Leaving an outboard in the water

[Flica]

Jaguar 21, 6hp Tohatsu 4 stroke

I've recently taken on this boat so a few elements need pondering:

I have a baffle for when the outboard is removed but have heard talk of baffles that go round the outboard leg. They sound a bit fiddly to me.

The Tohatsu won't fit in a cockpit locker the right way up. Well maybe it does but I haven't worked out the spatial puzzle. It is quite a tight fit in its well.

The Tohatsu has the ability to charge the battery. This is a plus.

The Tohatsu does not have an effective steering lock. This is a minus.

Time will tell if I need 6hp. At the moment I certainly don't use it at full throttle and it seems to push us along nicely against wind and tide. Might try with 4hp which would be lighter, smaller and fit in said locker.

I completely agree with Seajet regarding 2 strokes. Would be good to do a weight comparison (Tohatsu quoted at 25kg for 'lightest version'). I've always had two strokes in the past and am used to their foibles.

As to corrosion, chips in the paint and bare alloy need covering. On reflection I probably don't need to antifoul (well not for the winter) after all I can always pull it up and give it a scrub.

As you may judge my thoughts are veering from whether I should leave it in the water to whether I have got the right engine...

Michael

The Tohasu 6 hp (basically the same motor as the 4 and 5hp) weighs 25kg.
Surely no excessive weight to lift and probably there appear to be no 4-stroke engines of a similar output at that low weight available on the market.
Possibly you can attempt to find a 2-stroke of similar output, which will be considerably lighter, but would, of necessity be second-hand, unless you can get to Maynbrayce in Alderney or to Malta where "grey" imports are available.
As Sea-jet has already pointed out, leaving the outboard in the well under sail, cripples performance, and leaving it down, moored, will result in accelerated deterioration.
On the whole I'd try to dissuade anyone from considering your proposed actions.

Why not mount a pad on the pushpit and mount it there?

 

[wombat88]

Thanks for all the comments which amount to a big no, don't leave it in the water.

I need to live with it for a while, try different storage locations (further forward if poss) and see how things go. Putting it on the transom takes me into a different berthing price bracket...

 

[LONG_KEELER]

Just a couple of things may be worth considering.

I have both a 4hp 4 stroke Mariner and a 4hp 2 stroke Mariner.

The 4 stroke is very much quieter in the outboard well compared with the 2 stroke.

Also, mpg is significantly better with the 4 stroke.

I have cut the well plug into two parts . A hole is cut out to enable the outboard leg to go through.
I then screw it together again with two simple stainless clamps. You no longer get the swishing and glugging . Plus, the hull is pretty much faired in with the hull. Engine noise is about 10% louder than without the plug.

I find the effort and awkward angles to lift and angle any of the two outboards into a cockpit locker is just not worth risking your back on.

One last point. Like many weekend sailors I have long trip to the open sea. Great if the tide is with you and/or the wind is free. Sometimes I have a two hour trip to get there and the noise of the 2 stroke is a real downer.

I now more or less treat my outboard leg setup like an inboard engine with an outdrive.

Best of luck with whatever you choose to do.

 

[Quandary]

As you say the normal engine lifting frames are too big, but what about something like this. Probably not worth importing but could be made in Ali or SS by someone competent.

http://thmarine.com/th-marine-products/outboard-jack-plates/manual-jack-plates

I have an outboard bracket in my garage which consists of two cast aluminium channels which the bracket slides up and down, I modified it to suit an 8hp yamaha on the sloping transom of a Trapper 300 by adding triangular hardwood packers. It might allow the engine to slide upwards but would still need the lifting to be manual. I had an Achilles with a well before then, but this bracket would not have been usable in the tight space, so your well would need to be bigger.
If you think it might work I can dig it out and take a photo. I would expect you to pay carriage if you wanted it.

 

[wombat88]

I have an outboard bracket in my garage which consists of two cast aluminium channels which the bracket slides up and down, I modified it to suit an 8hp yamaha on the sloping transom of a Trapper 300 by adding triangular hardwood packers. It might allow the engine to slide upwards but would still need the lifting to be manual. I had an Achilles with a well before then, but this bracket would not have been usable in the tight space, so your well would need to be bigger.
If you think it might work I can dig it out and take a photo. I would expect you to pay carriage if you wanted it.

Hi Quandry,

Yes, that may well be a great help, a picture and a couple of measurements would be much appreciated. Thanks.

 

[Impaler]

There is some advice on the Shrimper forum.

https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/shr...tors-f5/?sid=955cefc39c2ed2ff2bfbfd9a2114255e

 

[Fantasie 19]

The Tohatsu says something like 'sail drive' on the side.

On a Drascombe Longboat I had a Mariner 5 2 stroke. It was such an ugly and distressed thing you could leave it in a car park the night before a boat jumble and it would still be there in the morning.

However, summer or winter it always worked even though the idle left you guessing whether it was going to fire again or die. I wonder what they weigh...

I have the same engine - my boats a 20 footer - I lift it on and off the back every time I go sailing - I am a moderately unfit almost 60 year old and don't struggle...

