On Thu, 22 Jun 2006 17:56:05 GMT, "padeen"
wrote:

People have been running outboards on canoes for years; Grumman used to sell
a side-mount kit for their double-ender canoes (as opposed to their
square-stern canoes that would accept a motor without an extra bracket)

I side-mounted an Evenrude 6hp on a 17' Chestnut Prospector using a
home-made birch mount, with decent results, but had two specific problems to
solve. The first was that the motor would cavitate long before getting up
to speed. I rigged some birch bark on the motor's cavitation plate and
along the side of the canoe to eliminate this. The second was the added
weight of both the motor and me crammed near the stern of the canoe. I was
forced to carry extra weight in the bow to counteract this, which of course
lessened the efficiency of a light load, but allowed me to go against the
Yukon River current solo quite easily (the river current was around 4-6 kts
and I could go upstream about 4-6 kts). The only other problem was the
cramped position the operator required to run the motor. The Chestnut is a
high-sided canoe made for carrying a load so, even with a substantial load,
another adult and camping gear for a few weeks, I had little concern of
flipping. The torque from the motor did make initial runs feel somewhat
unstable but was soon just part of the ride.


Hi Brad, Thanks for the input. Yes, I always have a load of camping
gear with me too, so the bow is usually well-weighted down. The motor
I am currently playing with is very light too.

Al D

I started out with a 4-horse, which was more than adequate for that canoe,
and a tidy bit lighter, but Evenrude had problems that year (1976) with
their 4-horse block getting enough cooling, so I upgraded to the 6. This
worked quite well as I later upgraded (downgraded; wood-canvas to aluminum)
to a Grumman 19' square-stern and the 6 pushed that along beautifully,
hauling over #1200 of chum salmon at a time.
Brad



"Al D" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 22 Jun 2006 17:56:05 GMT, "padeen"
wrote:

People have been running outboards on canoes for years; Grumman used to
sell
a side-mount kit for their double-ender canoes (as opposed to their
square-stern canoes that would accept a motor without an extra bracket)

I side-mounted an Evenrude 6hp on a 17' Chestnut Prospector using a
home-made birch mount, with decent results, but had two specific problems
to
solve. The first was that the motor would cavitate long before getting up
to speed. I rigged some birch bark on the motor's cavitation plate and
along the side of the canoe to eliminate this. The second was the added
weight of both the motor and me crammed near the stern of the canoe. I
was
forced to carry extra weight in the bow to counteract this, which of
course
lessened the efficiency of a light load, but allowed me to go against the
Yukon River current solo quite easily (the river current was around 4-6
kts
and I could go upstream about 4-6 kts). The only other problem was the
cramped position the operator required to run the motor. The Chestnut is
a
high-sided canoe made for carrying a load so, even with a substantial
load,
another adult and camping gear for a few weeks, I had little concern of
flipping. The torque from the motor did make initial runs feel somewhat
unstable but was soon just part of the ride.


Hi Brad, Thanks for the input. Yes, I always have a load of camping
gear with me too, so the bow is usually well-weighted down. The motor
I am currently playing with is very light too.

Al D

On Fri, 23 Jun 2006 02:49:07 GMT, "padeen"
wrote:

I started out with a 4-horse, which was more than adequate for that canoe,
and a tidy bit lighter, but Evenrude had problems that year (1976) with
their 4-horse block getting enough cooling, so I upgraded to the 6. This
worked quite well as I later upgraded (downgraded; wood-canvas to aluminum)
to a Grumman 19' square-stern and the 6 pushed that along beautifully,
hauling over #1200 of chum salmon at a time.
Brad

That's a lot of salmon! I got my Evinrude 2hp motor working yesterday.
All it needed was a new HT lead and a bit of adjustment on the mixture
screws.

It has two mixture screws on the carb: one above the other. I assume
one is for fuel and the other for air. I wish I knew which was which.
The top screw seems to like to be in the fully clockwise (minimum)
position. Anything else causes the engine to falter.

AL D

Please don't take my word as fact; I'm not really a very knowledgable small
engine mechanic, but I think one screw is idle and the other is power
(cruising rpm). AND, there is some danger in running an engine too lean as
it runs hotter and can burn rungs. If it won't run anywhere else, check the
air filter. Also, a jet that will run best only closed is a worn jet.
Bottom line: run it where it runs best. Good luck.

That six horse Evenrude sure gave some service. I ran it for three years,
probably 3hrs a day for 150 days a year, then sold it to a friend who got
another six years from it as a spare. Its biggest problem was that the top
"bearing" wasn't a real bearing; just sleeved in the aluminum block. When
it got older the shaft would wobble, causing the points to become inaccurate
and the motor to start hard and run lousy. Still worked, though.

The other problem was that the Yukon was heavily silt-laden so we'd go
through a water pump rebuild kit every year.

Brad




"Al D" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 23 Jun 2006 02:49:07 GMT, "padeen"
wrote:

I started out with a 4-horse, which was more than adequate for that canoe,
and a tidy bit lighter, but Evenrude had problems that year (1976) with
their 4-horse block getting enough cooling, so I upgraded to the 6. This
worked quite well as I later upgraded (downgraded; wood-canvas to
aluminum)
to a Grumman 19' square-stern and the 6 pushed that along beautifully,
hauling over #1200 of chum salmon at a time.
Brad

That's a lot of salmon! I got my Evinrude 2hp motor working yesterday.
All it needed was a new HT lead and a bit of adjustment on the mixture
screws.

