Larry wrote:
What worries me on off-engine powered equipment is the belt tugging
away on the engine to that one side. On Geoff's old boat, you could
see the engine vibrating sideways as the freon pump went over TDC each
cylinder, then releasing as the piston went down slackening the load.
It's GOT to pull the engine mounts and wear them that way. This is
not an issue where the load is mounted directly on the engine and not
pulling against the engine mounts. Engine mounted, however, needs a
little weight and balancing, too. I see too many engines, especially
in outfitted sailboats with limited space, that have too many addons
bolted to ONE SIDE of the engine, unbalancing the weight distribution
on the engine mounts, which again must be bending with that load.

Either way, I'd think it would be hard on shaft alignment, worse after
time, wearing out those shaft bearings and cutlass bearing.

What I am doing is kind of hard to visualize. The only places I have
seen is it on an Arodyne 46 and a USCG MLB. The heavy auxillaries are
mounted off the engine. Nothing but torque reaches the engine. It can
put stress on the engine mounts but compared to the propulsion torque it
is minor.

It will be about 6 months before I can set the engine and the
auxillaries but then I will post some pictures and you can see what I mean.

--
Glenn Ashmore

I'm building a 45' cutter in strip/composite. Watch my progress (or lack
there of) at: http://www.rutuonline.com
Shameless Commercial Division: http://www.spade-anchor-us.com