Weed eater engine conversion

Have you never heard of a Thai long tail. A ubiquitous boat drive system from any engine available by literally putting a shaft onto a swiveling engine. Some engines can be 6 cylinder deisels of the Hino EK 700 range or the yanmar single agricultural diesel

Hers a few waiting in the shade for tourists under the Bridge on the river Kwai on the Thai Burma railway.

 

one of my favorite scenes is when roger moore is trying to get away from the bad guys in a thai long tail and the kid comes swimming up to the boat trying to sell him a elephant statue for 10 bucks or bhat and roger moore tells the kid," i'll give u a million bucks if u can make this boat go faster" so the kid turns the fuel petcock on and holds his hand out and says a million bucks please!!!

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83bmsluWHZc

 

Yeah that was me ,--- I was 9 then.

 

Why are you here, to tell us what we've been doing wrong? Many on this site have built these motors and have been using them for years. For the purposes intended, they work great. Reminds me of years back when so many were saying these would never work when we had videos of these things pushing us along at 6+ mph. Yep, they don't work.

Everyone here has at one time tried the electric motors, or the small hp 2 stroker outboards and found they don't work for any number of reasons. Electric - too heavy and when you live where I do, it gets below zero where I hunt and batteries do not last long. 2Strokes don't work well in shallow water. By shallow I mean 6 -8 inches or so. Too many things go wrong with water pumps, impellers, etc... they also weigh more than these motors. I have to carry in everything I need for hunting and every pound matters when you reach old fart status.

As far as durability, I'm on my 4th season with one of my motors and it is still going strong. If the motor craps out, I spend another $100 to replace it. Not bad in my opinion. What's a battery, electric motor and charger going to cost over the same period of time. How about the cost of a 2 stroke outboard?

Give these a try, they are great for their intended purpose.
Mark

 

hi mark, could u take a guess as to how many hours, tanks of gas, or gallons u've used? duck season is only a month or two isn't it

 

Certainly

One of the motors is a honda GX35. Look at the ratings of durability. They just built a new Ice Auger using this motor and ice augers are used in harsh conditions. They use these motors in everything and they have to be durable.

I hunt about 30 days a year and use the motor for about 1 hour each time. Sometimes more, sometimes less. I've had this set up for over 3 years. I also use it for fishing in the summer. Tanks of gas used - no idea.

I guess I don't understand your questions. If you are suggesting these motors aren't reliable in the long haul, I would disagree using them the way I do. Would they be a great primary motor to use each and everyday on a big boat- I wouldn't do it. I've gone through more than one prop but am still on the same engine. Not a single part replaced on the engine.

For the way in which I intended to use the motor it is the perfect solution. What this motor has allowed me to do duck hunting wise, opened up whole new places to hunt.

Mark

 

the reason i asked is because my old island hopper motor may be 8 or 9 years old but has only been used on the water a few times for maybe 10hrs of runtime. getting to hunt 30 times a year is pretty good but u have little run time compared to a pro gardener using the motor everyday. have u or anyone else have heard of interlube opti- 2 or opti-4 oil? supposedly if u buy 30 or 40 bucks worth of opti-4 from the same dealer at the same time of engine purchase interlube doubles the engine warranty. not sure if it's hoax or maybe just snake oil salesmanship

 

Sorry I jumped on you - no excuse.

I don't see the difference between a pro gardener running the GX35 verse ho I am using it. I don't run full throttle and I bet the motor stays cooler justf rom the time of year it is mostly used. Should the Honda go bad, at the absolute worse I'm out $250. That's $60/year for as long as I've been running it so far. That's dirt cheap.

Haven't heard about the offer you mention. That would be a heck of a deal.

Mark

 

we both have the same engine that honda warranties 2 year commercial 3 year residential so a pro gardener might be able to put 20 or 30 hrs of runtime a week on the engine. we have very little chance of wearing the engine out in only 3yrs if we run only 30 or 40hrs a year. there's a better chance we may be able to damage the engine in storage by not dumping the gas out of the tank and starting the engine to get all the gas out of the carb and engine. out here in cali pump gas is 10% ethanol so it attracts moisture and can cause internal rusting on bearings and crankshaft.

 

A weed trimmer engine might only be loaded 20% normally, and probably close to 100% on a boat.

I doubt the lifespan would come close to use as a trimmer.

But hey, whatever works.

 

what about a saw blade on a brushcutter cutting down christmas trees, that would be more load than a string trimmer on grass.

 

Well I had a chainsaw engine apart a while back, and I'd say it seemed heavier than a weed whacker one, but I could be wrong.

I also noticed it had way more fins.

Probably for better cooling.

 

Pedestrian controlled implements using an internal combustion engine would benefit from a moving situation for cooling.

 

I don't really understand what point you are intending to make...

all those little 2 strokes have flywheel type centrifugal fans to cool them.