Here is a picture of my project .Lately I have
been trying to convert a lawnmower engine to an outboard.
The first picture is an old clinton engine which I
was given in pieces. I put it back together and it
ran fine, so I built an engine mount. It's just a
steel plate with a piece of pipe welded to the bottom.
This fits into a transom bracket that was originally
made so that you can carry a small boat on top of
a station wagon. I think it said 'cosom' on the side.
Then I extended the driveshaft with a primitive u-joint,
and a 4.5 foot steel rod. I found a nice 3 blade prop
that fit and it was time to go cruising.
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The original
setup was not stable enough so I welded supports
to the engine plate, along with a skeg. |
The original setup was not stable enough so I welded
supports to the engine plate, along with a skeg. There
is a block of ash in the aft end of the support tube,
to act as a bearing. This setup worked fairly well.
The flywheel seems to stabilize the boat (12ft mitchell
- aluminum).
The engine ran well enough but the prop fell off
after about the third trip. There is no reverse with
this setup and the steering takes some practice. The
power was enough to move the boat along but not enough
to plane. I have some more pictures of similar shade-tree
engineering projects and I'll send them if you think
anyone is interested.
This setup worked
fairly well. The flywheel seems to stabilize the
boat (12ft mitchell - aluminum). |
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The second motor is based on a vertical shaft continental
a-20 engine I got at a garage sale. It always starts
right up, so after looking around I got a complete
lower unit from a Martin outboard that spins in the
right direction. The total cost for both was about
$14. The drive shaft had to be cut and it fits into
a tube attached to the a- 20. It is fixed in place
with a cotter pin that has worn out a few times but
is easy to replace.
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After looking
around I got a complete lower unit from a Martin
outboard that spins in the right direction.
The total cost for both was about $14. |
The muffler was rusted so I made a duplicate out
of some scrap brass and copper pipe. The mounting
plate is just a piece of aluminum (part of a stop
sign) with holes drilled for mounting bolts. The engine
didn't fit all the way down into the lower unit, so
rather than grind away anything that may turn out
to be important, I used 2 spacers made out of ash.
This motor runs great and it doesn't use much gas.
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