On Thu, 27 Aug 2009 01:19:15 -0500, raoul wrote:

On Thu, 27 Aug 2009 12:27:36 +0700, Bruce In Bangkok wrote:

On Tue, 25 Aug 2009 19:29:31 -0500, raoul wrote:

On Wed, 26 Aug 2009 07:00:38 +0700, Bruce In Bangkok wrote:

On Tue, 25 Aug 2009 16:53:50 -0500, raoul wrote:



Good luck. You're not likely to do much better than those old
lawnmower conversions, but it could be fun trying.

I have seen another conversion called an "Asian River" conversion.

cut

In Thailand these "long tail" boats are the norm in the small boat
fishing industry. you can buy the sprockets and chains used for gear
reduction in any hardware shop in the towns near the ocean.

They build direct drive systems using small air cooled four stroke
engines but the larger, say 10 H.P. and up all use some sort of speed
reduction between the engine and the shaft.

Good to know. The small one I saw in the article had no reduction.
Pretty simple, that's for sure!

Was downtown yesterday and out of curiosity went by a small motor shop
in downtown Phuket. They sell a kit, consisting of a sort of "bell
housing" that bolts to the engine block to attach the shaft and housing,
a skeg to fit the propeller end and coupling. All to fit a small Honda
or Robin (China made copy). It appears that these conversions are common
enough to warrant making a kit.

The OP should have ya ship him one of those kits!

Did you notice how much one of those conversions (motor and propeller
kit) cost as compared to a factory built outboard? I bet a lot less...
Reverse gears cost money!

That sounds just like what I saw in the Craigslist ad...


Well, the reason that all the small fishermen use these "long tail"
motors is because they are cheaper then an equal size outboard, plus
the usual small fishing boat will have a diesel engine, usually a
single horizontal cylinder with an external flywheel, crank start,
with a duplex or triplex chain drive to the propeller shaft for shaft
speed reduction.

I was told, some time ago how much the fishermen pay for one of their
engines and I *think* it was around US$ 500, but I'm not sure. I'll
ask again and post the cost.

They don't need reverse as they swing the long shaft around forward
and while they can't go straight back it is sufficient for their
needs.

I never asked about the "kits" but will the next time I'm down that
way. Certainly the setup would be cheaper then the water cooled type
diesels

Cheers,

Bruce
(bruceinbangkokatgmaildotcom)