Am I crazy ?

[chris turner]

Hello to all - my first post !
I have recently got a 1989 23' Sea Ray with a Mercruiser 5.7 - it's running great and we've had lots of fun in the Med this summer (we live in the south of France) BUT we also have lots of canals and other inland waterways which we'de like to explore.
Mercruiser V8 running at tickover for hours is not a good idea so I thought why not fabricate some sort of bracket and mount say a 10hp outboard on the back of the sterndrive. If the sterndrive can take 260hp through it, it can surely take the weight and thrust of a 10hp of outboard without risk to the bearings etc.
Crazy ? - anybody got any thoughts or suggestions on my plan ?
Any (sensible please !) ideas much appreciated.
Regards and thanks, Chris Turner.

 

[Bronc Rider]

Re: Am I crazy ?

Are you asking if you can mount a kicker engine? If you are, yes you can. You can build your own mount but they do sell some already built for that purpose.
Good luck.


EDIT: What bearings do you think are at risk?

 

[Knightgang]

Re: Am I crazy ?

I think you are asking if you can fabricate some kind of mount to mount that Kicker motor on your outdrive...

No, I would not do that. The outdrive is designed for its purpose, to raise and lower on the rear of the boat and to transfer trust and forward motion through it to the water thus propelling the boat forward.

You can, however, mount the kicker to the transom, on either side of the outdrive. It is quite common for may people...just do not put it on the outdrive...

 

[Bronc Rider]

Re: Am I crazy ?

I think you are asking if you can fabricate some kind of mount to mount that Kicker motor on your outdrive...

I missed the part where he said outdrive. I re-read it and your right, he did ask that.
I wouldn?t make a mount for the outdrive either. You can mount a plate on the transom as Knightgang suggests. If you really want to mount something on your outdrive they sell electric trolling motors that mount to the anti-cavitation plate.
Here is a link to a trolling motor that mounts to your outdrive. http://www.iboats.com/Minn_Kota_Engine_Mount_Remote_Controlled_Trolling_Motors/dm/*******.743868146--**********.930371175--view_id.237470
Here is a pic:

 

[chris turner]

Re: Am I crazy ?

Hello and thanks to the people who have responded.
A electric trolling motor would not propel me for days on a canal - where would I get the juice from ?
I'm not sure what a 'kicker' is - could you call it and emergency or auxillary motor ?
You all say don't mount an outboard on the sterndrive but no one says why not - it's surely strong enough if it can take 260+hp ? and would give me steering as normal etc ??????????????????

 

[Maclin]

Re: Am I crazy ?

I am having trouble imagining what part of the outdrive you think an outboard engine could be mounted to, but the up-down mechanism is not designed for that much extra weight. Also that much weight on the drive itself will upset the balance and performance of the hull while running and that is not good because I/O's are already tail heavy. Turning at speed would be a new experience I bet.

 

[Knightgang]

Re: Am I crazy ?

The outdrive unit is designed for its own thrust and weight. Adding an additional 40-60 lbs of vibrating engine attached to it is not a good idea. First, it is not designed for added weight, it could damage your tilt/trim unit. It also can put extra strain on the pivot elbows as well as the transom seal. Plus, for the small kicker outboard to work, its prop would have to be deeper than the outdrive prop. This would put an unengineered pressure point onthe outdrive causing other issues that I might not can immagine. The only thing I would put on an outdrive is a nice shine...

A kicker is a small outboard motor to be used as an auxilery or backup motor, or even as a trolling motor in many cases. This is what you want, but do not mount it on the outdrive. Offset mount it on the transom. There are mounts already designed for this type of application.

 

[chris turner]

Re: Am I crazy ?

Ok - take your point(s), I'll abandon my crazy plans. Couple of questions. 1) What size outboard do you estimate I'd need to do about 5 mph in still water or maybe a bit more to allow for running water (going up a river). 2) Can you point me at a supplier of a suitable bracket ? 3) could I link it to the outdrive so I could use the steering - it wouldn't be power steering, but I think ok at low speed.
Thanks, Chris Turner.

 

[Fishermark]

Re: Am I crazy ?

Here's a picture of the bracket I had on my boat. It pivots up out of the way when not in use:

 

[CJCJ]

Re: Am I crazy ?

A setup like this, ya?

http://www.ezsteer.com/

 

[ErieRon]

Re: Am I crazy ?

Here's a link to Cabelas that shows a kicker motor mount. We call them "kicker" motors here and use them for trolling, auxiliary etc. They also make steering linkages that connect to your outdrive so you can steer as you normally would. They are more common with outboards, but utilized on I/O's as well.

Here's a link to a photo of a 24' Thompson with a kicker mounted;

http://www.ohiogamefishing.com/community/attachment.php?attachmentid=22389&stc=1&d=1245450026


I'm not sure, but you'll probably need at least a 25 HP outboard. If you "Google" kicker motor, kicker motor bracket, kicker motor steering, you'll find everything you need.

Good luck.

 

[coastalcruiser]

Re: Am I crazy ?

I use a small motor (kicker) for fishing, I have power steering so the wheel is stiff when the motor is off. what I did is just fit a plastic pipe over the tiller handle and it works great!

through no wake zones I run the motor at 1000 rpm, you will get good mileage at "hull speed'. I doubt it would harm the engine.

 

[Knightgang]

Re: Am I crazy ?

Glad to hear you abandoned that crazy idea. For your size boat, I would think no less than a 15 for what you are looking for, a 25 as suggested might work better. Yes, as shown, you can get a kit to attach steering to the outdirve with no problems so you can still steer from the helm. Do the google searches as suggested and you will find everything you need...

 

[bigskiohio]

Re: Am I crazy ?

4 stroke would be nice.