It's a good engine - stick with it...

 

[Greenheart]

I've read the replies so far, and there seem to be many reasons for finding a way to get the outboard leg out of the water while sailing, difficult though that may prove...

...I'm just wondering whether my first thought has any value...I don't think anyone has mentioned it yet. It's not perfect, but it will answer the OP's foremost concern.

Get hold of a really tough, impermeable, waterproof sack, and a bit of shock-cord. I'm guessing you can buy one of those handy Plastimo hand pumps, too?

At the end of a day's sailing, reach down the engine well with the sack, and 'bag' the prop and shaft. Most likely a boat-hook will make it easier to reach so deep...

...then, drawing the sack up above the waterline, tie it tight round the outboard leg with the shock-cord. Leave it just loose enough so you can poke the pump-pipe down it...

...now, you can pump all the brine out of the sack. You could also pour fresh flushing water into the sack, then pump out the fresh, leaving the leg clean and relatively dry.

It won't reduce the engine's obstructive effect on sailing performance, but I reckon it will answer the primary concern - by preventing fouling and gradual degradation of the engine through prolonged immersion in seawater.

 

[Quandary]

Hi Quandry,

Yes, that may well be a great help, a picture and a couple of measurements would be much appreciated. Thanks.

PM me with your email address and I will start hoking.


Last year when I suffered a shortlived diversion in to the world of Mobos. I purchased a 9.9hp Tohatsu 2 stroke as a 'get you home lump' it weighed only 28 kilos and with the prop changed to the saildrive version gave a decent thrust, the engine cost over £900 and the prop another £100 but I got my money back as because of the light weight they are like hens teeth. The point of all this is that before I bought it I went to the showroom to look at four strokes, no way I could lift any of them, so if weight is your main problem I would suggest a two stroke may be the answer. I know they do not smell as nice but you can stow or shift them any old how without damage.

 

[Fantasie 19]

PM me with your email address and I will start hoking.


Last year when I suffered a shortlived diversion in to the world of Mobos. I purchased a 9.9hp Tohatsu 2 stroke as a 'get you home lump' it weighed only 28 kilos and with the prop changed to the saildrive version gave a decent thrust, the engine cost over £900 and the prop another £100 but I got my money back as because of the light weight they are like hens teeth. The point of all this is that before I bought it I went to the showroom to look at four strokes, no way I could lift any of them, so if weight is your main problem I would suggest a two stroke may be the answer. I know they do not smell as nice but you can stow or shift them any old how without damage.

The point about being able to stow a 2 stroke in any way you want is valid... but is the weight thing really as marked as people say?? when I swapped over from my old Suzuki 4HP long shaft 2 stroke, to the Tohatusu 6Hp long shaft 4 stroke I picked them both up just to see what the difference was? The 4 stroke was definitely heavier, but not markedly so? Maybe the Suzy is a heavy engine...

 

[Quandary]

The point about being able to stow a 2 stroke in any way you want is valid... but is the weight thing really as marked as people say?? when I swapped over from my old Suzuki 4HP long shaft 2 stroke, to the Tohatusu 6Hp long shaft 4 stroke I picked them both up just to see what the difference was? The 4 stroke was definitely heavier, but not markedly so? Maybe the Suzy is a heavy engine...

Some numbers, 9.8 hp Tohatsu 2 stroke-28kgs. 9.8 hp Tohatsu 4 stroke-37 kgs. 10 hp Honda four stroke- 46 kgs, significant difference even before you add the pitching moment when afloat and Tohatsu boast about the light weight of their current 4 stroke?
I used to be able to carry 2 one cwt. bags of cement, one under each arm, for short distances on a building site, these days I would not lift 2x 25kgs. It is okay for you young guys but age catches up.

 

[Greenheart]

Those 50kg bags were outlawed, for health and safety. Not before time. 35kg is the maximum now - about two-thirds of a cwt.

I changed a water-tank in an office a while back. Damn thing felt like it was changing me...I was shocked to find it was only 19kg.

Some things aren't as hard to lift, as others of the same weight. I don't remember 35kg cement sacks feeling nearly double how that water tank felt.

I haven't tried lifting an outboard for quite a few years, and it was only a two-stroke tiddler.

 

[wombat88]

Tohatsu 6hp is quoted as 25kg...and then they say 'lightest version' which is probably not the Sail Drive version...

 

[Greenheart]

That was exactly the engine I was referring to in the other, Swift 18, thread.

Pretty sure the 'lightest version' means the short-shaft one. I guess a long or extra-long shaft will be kilos heavier.

 

[VicS]

That was exactly the engine I was referring to in the other, Swift 18, thread.

Pretty sure the 'lightest version' means the short-shaft one. I guess a long or extra-long shaft will be kilos heavier.

The specs say 0.5kg between short shaft and long shaft models. I guess an extra long shaft model will be about another 0.5kg more

 

[QBhoy]

Does oxygen play a part in galvanic corrosion, which I expect is the main cause of corrosion of outboard engine parts in salt water?

Of course.