it for fifty bucks and tax, just my luck. Guy I know does props was my neighbor for a number of years if I can't find a prop I'll give him a call some day and see if he can rework the one I have maybe.

Be interesting to see what you decide for a project!

 

[reelfishin]

Re: Inboard outboard air cooled engine

You know! I haven't run it enough to decide on the gas factor with the setup I have. I had an 8hp electric start Briggs on an outboard lower unit and I could troll for about three hours on a tank of gas, I think it was about a gallon and a half tank but I can't remember for sure, That was a few years and a few projects ago, but I can tell you I ran that setup for three years before selling/trading it to a friend for the Shaker!

Make sure yor boat is longer and wider than the "Shaker" I'm a little cramped in the 12 footer, useing the 12hp Briggs.
You'll want a much longer boat for that 23hp, say 16 and up I would think.

I'm in the hunt for a good used higher pitch prop now, have found a new old stock lower pitch prop, the guy will let me have it for fifty bucks and tax, just my luck. Guy I know does props was my neighbor for a number of years if I can't find a prop I'll give him a call some day and see if he can rework the one I have maybe.

Be interesting to see what you decide for a project!

I've considered several motor options, but I think I have pass on using the Kawasaki motor mainly due to weight, I knew it was a bit heavy, but when I weighed it, it weighed in at over 120lbs. and that's the bare motor with only the starter installed. That thing has an external alternator as well.

Until I saw your post, I'd have never even thought about putting the drive through the hull. I think I like the idea of the drive going over the transom, even if its fixed. My thinking was to use a chain or belt to drive a cross shaft atop of the transom, then to run an outboard type of drive down below. I've seen setups similar to this on antiques, but never with a modern air cooled motor. I did see a homemade Briggs powered outboard though, a guy did the same thing you did there but built it all atop the original mid section. In other words, he replaced the water cooled power head on an old motor with a Briggs mower engine. The guy who built that had thought out the whole rig well enough to make it work very well with no vibration whatsoever, but didn't calculate in a way to stop it. The motor was a later fixed RPM motor with a flywheel brake, he tossed the flywheel brake and in the process the kill switch wiring. His cure for stopping the thing was an O ring around the plug wire and boot and a long string run though a series of eye hooks to the front of the boat where the tiller steer was. He made his own tiller steer rig with an old shifter handle and rope which was also run though steel eye hooks.
It worked but there was only two speeds, all out full speed ahead, or off. When he wanted to stop, he pulled the rope which in turn disconnected the plug wire shutting down the engine. There was no shifter, to reverse it you had to go back and shift it with a pair of vise grips. He never bothered with reverse, he said it was easier to just spin around in a circle and head in the direction you wanted to go. Rather than figure out how to slow the motor down or to shift it, he made a hinged plate which folded down in front of the prop to slow the boat down. It worked but it too was connected with rope to the front of the boat. The boat was about 10 or 11' long, overall, it was homemade as well with plywood and glass which I take it began life as either part of either one or more other old boats all glued together.
What had amazed me was that he had figured out a way to weld up an adapter stand to make the motor work, and did that very well, but the rest was so primitive I was amazed that it worked at all.

 

[maxum247]

Re: Inboard outboard air cooled engine

I haven't done enough testing to verify how practical the setup I built will be! I'm sure there will be some limitations to the design, but I like the way it looks! The times I've had it out it was fun to putt around in!

 

[Lone Duck]

Re: Inboard outboard air cooled engine

I haven't done enough testing to verify how practical the setup I built will be! I'm sure there will be some limitations to the design, but I like the way it looks! The times I've had it out it was fun to putt around in!

Yeh! But did you catch any fish??? Good to see you back on line maxum. Only got a foot of snow left here now. Soon be time to redo the carbs on my boat and do a little woodwork. Had to nail my left foot to the floor so I won't go out and take the cover off to soon and have a snow squall come through and fill her up and then freeze again. Thats hard on a wood boat. But waiting is getting hard here too. I guess reading what you guys are doing ain't helping my patience much. Did you change to a larger tiller yet?

 

[maxum247]

Re: Inboard outboard air cooled engine

Yeh! But did you catch any fish??? Good to see you back on line maxum. Only got a foot of snow left here now. Soon be time to redo the carbs on my boat and do a little woodwork. Had to nail my left foot to the floor so I won't go out and take the cover off to soon and have a snow squall come through and fill her up and then freeze again. Thats hard on a wood boat. But waiting is getting hard here too. I guess reading what you guys are doing ain't helping my patience much. Did you change to a larger tiller yet?

No fish! It's been wind and rain here, haven't had a decent day to take the boat out.
Someday soon the weather will agree and I'll have some time off work then maybe I'll get a fish!
I remember the wooden boat days! Loose planks, wet feet, ah! the memories!
The tiller is ready to install as soon as I get the chance, I mean the energy!

max!

 

[drewmitch44]

Re: Inboard outboard air cooled engine

Look at this guy's home made jet boat! Looks like he took the drive out of a jet ski or something! LOL

http://youtube.com/watch?v=xnJI0cKLh5E&feature=related

 

[drewmitch44]

Re: Inboard outboard air cooled engine

This one too! LOL ahhhh to be young again LOL

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fT5SgsZ94L0&NR=1

 

[maxum247]

Re: Inboard outboard air cooled engine

drewmitch, been trying for a week now to play the jet boat movie with no luck! Thanks though!

 

[weldbilt17]

Re: Inboard outboard air cooled engine

I exspect to take a shaking from this thing, thought about mounting the motor on some sort of rubber mounts! About the coupling, how does it work?

Ah! Let her shake, it'll be like riding an old Harley, get the ole blood a flowin

 

[kc5dil]

Re: Inboard outboard air cooled engine

am building a wooden kayak with a tunnel, 15 hp foot and 5.5 briggs verticle shaft using pullies and belts to be able to adjust ratio if nec. The input shaft turns 2 to 1 to the prop.

 

[maxum247]

Re: Inboard outboard air cooled engine

am building a wooden kayak with a tunnel, 15 hp foot and 5.5 briggs verticle shaft using pullies and belts to be able to adjust ratio if nec. The input shaft turns 2 to 1 to the prop.

Got picture's?

max!

 

[fishingman1]

Re: Inboard outboard air cooled engine

Hey guys- I know this is an old post but I am having a hard time finding any information on inboards made with a "lawn mower" engine. I know companies used to make them 50yrs ago or so. I can't find any on the market. I might try making my own.

These boats used to be popular among duck hunters. This is kind of what I want to do but I want to do it to a bigger boat, maybe a jon boat:
Reelfoot Lake Boat Picture 2
The Rebel Rivers Canoe Club: Prop-phylactic
http://www.***************/boats/al/huntsville/dale_clahoun_boat_works/126906

I did find this on eBay. Seems like it might be a good solution: Inboard Boat Motor Kit for Lawn Mower Engine | eBay
I might just buy one of these...


What do you think?

 

[fishingman1]

Re: Inboard outboard air cooled engine

If I was to build one of these, does anybody know where I can get a seal for the shaft sticking out the bottom of the boat? I want to do this with a jon boat.

 

[WIMUSKY]

Re: Inboard outboard air cooled engine

fishingman1 - This thread is 5 years old, actually 6 plus since the first post. Please adhere to the red box that was visible before you made your first post to this thread.....

Start your own thread, please....