Saving Old Seagulls

Time for help from the collective hive mind, in seagull land.

As my wife pointed out to me today, i own seven outboards and three boats, and have just bought another long shaft seagull. An EFNRL, i allready have THCL and a THC as well.
My first boat is a 12 foot tinny short shaft motor, second a 23 foot sailing grand banks dory, with motor well shaft as well. these are the TC, THC and LLS boats plus the 4hp and 9.8hp

Boat three is a 21 foot grand banks dory with rottered out stern, it needs the last two feet cut off and rebuilding, So what i want to do is build a new transom from a few sheets of 18mm form plywood and us a piece of 25mm form ply as the engine mount pad.I want to make the pad wide enough so i can mount two seagulls at a time.
A main and axillary engine if you will. eg the THC and the TC, both short motors.

But i want to use the same boat for my long motors as well.
There's the catch, i need a way to make the transom 5 inches taller, for the ENFRL, and THCL.

So thats the problem? Ideas, thoughts, coments, anything is more welcome.?
What did you do, when you had this problem.?

Thanks Ac

This has been an age old problem for some time. With early long shafts it was easy with the torque shaft being the same diameter from top to bottom and just a matter of a height adjuster or hose clamp to set height.

Solutions perhaps:

1. Mount an auxiliary outboard bracket that has different height adjustment. Not sure if there is such a thing on the market but shouldn't be too hard to fabricate.

2. Bolt a removable board on to the back of the transom to raise height for long shafts. Creates unsightly holes though.

3. Replace torque tube with an early same diameter one. Becomes non original and wont work on EFNR's due to their lockable wide diameter thrust block.

4. Cast up a generic engine mount lug that will fit the larger torque tube. This idea I believe has merit, it solves all of the above problems apart from the more powerful motors bending the shaft. A rare occurrence I would imagine.

I guess BS didn't consider there would be nuts like us that would collect a variety of their motors and assumed we would acquire the correct shaft motor for the boat.

ps I've forgotten what the Alli transom bracket has for the engine mount... not to worry a std one for the occasion. Both my EFNRL and EDL have this problem, the rest of my longshafts are 40/50's with no problem

What I did on my dinghy (not finished yet) was to cut the Transom so I can run a short shaft on one side and a long on the other.





John

Wow, nice boat!

Now that's a good idea, I should have thought of that ! Ive got a spare long shaft, here fastened to a spare power unit - interested ?

Now that's a bloody good idea.
I d thought of some sort of bracket, or a removable taller board.
But i was hope you would all come up with something genius as usual.

Nice boat Croweater. Did you build it?

Regards,

Built most of it with a mates help I've owned it for years originally I did a boat building coarse and this was the project.
I bought the bare unfinished sail boat hull didn't look at it until October last year, work stoped at the end of November
because of an eye problem. Project started again mid January and we got her to the Nationals just after the bloody eye packed
up again, couple of ops and were about to try and fit the gunnels and coaming its no race boat the Century will push her to
10km/h I like her lines pleased I didn't give her away. Sorry getting off track here I have tried the height adjuster on another
dinghy didn't like the motor sitting high but it did the job remember seeing a photo of an adjustable outboard mount the one of
the NZ guys built.

John

one of my favourite photos! note the adjustable motor mount!! a boat at absolute maximum hull speed Great Stuff don't know the participants but my guess it was taken in the UK somewhere anyone know where and who?
AJ

Adrian Dale wrote:one of my favourite photos! note the adjustable motor mount!! a boat at absolute maximum hull speed Great Stuff don't know the participants but my guess it was taken in the UK somewhere anyone know where and who?
AJ

That was the Lerryn race this year.



http://www.lerryn.net/gallery?os=0&pid=3082#pic3082

H-A

P.S. I did see them briefly when I lapped them

I'm thinking along the lines of a jacking plate, like used on speedboats something along theres lines. Bolted the the top of the transom.

http://www.dillon-racing.com/jackplate/ ... age-01.htm

Some of you racers must know all about these.
Slid right down for the short motors and right up for the long motors, should work.

Feel free to offer anything.

http://www.dillon-racing.com/jackplate/ ... age-01.htm

Type into Google: "adjustable outboard motor mount"

There is a huge range of different versions commercially available.

AJ

croweater wrote:Built most of it with a mates help I've owned it for years originally I did a boat building coarse and this was the project.

John

Great work John.

Regards,

Having looked at the commercial mounts available emphasises the elegance and simplicity of John's solution! Great job great little boat

AJ