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Another outboard...

Sailingfun

Member III
I decided replace my tired Volvo MD7a plus saildrive with an 15/20 hp outboard.
Can I remove the saildrive and hang there the outboard?? That avoid install an outboard external support in the back.
Maybe I lost the possibility to serve the transmission but I win on the weigh/displacement location.
I just want to explore the possibility before hung +100 pound on the back of the boat
Like always, thanks in advance! Every answer is appreciated it!
 

Loren Beach

O34 - Portland, OR
Senior Moderator
Blogs Author
IF..... you had the factory outboard motor transom model of the E-27, this thread would be helpful.
http://www.ericsonyachts.org/infoex...ax-Outboard-size-for-Ericson-27&referrerid=28

If you have to do the cut-out and inside reinforcement, you have an interesting project ahead. And, do not even think about bolting on a bracket. This puts the motor too far down from the top of the transom, and you would *still* have to heavily reinforce the transom to take the load. Also, a bracket mount puts the motor back of the stern wave too far and the motor will, in steep seas, either pop the prop out or bury the powerhead.

If keeping boat for another decade, install a new Betamarine sail drive unit. :)
 

Sailingfun

Member III
I asked for a new betamarine with saildrive... $14K.. I'm going the outboard path.
Yes. my ericsson have the cut off.. maybe reinforce before hang almost 100 pound back there?
 

supersailor

Contributing Partner
15-20hp would be way overpowered. 8hp should easily give you hull speed +. You don't want to consentrate too much weight in the very stern of the boat. It will negatively affect the sailing ability of the boat. Do you know how you would fill that large hole in the bottom of the boat when you remove the engine? Have you considered a rebuild of the engine? Those old diesels practically last forever.
 

Loren Beach

O34 - Portland, OR
Senior Moderator
Blogs Author
Choices and options

15-20hp would be way overpowered. 8hp should easily give you hull speed +. You don't want to consentrate too much weight in the very stern of the boat. It will negatively affect the sailing ability of the boat. Do you know how you would fill that large hole in the bottom of the boat when you remove the engine? Have you considered a rebuild of the engine? Those old diesels practically last forever.

Yup. A modern four stroke 8 or 10 hp OB with the 25" leg would be enough. Just clamp it to the transom cutout, and "no way no how" have it cantilevered out on a bracket.

And, as noted, filling in a large hole in the bottom of the boat is a significant ($$) project in itself. I imagine that a yard could do in two days total, maybe more. That's one guy @ $115./hour. If it takes three days you're at about $2700. plus at least 200 or 300 for the round trip and blocking.
While I am no fan of sail drives or Volvo's, repair might be a lot less expensive. Admittedly, the older actual-Volvo-built engines are more reliable compared to the new re-labeled products.
Opinions rendered on the hour, deposit 2 cents please...
:rolleyes:
 

Sailingfun

Member III
15-20hp would be way overpowered. 8hp should easily give you hull speed +. You don't want to consentrate too much weight in the very stern of the boat. It will negatively affect the sailing ability of the boat. Do you know how you would fill that large hole in the bottom of the boat when you remove the engine? Have you considered a rebuild of the engine? Those old diesels practically last forever.

My son is allergic to diesel so rebuild was out of question.
I play with the idea replace for an electric solution, very easy for me as engineer but when I finish adding batteries, charger and all "little things" you need to add in order to do a up to code installation, price was not very far from a new betamarine with saildrive.
Outboard was my last option. I agree less than 10 hp is enough but I prefer has power when I need it and not miss it.
My ericsson have the cut off to install an outboard so well.. I'm selling the old volvo engine
 

Sailingfun

Member III
Yup. A modern four stroke 8 or 10 hp OB with the 25" leg would be enough. Just clamp it to the transom cutout, and "no way no how" have it cantilevered out on a bracket.

And, as noted, filling in a large hole in the bottom of the boat is a significant ($$) project in itself. I imagine that a yard could do in two days total, maybe more. That's one guy @ $115./hour. If it takes three days you're at about $2700. plus at least 200 or 300 for the round trip and blocking.
While I am no fan of sail drives or Volvo's, repair might be a lot less expensive. Admittedly, the older actual-Volvo-built engines are more reliable compared to the new re-labeled products.
Opinions rendered on the hour, deposit 2 cents please...
:rolleyes:

I would cover with an aluminum plate for now and install both batteries down there or maybe use for the gas tank in a more permanent installation. I can do that for myself.
 

supersailor

Contributing Partner
It may cost a lot less to sell the diesel boat and buy an outboard powered one. It would certainly be a lot less work.
 

Loren Beach

O34 - Portland, OR
Senior Moderator
Blogs Author
It may cost a lot less to sell the diesel boat and buy an outboard powered one. It would certainly be a lot less work.

I might be misunderstanding the proposed solution, but if an aluminum plate is glued or glassed into the bottom where the sail drive used to live, both the insurance company and any surveyor are going to be quite unhappy. Aluminum - depending on exact alloy - will corrode quickly or slowly in salt water. :(
 

supersailor

Contributing Partner
My proposall is to sell the current boat intact and take the money and buy an outboard powered boat. The outboard powered one should be worth less. There is no money spent repairing the hull and buying an outboard for the current one. Also no rebuilding needed on the new one. It appears that many thousands can be saved along with many weeks of labor.
 

debonAir

Member III
Well, the price he gets selling the current boat will be depressed by it needing a new engine so he'd be paying for the new motor for his old boat that way anyway, at least in part if he were to swap it for an outboard motor. [edit - I see from another post that his engine is actually running OK, so agree, sell and get an outboard (or Atomic-4 powered!) boat.]

