Run it as a generator and use it to charge an oversized bank of batteries.
With an electric motor you will gain variable speed and direction without
have an engineering nightmare.

"Calif Bill" wrote in message
...

wrote in message
...
Somehow I found this site:

http://members.aol.com/westernstar66/indianlisters.html

that lists a 20 hp diesel for $3250, a real bargain for a new engine
compared to most diesels for boats. These are low rpm diesels that
can run on vegetable oil and are very efficient.

So, what would you do for a transmission? Maybe you could use a belt
with an idler pulley that was lever controlled. Tension on the idler
pulley would sorta regulate the speed. Maybe the engine has a speed
control, I dunno. Reverse would be a real problem. These look heavy
but just cool as hell. I love simple stuff, great engineering.

Looks a lot like some of the old 1 lunger diesels in the Monterey fishing
boats and some of the other commercial boats in the 1950's.

John C. wrote:

Run it as a generator and use it to charge an oversized bank of batteries.
With an electric motor you will gain variable speed and direction without
have an engineering nightmare.

I have been speculating about a diesel-electric propulsion for a smallish
sailboat. Does anyone have links to, or experience with, small electric
motors that are suitable for continuous use - most of my googling finds bow
thrusters and other extra machinery.

I am thinking of a fairly small engine, say 5-10 Hp, to be used mostly in
manouvering in and out of marinas, and occasionally coming home from a calm
sea. Would it make sense to mount the whole engine on the transom-hung
rudder? That way it could turn with the rudder, and give good steering in
both directions. When not in use, it could be lifted out of the water, so I
could use a decent size of propeller for it.

Would anyone care to shoot the idea down before I get too attached to it.
The whole project is on a dreaming level, I won't be building anything for
the next many years. But I still want to design it as if I was going to
build it some day soon...

Regards

Heikki
(Copenhagen, Denmark)

On Sat, 15 Dec 2007 09:50:00 +0100 Heikki
) wrote:
John C. wrote:

Run it as a generator and use it to charge an oversized bank of batteries.
With an electric motor you will gain variable speed and direction without
have an engineering nightmare.

I have been speculating about a diesel-electric propulsion for a smallish
sailboat. Does anyone have links to, or experience with, small electric
motors that are suitable for continuous use - most of my googling finds bow
thrusters and other extra machinery.

I am thinking of a fairly small engine, say 5-10 Hp, to be used mostly in
manouvering in and out of marinas, and occasionally coming home from a calm
sea. Would it make sense to mount the whole engine on the transom-hung
rudder? That way it could turn with the rudder, and give good steering in
both directions. When not in use, it could be lifted out of the water, so I
could use a decent size of propeller for it.

Would anyone care to shoot the idea down before I get too attached to it.
The whole project is on a dreaming level, I won't be building anything for
the next many years. But I still want to design it as if I was going to
build it some day soon...

Regular outboards do have a fair weight/hp compared to e-motor and
batteries. The only thin you have to worry about is fuel. Or how did you
plan to fill your batteries?

--
Richard
e-mail: vervang/replace invalid door/with NL.net

Richard van den Berg wrote:

Regular outboards do have a fair weight/hp compared to e-motor and
batteries. The only thin you have to worry about is fuel. Or how did you
plan to fill your batteries?

Oh, I was planning to have a diesel engine (and a generator) running most of
the time to provide the electricity. The idea was to be able to place the
generator engine where I wanted it, and the propelller(s) and the driving
engine where they would be most useful. Instead of a solid shaft, I would
have flexible cables in between. I could run it on the batteries for a
minutes, if I needed extra manouvering, but in most cases, the power would
come from the generator. Also, I was hoping that the electric propulsion
would be smaller and lighter, so it would be easier to lift out of the
water when going by sail...

- Heikki

On Sun, 16 Dec 2007 04:35:35 +0100 Heikki
) wrote:
Richard van den Berg wrote:

Regular outboards do have a fair weight/hp compared to e-motor and
batteries. The only thin you have to worry about is fuel. Or how did you
plan to fill your batteries?

Oh, I was planning to have a diesel engine (and a generator) running most of
the time to provide the electricity. The idea was to be able to place the
generator engine where I wanted it, and the propelller(s) and the driving
engine where they would be most useful. Instead of a solid shaft, I would
have flexible cables in between. I could run it on the batteries for a
minutes, if I needed extra manouvering, but in most cases, the power would
come from the generator. Also, I was hoping that the electric propulsion
would be smaller and lighter, so it would be easier to lift out of the
water when going by sail...

For 1 kW (1,34 hp) you can count on about 10 kg motor weight for
standard 3 fase 2900 rpm motors. For a lighter motor you might use one
with a permanent magnet, no idea what it will cost.

--
Richard
e-mail: vervang/replace invalid door/with NL.net

Richard van den Berg wrote:
On Sun, 16 Dec 2007 04:35:35 +0100 Heikki
) wrote:
Richard van den Berg wrote:

Regular outboards do have a fair weight/hp compared to e-motor and
batteries. The only thin you have to worry about is fuel. Or how did you
plan to fill your batteries?

Oh, I was planning to have a diesel engine (and a generator) running most of
the time to provide the electricity. The idea was to be able to place the
generator engine where I wanted it, and the propelller(s) and the driving
engine where they would be most useful. Instead of a solid shaft, I would
have flexible cables in between. I could run it on the batteries for a
minutes, if I needed extra manouvering, but in most cases, the power would
come from the generator. Also, I was hoping that the electric propulsion
would be smaller and lighter, so it would be easier to lift out of the
water when going by sail...

For 1 kW (1,34 hp) you can count on about 10 kg motor weight for
standard 3 fase 2900 rpm motors. For a lighter motor you might use one
with a permanent magnet, no idea what it will cost.



Well, it certainly makes no sense to hook up a small diesel engine to a
prop shaft and prop. After all, it's never been tried before.

On Dec 16, 1:07 pm, HK wrote:
Richard van den Berg wrote:



On Sun, 16 Dec 2007 04:35:35 +0100 Heikki
) wrote:
Richard van den Berg wrote:

Regular outboards do have a fair weight/hp compared to e-motor and
batteries. The only thin you have to worry about is fuel. Or how did you
plan to fill your batteries?

Oh, I was planning to have a diesel engine (and a generator) running most of
the time to provide the electricity. The idea was to be able to place the
generator engine where I wanted it, and the propelller(s) and the driving
engine where they would be most useful. Instead of a solid shaft, I would
have flexible cables in between. I could run it on the batteries for a
minutes, if I needed extra manouvering, but in most cases, the power would
come from the generator. Also, I was hoping that the electric propulsion
would be smaller and lighter, so it would be easier to lift out of the
water when going by sail...

For 1 kW (1,34 hp) you can count on about 10 kg motor weight for
standard 3 fase 2900 rpm motors. For a lighter motor you might use one
with a permanent magnet, no idea what it will cost.

Well, it certainly makes no sense to hook up a small diesel engine to a
prop shaft and prop. After all, it's never been tried before.

West (Waste) Marine in their latest catalogue has a 6 hp electric
outboard, kinda expensive though. You could run a generator from a
small diesel like these Listers and have it charge a bank of batteries
that were your sailboat ballast and hav the batteries run your
electric outboard. Why carry around a couple thousand lbs of lead
ballast unless its going to do something like store electricity.