Weed eater engine conversion

in ca there is no registration required under 4 hp. i used a youngs t 10 because it turns in the direction of the motor. if you use the gear head of the whacker you need a t 8. i built the shaft with a 1 in od 3/4 id alum. with oil impregnated bronze bushings. 3/8 stainless shaft filed down to fit the female end of the clutch drum. i then cheaped out on the lockout plate by punching a couple posts through the drum towards the engine making sure they both contacted the hardend steel t shaped deal of the clutch (i took off the clutch boots leaving the portion threaded to the shaft). then i welded the drum to the t shaped deal. had some clearance issues with the bearing keepers, but theyre not needed with the drum fastened to the motor

 

Maybe a Bangkok style "long tail" boat motor from the weed eater engine.

 

I like this thread. It introduced me to the forum beginning with post #602.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ygB3mjP5N7g those little long tail boats aren't that fast.are they?lol 102mph

 

http://www.boatdesign.net/forums/powerboats/thai-racing-longtail-44821-5.html#post649704 check out this badboy from another post on this site.great melons would be needed to go full throttle.

 

http://www.funrcboats.com/prop_chart1.htm for a 1-1 ratio would these props be better?

 

its worth a try, but i think 28cc would be too much gun for those little things,you dont know til you try. i just went with what many other people have been successful with.

 

What about a leaf blower, with a snorkel on the engine air intake?

Just shave down the fan a bit so it doesn't grab enough water to stall it.

70$ water jet power lol

 

that is hilarious.

 

I also looked around for a weed eater outboard, but did not find anything I liked. So about 5 months ago (April, 2013), I decided to build my own. After I mounted it on my dingy, I got a lot of "thats great" from the local group, so after testing it for a few months I built some more. I call it a "WaterWacker". I made 10 of them, put some on eBay and this weekend I'm planning on going to a Marine Flea Market in West Palm.

It works pretty well, I get about 6 knots in a two seat Kayak, a canoe should be about the same. If you are going to build one, I could give you a few pointers. There is a picture of it on eBay, search "waterwacker outboard motor". Wish you luck, its a fun project.

 

Wow! You must have great supplier for motors if you can sell the whole thing built for $100!

Erich

 

Well, I sell a Kit for $100, the kit has the motor mount, propeller, and various other parts required for the conversion, the completed unit is $300. Since I just started, I really don't know my cost yet. When I started my goal is $200 for the completed unit and $50 for the Kit, but I have a ways to go.

But that is not what this form is about; the thing is, weed eaters make a great small outboard. The completed unit weights only 13 lbs, so you can easily hold it in one hand; and it hardly uses any gas. You also have to pull it several times to start it, but it is easy to pull so its not so bad. I've looked at both expensive 4 cycle weed eaters and really cheap ones. The way I see it, Once you have a kit of parts... if the weed eater craps out, just move the parts to a new one, and you are back in business.

One thing to note is that propeller size is important; since a weed eater has a centrifugal clutch, if the prop is too big you will burn up the clutch.

 

both tanaka and shindawa (cruz-n-carry)made tiny outboard motors.from what i understand the epa put a stop to it.if the lower unit and props were still avaliable they would be awsome for a kit.the shindawa were 1.5/1.7/3 and 6 hp. i have a 1.5 . we tied 7 canoe's togather to get down the river towed by my little outboard.

 

http://www.ioutboardmotors.com/20hp-4-cycle.html

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SbD8jyED4YM these little motors are awsome!