keel cooler questions

my plan is building a louisiana style mud boat. lower unit like an arneson, but built more towards rising though mud. i'm wonderin about a keel cooler design. i just discovered this design about a month ago on the internet, and am wondering how good it would be to put it on a mud boat. can i make the outer shell as strong as the rest of the hull, like 1/8 in. alum.? or will that thick of metal cause poor cooling? i wanna put a winch of the front of my boat to pull over levees too, i don;t wanna have to worry all the time about hurting my cooler.

 

Keelcoolers are pretty tough and come in a few different flavors. The most fragile appear to be the purpose built grid coolers of cupranickel, the toughest are simply pipe of steel or alumininum.

It sounds like you are going to put whatever you use to the test. Perhaps you could inset the cooler into a pocket, that is fairly common. Around here 3/16 is the usual mininum for welded aluminum boats so I wouldn't worry about 1/8.

 

Simply install a double bottom section to the alloy boat, it will work well and never get knocked off

 

We do it on steel boat all the time, make the boat as nornal, then install a double bottonm inside the hull. Make like a maze pattern then weld over the top, it works wonders

 

And he will not have to worry about plate thickness when it is a Al. boat. aluminium is one of the best heat conductors you can have. (3 times better than steel)

 

Damn, that's a good idea. I wonder why that isn't more common here. Is there much problem with the heat bleeding back into the boat?

 

This was used on the Albatross ski boats of Gt Yarmouth Uk, a boat built in the 50's bubble cooling was riveted ulluminium .--the whole boat was riveted alluminium, 2 seater 4 seater and a continental.

Engine was a ford E93A side valve then 100E then Coventry climax then-----

As you can see I was very familiar with them.

 

No, as stated above, Al is a very efficient heat conductor, and the parts in contact with water will transfer the heat very fast.

 

so you don't think there is goin to have to be flowing water around the pipes? landlubber, when you say maze you mean just a back and forth pattern like a radiator, right?

i kinda want this boat to be able to run on the trailer, actually i need it to be able to rune out of the water, cause obviously with a car motor in it, i'm not gonna be able to put muffs or something on it....

 

The car engine has a circulator pump on it called the water pump, driven by the fan belt.

You could run out of water if you had a hose pipe fitting that let water in and of course water out. The cool water from your hose would them be the coolant.

You said you were building an Arneson type, now you talk of muffs?

Muffs come from 'ear muffs' that go on outboard engines.

 

There is no pipe when you make it the way Landlubber recommended. You weld a pattern into the double bottom as if there was a similar piping going forth and aft.
Make the hot water entrance towards the stern and the cool water exit towards the bow, that enhances the effect.

But we should start with a rough calculation before you weld up anything. How much power has your engine? And how much surface is available for cooling?
Aluminium plate cooling needs about 2m² per 100hp (22sq.ft) !!!
(in steel that would be 6m²)

Regards
Richard

 

Ptrofessional Boatbuilder did a nice article a few years back I think it was, specifically on keel cooling, and if you have never read this mag, then subscribe now, as it is very good...yes to above as to area and also the maze pattern