Engine well

Hi. Over the years I have built a 36 foot boat that weighs about 4 tonne. This year I have built a well inside a cabin at the stern to house an engine which has a 30in long shaft. The engine has to be mobile and I will need to be able to lift it when the craft is being beached. Is their a register of companies that does this type of work - do you where would I get a 30/40 Hp engine with an extra long shaft made for this purpose. Any recommendation or suggestions much appreciated....

 

I assume you are talking about an outboard.
There is a company in the US that makes extensions-not sure how high the HP went up to-and 10 years ago I knew of a a British Company...I'll try to find them.

IIRC Honda is the only one that makes 25"-few years ago- but not sure anymore and not sure anyone made an extension for it or if it's even possible.

Google...

 

IIRC Oakley Marine used to customise extra long shaft outboards

http://www.outboards-direct.co.uk/home.html

RW

 

This shouldn't be a problem. Anything from a 9.9 on up is generally available in 30". You have to buy a longshaft motor and add a spacer and swap out the shaft and shifter linkagages and maybe a pickup tube. All these parts should be available from the factory. You may need to derate the bracket a bit though. Some high-thrust models were not supported. I had a 30" 15 hp merc in a well in my sailboat.

http://www.marineparts.com/partspages/accessories/acc8.htm

 

Thanks for that. I will follow up on the marine parts and the IIRC Oakley and @WestVanHan, if you could get contact details for the english and american companies that would be super. I will let you know how I get on.....

 

Atlantic: Richard posted it.

And BTW is this for a new outboard or a used one? I thought Honda was the only maker of 40hp 25" outboards...but who knows.

Phil has marineparts,there is also

http://www.baymfg.com/

 

Thanks again WestVanHan - and @philSweet could you turn your engine 30 degrees within your well to steer the boat and how far away is you propellor from the underneath of your boat. What weight is your sailing yacht that is been driven by a 15hP engine. I am starting sea trials this summer in my boat. It would be great if I could steer my boat using the engine if needed. My well is 24inches in depth and a ft square. I need to seal/ water proof the plywood I used to build well, do I paint it with fiber glass?

 

No, I steered with the rudder, but I could have steered the motor. The prop was as deep as it could be. Waterline about 1 inch from bottom of cowl. It worked better than most OBs in wells and it didn't EVER ventilate. This one had a bulkhead forward of the well, so it couldn't flood, but even completely open wells in aft cabins seem to get by with just a 3 or 4 inch sill. Scary to look at, but they don't seem to sink.

 

View attachment sketch of well.pdf

The well is 24 inches and I put a suzuki 9.9 hp in to show the concept. Any ideas on what length shaft I need? Its an experimental boat, the only metal in it is the anchor and hopefully a motor.............click on the 'sketch of well' to see measurements.

 

I gguess that works for boats that dont need to trim up for shallow water. I build a lot of well boats. Some with well in the bow..... some in the stern. All have enough room to fully tilt engine . I just thought it to be better in case you got rope or some other foreign material caught in the wheel... im building one currently and the well is in the bow.well measures 24 inches wide and designed for a 225 four stroke yamaha. And it can be fully tilted out of the water.

 

I never thought of tilting the engine so i might look at the design again? though i am worried about enlarginging the hole as i suspect the boat will mainly be a down wind sailer with a square rig. I was going to arrage a chain and tackle to lift the engine upward into the cabin to stow away.
I must be able to land the boat after every sail.

What is the least distance between the skin of the boat and the prop for the engine to work correctly and as the boat is 4 tonne would you recommend i get a purpose built 40hp engine engineered or go with adding a spacer as was recommended in the above post, it wont give me much room between the end of well and prop, unless i lower the dept of the well, which increases the risk of getting my feet wet. thanks for your reply, its keeping me working on the job.

 

I was trying to figure out your boat, is it a currach or other type of skin boat?

 

This is the boat in question.....Perhaps if you look up www.boynecurrach.com it would make more sense (under project and then Newgrange Currach Project). I am trying to understand how the Stone Age travelled across open seas off the north Atlantic.
I won't have a support vessel when doing the sea trials with the boat next summer. Hopefully in 2016 we can attempt to do some travel using only leather sails and oars. After last year's sea-trials we acknowledged the fact that, while close to shore, it would be prudent to have a motor that can be relied on when things go bad.
So this is where I am at - trying to fit it with a motor using a well in the stern....