Ganging Outboards - Does it work?

www.minardsdiesel.com have 2 second hand instock and their website implies that they still have access to new ones???? e: - steve@minardsdiesel.com ?

Maybe they do not comply with new emission standards so are not listed openly in USA and elsewhere?

Price - no idea - send an email to the sales@.......

 

M, how much?

I'm guessing at least $10k

 

It puzzles me why they were discontinued, US emissions laws wouldn't seem to explain it, I can't imagine the market would be big in USA for them anyway.

 

Looks to me like they are too high revving (4500) for one thing. And they ought to have had larger diameter 'high thrust' props for those advertised 'idle all day' or 'domesticated throb' (groan) periods.

 

Yeah, thought they'd be swinging bigger props to be useful on heavy, slow boats. I wonder in there are any vertical shaft, water-cooled diesels around that could be adapted to a better style of leg, off a dead petrol outboard. Swing the prop you want then, but I'm sure it wouldn't be any easy task. What would the main snag(s) be ?

 

Main snags would be too much weight too high, too far aft. That and re-inventing the diesel-powered stern drive leg. Now, if only those damn things could be always lifted completely out of the water....

 

I don't know, if you only want low hp I think it would be feasible to mount a diesel on the leg of a much higher hp petrol o/b, maybe the high diesel torque wouldn't wreck the gearcase slipping into gear. Prop pitch to suit.

 

"As I've mentioned before, I need a whopping diesel generator to power air conditioning and heating".

IF I had a large diesel noisemaker I would use it to power an outboard leg with hyd drive.

A large enough donor OB leg would swing a nice 18 or 20+ inch prop and I would size the hyd system for best cruise speed.

A bonus would be hyd power for the windlass , bow thruster , sheet winches , refrigeration or scuba compressor.

Electric offers little advantage over a hyd system , which is far easier to trouble shoot and repair.

The huge cost differential between the systems would take decades to recover thru "better efficiency" of all electric goodies.

FF

 

What do people think of Fast Fred's idea? Not all that bad?

 

Every boat that I know of who fitted generator driven hydraulic drive has removed it . Complex, Inefficient noisy, expensive, prone to failure. Check out the price of a 25kw pump, add in oil coolers, filters, plumbing, proportional controllers......

Generator electric drive could be work considering.

 

That's what I was trying to consider in this thread. But... The props need to be clear of the water when sailing. Ideas on how to do that?

 

Electric motor on top of an outboard leg?

Consider a generator with AC output, Varible Frequency Drive for the speed control ( https://dealerselectric.com/variable_frequency_drives.asp http://www.driveswarehouse.com/ ) and 3 phase motor. Generator output can be single phase or 3 phase (though controller would be less expensive with 3 phase input.)

 

Follow-on to my previous message.

While I haven't investigated costs, I expect an AC input VFD and 3-phase AC motor to be considerably less expensive than many of the DC input systems currently used for "hybrid" marine applications.

 

The whole concept of Outboard Motor Gangs gives me the creeps. Gang Tattoes, Pit Bulls, drugs, guns, pimps hanging around your transom .......No Yacht club or Marina will allow you to berth.

 

Catbuilder

As an experienced multihull owner I'm sure you are familiar with this

http://www.sillette.co.uk/sonic_type_1_catamaran_drive.html

The big drawback to the Sillette leg is that it doesn't tilt up as high as an outboard leg. I think due to the oil levels in the leg?

Prout catamarans (and later the Gemini) favoured this leg for years. But later they changed to two engines which gave much better results. Especially as the cost difference between a Sillette leg and a complete second engine was minimal (considering the total boat cost)

Richard Woods of Woods Designs

www.sailingcatamarans.com