Re: R vs W
Weedless drive????? I can understand right-angle/rope recoil, but what is a weedless drive
The weedless drive was an Evinrude invention in the 1940s. It was eventually incorporated on the Johnson-Evinrude joint venture motor, the 3 horse of 1952. That great motor remained in production through 1968, switching to the fiberglass hood & separate gas tank for 1968. It was boosted to 4 horsepower for 1969 and remained in production well into the 1980s.
For 1964 a high thrust drive version was introduced, while the weedless drive remained as an alternate. The high thrust drive aimed the propeller 90 degrees to the drive shaft (in other words, parallel to the surface of the water). The weedless drive on the other hand aimed the propeller 110 degrees from the drive shaft (in other words, aimed downwards 20 degrees to the surface of the water). Since the prop pointed downwards slightly, plus the skeg was angle downwards, the design was very successful at preventing weeds from entangling in the prop. The design really worked, but it was not as efficient as a prop aimed straight back.
Pictured below are both versions shown on the 1972 Evinrude 4. The high thrust version was called the Yachtwin, the weedless version was the Lightwin.
