Motorized pirogue

[mudboat man]

I want to build a motorized pirogue. I have a 14 foot fiberglass pirogue that could use a little fiberglass work but is useable. I also have a lawnmower motor to put in it. I have some pictures of this idea i will try to post later. I am wondering how hard it would be to add a keel and shaft to the boat. My dad owns a mechanic and body shop for cars, so i have access to welders, cutting torches, sanders, and many other tools. Any suggestions would help.

[mudman]

Friend of mine hunts in a pirogue with a 5 hp. Mudboat style. Pretty quick also.
Just drop in a horiz shaft briggs with a shaft and a stuffing box, fabricate the shaft holder out of aluminum and put a cutlass bearing in it.
The rudder is just a pipe with a shaft and rudder, and is moved by hand. His is a flat back pirogue so the rudder is over the transom. You could go through the bottom with it though. Very simple and effective in shallow water.
Once you start, you are going though. Some guys on here talk about putting something like a go cart clutch in them, though I've never seen one personally, they claim that they work well.

[Rangerspeedboat]

What kind of engine do you have?

HP and horizontal or vertical?

If you have a horizontal shaft, you could make a godevil.

If you have a vertical shaft, you could just take a outboard lower unit and couple it to the engine through the bottom of the boat.

I'm working on the second idea at the moment, I hope it works for me.

[mudboat man]

Well mudman hit want i want to make right on the dot. I live in the marshes of louisiana and want to use it for duck hunting. The problem with making it a go devil is that my pirogue isnt a flatback so it would be harder to mount and i really want an inboard. The second idea wont work cause it would stick out the bottom to deep. Building it souldnt be hard but getting the right prop will be very hard cause it needs like a go devil prop.

Here are pictures of the idea.

[Rangerspeedboat]

Thats a good example to work off of.

Looks easy to me, just need a 3/4" shaft, prop, and stuffingbox.

If it were me, I would go with some sort of clutch. I would not like to be moving with the engine idling. A simple idler pulley clutch could be made, or you could go with a go cart clutch. Problem with the go cart clutch is it engages at high RPM, so I would go with a idler pulley clutch.

Looks like 5 hp briggs in the picture.

[mudboat man]

I think it will be an easy build but finding the stuffing box will be really hard.

[camo_hunter]

Man, that is an awesome idea. I Will make one of these for sure. Can anyone offer any further instructions or advice on how to make this work.

[lewisboats]

Probably easier to build the stuffing box than try to find one. I would make a small plywood box angled to match the shaft, 'glass it inside and out, bearing it and then stuff it full of shredded cloth packed with a good bearing grease. Be careful of tilting your motor too far over...better if it was a horizontal shaft than a vertical shaft. You might starve it of oil or not be able to get fuel to the carb. A horizontal shaft will be angled far less from it's natural position than a vertical shaft. You will want to have a skeg to protect the prop and you can incorporate the support for the prop shaft into the skeg

[camo_hunter]

It would definitely take a horizontal shaft. The one in the pictures above is nice, the only thing that I see wrong with it is that the skeg and the prop run too deep in the water. Most places that I go are very shallow. I think I will run the shaft on mine right out the of the corner where the stern meets the bottom and put like a 2 foot long tapered skeg on the the bottom of the boat made out of aluminum.

I know nothing about stuffing boxes. I need to find some pictures so I can better understand what your are talking about.

[messabout]

Clutch idea a preactical one. Go kart clutches can be adjusted for engagement speed simply by tinkering with the springs. Consult a shop that does racing karts for their advice and probably the right springs. Cheap easy fix.

Your Pirogue is a cool looking boat. Remember " the bottom side is supposed to be down at all times'.

[red_neck_711]

my buddy had a boat give to him that it set up like yours. it doesn't have an engine on it though. i have a perogue, and was thinking about setting up also. but i wanted to make sure it was going to do what i wanted it to first. does it run good with the way you have it set up?

[red_neck_711]

my buddy had a boat give to him that it set up like yours. it doesn't have an engine on it though. i have a perogue, and was thinking about setting up also. but i wanted to make sure it was going to do what i wanted it to first. does it run good with the way you have it set up?