Outboard motor in the front of a boat?

[raymondpickens]

Wellhull Navy boat. http://sanantonio.craigslist.org/boa/2527696851.html Anybody know how well this works? Im sure it works just fine but it sure seems funny looking. I just cant get the physics to work in my head when it comes to coming on plane and such...

 

[jigngrub]

Re: Outboard motor in the front of a boat?

Do you really want to breathe outboard exhaust all day?

 

[raymondpickens]

Re: Outboard motor in the front of a boat?

Haha, I hadn't even thought of that part.

 

[retiredfornow]

Re: Outboard motor in the front of a boat?

Seen one like that, USCG boat, parked down here by Mosquito Lagoon. It was there a few days, then gone. Wanted to talk to them about it. Sure is strange. Wonder if they get water up thru the hole, that was my first question.

 

[H20Rat]

Re: Outboard motor in the front of a boat?

Very specialised rig designed for really skinny water that can be ran at speed. Not something average boater would care to own.

still have to wonder why all the trouble of that strange design... An outboard jet would be a far better choice. My only guess is the age... This probably pre-dates outboard jets.

 

[Dave Abrahamson]

Re: Outboard motor in the front of a boat?

I see them a lot around here, (Tampa Bay area).
Crabbers use them.
Must be different steering from the front like a car, rather than from the back......like a boat.

 

[Silvertip]

Re: Outboard motor in the front of a boat?

It's a government project. They simply don't care if it works, works well, or doesn't work at all. It is not their money they are thowing at some of these projects.

 

[gtochris]

Re: Outboard motor in the front of a boat?

Looks like the first Front Wheel Drive boat

I agree on the smoke/ smell, dont know if I'd want to be behind it.

 

[Frank Acampora]

Re: Outboard motor in the front of a boat?

It balances the weight so the center of gravity of the hull is in the center and the hull rides level, making for shallower operation. Better than a jet because in thin water, the jet will suck up whatever the bottom is: rocks, gravel, mud, etc.

 

[H20Rat]

Re: Outboard motor in the front of a boat?

It balances the weight so the center of gravity of the hull is in the center and the hull rides level, making for shallower operation. Better than a jet because in thin water, the jet will suck up whatever the bottom is: rocks, gravel, mud, etc.

At a minimum, that thing is still going to take 8 inches of water just for the prop... (i can safetly run in half that with my jet) Also, given its all steel and almost 26 feet long, 'speed' is all relative. 15-20 mph might be max.

 

[starcraftkid]

Re: Outboard motor in the front of a boat?

I see them a lot around here, (Tampa Bay area).
Crabbers use them.
Must be different steering from the front like a car, rather than from the back......like a boat.

I used to see them up in NJ too, crabbers and netters would run a 60hp triple like that but a bit further back, often nearly at the stern. The motor was steered with a wheel at the back of the motor box, the top of the box was a sorting tray. The exhaust was ducted rearward somehow or vented below deck and out the back. The motor didn't steer, the boat steers with a rudder. The one I got up close and personal with had the motor's swivel pin fixed in place and the boat steered with a rudder at the stern. The boat was a large wooden displacement hull. that didn't achieve much speed so planing out and lifting the prop out of clean water wasn't an issue. One old timer told me that one of the reasons for the motor location was so they didn't tangle anything in the prop and they could off load and dock on all sides without worry about the motor getting in the way. It certainly eliminated the need for a splashwell and all that wasted space at the stern. The boat I saw had a winch and reel full of nets at the stern, so I could well see that an outboard back there would be in the way.

That CG boat would make more sense if it were a jet drive?

 

[kahuna123]

Re: Outboard motor in the front of a boat?

This style boat has been in use in the South for 30-40 years. The prop is in a pocket under the boat and only draws a few inches at best. They were big time before the net ban. They were for commercial use. Now that sane nets for mullet are not legal you don't see many of them. It left the transom open to pull the nets in and they could run in only inches of water and could run over a net without damaging it. They carried hundreds of pounds of fish and ice.

After the ban some were used for flats charters. Usually there was a tower built over the motor for the capt. One of my customers ran one for years. The only issue is it drew so little water that you had to be careful in turns to not catch the bottom and throw everyone out.

 

[robert graham]

Re: Outboard motor in the front of a boat?

Lots of the crabbers, shrimpers, clammers, fishermen use these in the shallow waters of the Gulf Coast, they work great!, leaves the entire back of the boat open and free for working, hauling in nets. These front drive boats don't appear to be awkward or problematic, just watching them run.

 

[mrdancer]

Re: Outboard motor in the front of a boat?

At a minimum, that thing is still going to take 8 inches of water just for the prop... (i can safetly run in half that with my jet) Also, given its all steel and almost 26 feet long, 'speed' is all relative. 15-20 mph might be max.

The Flatscat, and a number of other Texas flats boats, will run in 3 and a half inches of water, or however long your skeg is. The prop runs above the bottom of the boat with a tunnel designed to channel the water up to the prop (yes, well above the water line). It is hard for a lot of folks to comprehend, but prop boats can run in just a few (by few, I mean 2 - 4 inches) inches of water.

 

[Andy'sDelight]

Re: Outboard motor in the front of a boat?

Lots of them by me in NJ, mostly clammers using them.