reccomended engine

[godd05]

hi all,

weve just brought ourselves an 18 ft cabin cruiser, of a shetland style.

we are currently looking for an outboard to fit to it, but to be honest we dont really know what were looking for. we want something that will pull it at a reasonable rate, but dont want to be winning any races if you see what i mean.

what sort of power engine should we be looking at??

many thanks

dave

 

[l'escargot]

Some years ago I had a Shetland 535. If I remember correctly 80hp was the maximum recommended. I had a 50hp 2 stroke which pushed it nicely but drank the fuel. I would look at a 50hp 4 stroke if I had one now.

 

[drewstwos]

A 30 hp pushes a 535 along quite nicely, but it won't plane,, but it is very economical. you would need at least 50 to get it on the plane,, but double fuel consumption at least, Stay with 4 stroke engines, more reliable, plugs dont whisker, and separate oil...
Best of luck and enjoy it.
drewstwos

 

[byron]

I am very familar with the smaller Shetlands as I was heavily involved with the company when it was making about 400 boats a month back in the 1960s. If yours is in fact the 535 which is 17'6" then a 40 or 50 hp will even allow you to water ski pulling up one skiier on a mono. Don't go bigger than 65hp.
As a matter of interest Shetlands were founded by John Hardy who sold out for a fortune but then went on to found Hardy Boats. The company at one stage had a 20 acre factory but the new owners decided they didn't need an advertising agency - Yeh! Right! they never recovered from that decision.

 

[Kawasaki]

Do you know a bit more about "what it is" maybe "Loftus Bennet" I could go on with loads of makes like the Shetland Range. However check the condition of the transome. (That,s the back end where the engine bolts on) Sorry but We don,t know how much expierience you have. If you just want to potter about with 2 on board in a place with small tide movements you don,t want an engine obove say 25hp but if you mess about with your boat(cos that,s what we all do!) somewhere where there is lot,s of current and tides going on you might want more power. That,s why I mentioned the bit where the engine fits on it needs to be in good nick.Inform the Forum in abit more detail what the boat,s all about (maybe a piccie) , don,t ask me how to do that! and you,l get all the info you need Welcome /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[shetland536]

as the name suggests we have a shetland 536,we are running an old 1970`s mercury 70,we were very dissapointed in the power to mpg ratio last year and very rarely got it planing but i had a proper service,got rid of the 7.5 mercury aux engine off the back(pretty heavy) and now keep a little tomos outboard up the front of the cabin.it now planes pretty quick allowing you to drop the revs a little.
personally if i could afford it i would buy a more modern engine,something like a tohatsu 50,its got to be lighter and more efficient.
i dont know if you know the area but our run from whitecliff in poole harbour to old harry probably does in about 12-17 litres of fuel(hav`nt done it this year yet though).i would quess its probably 6-8 mile round trip.
i dont know if thats a lot of fuel or not,ive had nothing to compare to.
bloody hell! thats about 2-3 mpg! sod that i`m getting the sailing dinghy out,best of luck

 

[l'escargot]

The fuel consumption was one of the reasons I got rid of mine. I had an Evinrude 5hp auxilary which I used up and down the river from Newport to Cowes and a Force 50hp main engine. We went from Newport to Yarmouth, out to the Needles and back to Newport one day and used 22 gallons (even when petrol was half the price it was still a dear day out). The boat flew though.

Was never actually sure whether it was a 535 or a 536, I always thought it was the former but it was a double skinned hull and someone told me after I got rid of it that this meant it was the latter.

 

[shetland536]

as far as i know the double hull is the only real difference.unsinkable!?!?

 

[andy_wilson]

Recommended engine

You will find that performance will vary dramatically with load. 40Hp might get you on the plane one up, but you will need 80Hp if 4 of you go water skiing with a days worth of beer(thats 1 skiing, 3 aboard).

Also, if you are getting a used motor, be aware that sometime in the 90's rating was changed from crank to prop Hp. Early engines therefore have 5 - 10% less power at the prop. than on the badge.

Finally, on old motors, they can sometimes start and run great, even be reasonable on fuel (well for a 2 -stroke) but be down on rated power by up to 20%, just due to wear.

An ancient 80Hp could therefore be as much use as an up-to-date 60Hp.

Finally, finally, most 50 - 90 Hp motors will come with a prop. aimed at pushing a sports boat along. This will be fine if your boat is stripped bare and used v.lightly laden. Otherwise you will need to drop down 1 or 2 sizes of pitch to drive your boat properly.

Alternatively, if it is for pottering around on rivers and protected waters, a 10 hp electric start would be great, will get you beyond the hull speed, probably to 6 knots or so and will keep a battery charged for a bit of cabin lighting.