It has two mixture screws on the carb: one above the other. I assume
one is for fuel and the other for air. I wish I knew which was which.
The top screw seems to like to be in the fully clockwise (minimum)
position. Anything else causes the engine to falter.

AL D

On Tue, 27 Jun 2006 06:26:31 GMT, "padeen"
wrote:

Please don't take my word as fact; I'm not really a very knowledgable small
engine mechanic, but I think one screw is idle and the other is power
(cruising rpm).

AND, there is some danger in running an engine too lean as
it runs hotter and can burn rungs. If it won't run anywhere else, check the
air filter.

I will. Thanks for the suggestion.

Also, a jet that will run best only closed is a worn jet.

Could be...

That six horse Evenrude sure gave some service. I ran it for three years,
probably 3hrs a day for 150 days a year, then sold it to a friend who got
another six years from it as a spare.

That's reassuring!

Its biggest problem was that the top
"bearing" wasn't a real bearing; just sleeved in the aluminum block. When
it got older the shaft would wobble, causing the points to become inaccurate
and the motor to start hard and run lousy. Still worked, though.

The other problem was that the Yukon was heavily silt-laden so we'd go
through a water pump rebuild kit every year.

Hmm.. I have that problem too... the water I canoe in is not clear but
somewhat muddy.

Still, if I can even get one or two years of life out of it, it will
have been worth the money I paid. It certainly seems ideal for my
purposes.

I'm thinking of building a bracket that will sit the motor directly
behind, and in-line with the center-line of the boat -so no steering
compensation will be required.

Al D

I never found steering compensation a problem with a side mount. The main
problems with rigging the motor off the stern are thus:
* It's harder to reach the motor for adjustment, pulling up, fiddling with,
or shutting off.
* It puts the motor's weight that much further back from the center of the
canoe, requiring more ballast to compensate for it.
* There's more structural rigging, adding more weight.

If you do try this route, I'd suggest arms back to a flat piece for the
motor coming from pivots on the gunwhales, with some form of adjustable
stops to vary the prop's bite. Any more of the motor down into the water
beyond the anti-cavitation plate increases its drag exponentially.

Personally, I think the side mount would work fine, and be a good deal less
trouble, but this world is built on "bad" ideas that turn out to be
earth-shatteringly effective!

Brad Snow
s/v Aldonza



"Al D" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 27 Jun 2006 06:26:31 GMT, "padeen"
wrote:

Please don't take my word as fact; I'm not really a very knowledgable
small
engine mechanic, but I think one screw is idle and the other is power
(cruising rpm).

AND, there is some danger in running an engine too lean as
it runs hotter and can burn rungs. If it won't run anywhere else, check
the
air filter.

I will. Thanks for the suggestion.

Also, a jet that will run best only closed is a worn jet.

Could be...

That six horse Evenrude sure gave some service. I ran it for three years,
probably 3hrs a day for 150 days a year, then sold it to a friend who got
another six years from it as a spare.

That's reassuring!

Its biggest problem was that the top
"bearing" wasn't a real bearing; just sleeved in the aluminum block. When
it got older the shaft would wobble, causing the points to become
inaccurate
and the motor to start hard and run lousy. Still worked, though.

The other problem was that the Yukon was heavily silt-laden so we'd go
through a water pump rebuild kit every year.

Hmm.. I have that problem too... the water I canoe in is not clear but
somewhat muddy.

Still, if I can even get one or two years of life out of it, it will
have been worth the money I paid. It certainly seems ideal for my
purposes.

I'm thinking of building a bracket that will sit the motor directly
behind, and in-line with the center-line of the boat -so no steering
compensation will be required.

Al D

On Tue, 27 Jun 2006 22:45:45 GMT, "padeen"
wrote:

If you do try this route, I'd suggest arms back to a flat piece for the
motor coming from pivots on the gunwhales, with some form of adjustable
stops to vary the prop's bite.

Adjustable stops seems a definite good idea.

Any more of the motor down into the water
beyond the anti-cavitation plate increases its drag exponentially.

I wasn't aware of that. Thanks! The cavitation plate (such as it is)
on this little motor is directly above the prop, so if I only just
submerge the plate, the prop will only be about 3" below the
surface... At the moment, I have it set at about 13" below the
surface. Less efficient, perhaps, but it does make the whole
motor+boat more stable (less top-heavy).

Personally, I think the side mount would work fine, and be a good deal less
trouble, but this world is built on "bad" ideas that turn out to be
earth-shatteringly effective!

A side mount is what I now have. I built it a few days ago from teak
offcuts and tested it at the weekend. It does work, but I have to
surmise that the setup is not as efficient as it would be if the prop
was behind the stern, aimed along the boat's center line. Obviously,
that's because when the prop is off to one side, it's going to be
expending some proportion of its energy in trying to make the boat
turn towards the opposite side. I guess a quick fix (but not an
efficient one) would be simply to clamp the motor-mount bracket on
slightly skew, so that the direction of the prop is aimed slightly
inwards of dead-ahead.

I suspect the effort in building an in-line motor mount would be quite
a money-saver in the long-run, since gasoline costs about $8.50 a
gallon over here.

Unfortunately, as you pointed out, there would be some safety and
comfort issues in that the controls on the motor will be much harder
to reach (unless I remove the rear seat so I can move right back into
the stern when using the motor). But that may not be a good idea
beacause I think the seat may be needed to brace the hull.

So perhaps I'll just leave things as they are (for now, at least).
Paying a few pennies more for gasoline, per trip, is not a big deal,
after all. And I am, at least, getting good overall speed from the
side-mounted motor (seemed like about 15 knots to me - with the bow
out of the water).

Regards,

Al Deveron