Diesel outboard

Not an auspicious beginning cooking the water pump. At least you'll find out how dear parts are for it.

 

Nice progress!

I'm sure the Chinese manufactures use a generic parts bin rather than designing their own unique parts. The big question is which manufactures have they copied?

Sending to China for spares would definitely be a hitch. In theory the distributer should buy in a large stock of relevant parts.......wishfully thinking IMO.

How long do you think it would take to get spares sent from China?
Weeks?
Months?

 

May be parts from another brand fit it. I'd be surprised if the thing was a new design throughout.

 

Tomorrow is Monday, I will order the parts, we will see when they arrive.

Cheers Phil

 

Confucius he say' china long way from oz'

Any luck?

 

Hello Gentlemen,

I have good news. Pump was sent on the 17th, arrived 21st. $65 AUD delivered to my door.

Boat is all registered and equipped, my big 23 litre fuel tank is strapped in and full of diesel. Everything is finally finished and ready to go.

Tomorrow is the day. I have no more excuses except it is a bloody cold and rainy. And windy. and I've never driven a boat.

Wish me luck and thanks for your interest.

Cheers Phil

www.dieseloutboardsvictoria.com

 

I have just been reading through this thread and there seems to be a theme that the Chinese can't make or design anything for themselves.

Don't bet on it. A mach 10 anti aircraft carrier missile sorta earns my respect.

This is why I chose the diesel outboard. It is a copy of nothing except concepts and is the first major development in outboard motors since they discovered two stroke outboards were responsible for melting the ice caps. Japan made cheap crap in the sixties then dominated nearly every market they chose once they had learnt how to design and make their own. Made in Japan went from crap to a status symbol and a sign of highest quality.

The Chinese have sent their kids out across the world to get the best knowledge, encouraged the best machines and manufacturing plants to be located there and then the kids have come home and learnt how to use them. The next twenty years will be very interesting globally. I fear the white man is about to become quite insignificant.

Just my personal thoughts, please don't make investment decisions based on my ramblings and realise that thoughts don't kill, actions do.

Cheers Philisophical Phil

www.dieseloutboardsvictoria.com

 

I've put my money where my mouth is.

Just ordered one of these Chinese bikes for use on the Cat, only weighs 80 kg for a 125cc bike; the ride should 'interesting ' with those tiny wheels! So cheap it's nearly throw away.....
http://www.skyteammotorcycles.com/motocycles/bubbly125

 

Bloody big cat if you need a motorbike.

 

Come on phil. We are all waiting for the results.

 

Looks like a 70's Honda Dax but they where 72cc

 

I've only driven a Yamaha 50cc scooter, which did about 35mph with a tuned straight through exhaust, really annoying as it's not fast enough to keep up with the traffic. It had 12" wheels, so I'm a bit worried that the sky bubbly only has 8" on a 125cc that can do over 50mph; what happens when you hit a deep pothole in the road?

The 80kg weight means it should be possible to easily lift each end separately to manoeuvre it onto the back of the Cat; there are lots of davits that lift 80kg if I find it too hard.

Should have delivery on this Wednesday, will report back on the handling.

 

That scooter looks like a Honda ST70 that i had bought new back in the early 70s for the same purposes, i put about 35000 miles on it before i finished the boat, no issues with the wheel size. Great little bike btw, replaced 1 tire and one spark plug in the 35000 miles, that's it.

Steve.

 

It floats!

Hi all thanks for your patience. Been a busy boy.

Pump was sent on the 17th arrived here in Hastings 22 nd.

So the big question- How does the diesel outboard go?

First outing flat out we got 21 Km/h on the gps. My mates are laughing at me and I'm pretty devastated at this point and quite happy to give the Chinese my honest opinion. Bloody hell! But we played with the trim and got up to 25 Km/h. Not planing and nowhere near full revs. One of you mentioned after watching the video of the motor in the test tank that it didn't seem to be revving anywhere near 4000 rpm and was probably closer to 2500. After running the motor up in neutral I'm now inclined to agree. Diesels are governed and will not usually over rev.

The original johnson two smoke motor prop slipped straight in once I had the front bit turned down from 80 mm dia to 79. This was off a 55 hp and my assumption was that the two stroke motor would make 55 hp at 5500 rpm and probably 40 at 4000 rpm so the prop might work. It had a larger diameter, more pitch but narrower blades. It didn't, 22 Km/h.

Back to the drawing board, a smaller prop appears to be the answer. I have a good friend with a big lathe so I had 10 mm machined off the diameter of the original prop. 29 km/h and planing. Motor sounds happier and boat feels good.

I will take another 5mm off and try that.

So that is where we are at.
I tried uploading an 18 second video but it was 0.12 mb too big.

Fuel economy- the boat has been out 3 times now for around an hour each time and the fuel guage in my 23 litre tank has moved from midway between 3/4 and half to just the other side of the half mark. 1/8 tank for approximately 45 K's. 3, maybe 4 litres? Pretty happy with that. Engine response is good and the boat willingly accelerates, the frustration is we can't yet get full revs.

Thanks for your interest everyone. This has been a big project for me. There is a lot riding on these motors for me and I must say, the curiosity about the diesel outboard is large. I just need to know that they perform satisfactorily, then I will feel ok selling them. At present it is hard for me because I can't truthfully say how hard they go.


Cheers Phil.
www.dieseloutboardsvictoria.com

 

Sounds like a combination of the engine being too small, and/or over-propped for the job. Your old Johnno had a bigger reduction, and even if a little worn, at least as much go as your new engine. 55hp seems somewhat underpowered for that boat, anyhow. Why are you not using the prop supplied with it ? I think you need to fit a tacho, or it is all guesswork, but really the hull/engine match is never going to be a good fit. Taking diameter off the prop is no substitute for fitting a prop with less pitch.