Depending on how you use the motor I would think about revisiting the electric conversion. If your saildrive is in OK shape it could be adapted to electric drive and you don't have to start out with the largest battery capacity. You can add capacity as you need it and save for it. yes the initial expense is still a lot but if you can solar / dock charge and use your motor for just getting in and out then it might actually be a better value down the road. Or even do a hybrid: small outboard in the cut-out and electric motor with small battery. that way you start the outboard for the long motors only.. etc.
 
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Sailingfun

Member III
Well, the price he gets selling the current boat will be depressed by it needing a new engine so he'd be paying for the new motor for his old boat that way anyway, at least in part if he were to swap it for an outboard motor. [edit - I see from another post that his engine is actually running OK, so agree, sell and get an outboard (or Atomic-4 powered!) boat.]

Depending on how you use the motor I would think about revisiting the electric conversion. If your saildrive is in OK shape it could be adapted to electric drive and you don't have to start out with the largest battery capacity. You can add capacity as you need it and save for it. yes the initial expense is still a lot but if you can solar / dock charge and use your motor for just getting in and out then it might actually be a better value down the road. Or even do a hybrid: small outboard in the cut-out and electric motor with small battery. that way you start the outboard for the long motors only.. etc.

Well.. in the moment boat is ready, I will put for sale. On my experience, sometimes people "fall in love" with the boat. I can use for years to come but definitely will put for sale.
With new standing rigging, new outboard, bottom paint, deck paint and rewire with LED light plus new lewmar hatches, I think it's gonna be a good deal for somebody.
There are a lot of depleted boats (even at my marina) I could rebuild or get for free.
But for now, this is the project. Noted the thing about not use aluminum... stainless 316 then.
The engine is for sale here at the forum and by craigslist. Price is $2500 but if somebody willing to help me to remove it, I can cut a reasonable part. Engine has a new alternator but not panel, I remove it and was in very bad shape. For the right price, I can do one for cheap, even I can add a NMEA2000 system in order to check all engine parameters from your chartplotter.
 

Loren Beach

O34 - Portland, OR
Senior Moderator
Blogs Author
Problem Smell......

My son is allergic to diesel so rebuild was out of question.
I play with the idea replace for an electric solution, very easy for me as engineer but when I finish adding batteries, charger and all "little things" you need to add in order to do a up to code installation, price was not very far from a new betamarine with saildrive.
Outboard was my last option. I agree less than 10 hp is enough but I prefer has power when I need it and not miss it.
My ericsson have the cut off to install an outboard so well.. I'm selling the old volvo engine

In reviewing this thread I realized that I was puzzled by the reference to an allergy to diesel, that seemed to be provoked by the presence of the diesel engine.
Unless the present engine has a lot of blow-by, or a leaking fuel system, there should not normally be ANY smell of diesel in your boat.
Our former (worn) diesel engine did have blow-by, and the engine exhaust blower removed it handily.
If there is any (at all) odor of diesel fuel inside of the boat some trouble shooting of the fuel system including the tank and the fill hose needs to be done.

I wonder if any or all of those parts has been serviced in the last ten or 15 years?


Anyhow, just something to ponder.
:confused:

And no, we have no (zero) diesel smell inside of our boat. Most of the boats I have crewed on for deliveries in the last 30 years have not had that odor, either. (Some of them had other more-complicated problems, tho...)
:)
 
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Sailingfun

Member III
In reviewing this thread I realized that I was puzzled by the reference to an allergy to diesel, that seemed to be provoked by the presence of the diesel engine.
Unless the present engine has a lot of blow-by, or a leaking fuel system, there should not normally be ANY smell of diesel in your boat.
Our former (worn) diesel engine did have blow-by, and the engine exhaust blower removed it handily.
If there is any (at all) odor of diesel fuel inside of the boat some trouble shooting of the fuel system including the tank and the fill hose needs to be done.

I wonder if any or all of those parts has been serviced in the last ten or 15 years?


Anyhow, just something to ponder.
:confused:

And no, we have no (zero) diesel smell inside of our boat. Most of the boats I have crewed on for deliveries in the last 30 years have not had that odor, either. (Some of them had other more-complicated problems, tho...)
:)


Definitely nobody run a good maintenance engine on the last 10 years at least.
Will think about it
Thank for your suggestions
 

Stringert

Junior Member
I decided replace my tired Volvo MD7a plus saildrive with an 15/20 hp outboard.
Can I remove the saildrive and hang there the outboard?? That avoid install an outboard external support in the back.
Maybe I lost the possibility to serve the transmission but I win on the weigh/displacement location.
I just want to explore the possibility before hung +100 pound on the back of the boat
Like always, thanks in advance! Every answer is appreciated it!

I bought an Ericson 25+ with a 4 stroke 100Lb outboard and a really beefy lift. The outboard vibrated like crazy, so I thought it was a bad motor and bought a different one, but much to my surprise the new one did almost the same thing. I've beefed up the transom some with little or no benefit, but think the next thing I will try is vibration pads of some sort. You may want to thing twice before going to an outboard and note that you will need an extra long 25" shaft.
 

Sailingfun

Member III
I bought an Ericson 25+ with a 4 stroke 100Lb outboard and a really beefy lift. The outboard vibrated like crazy, so I thought it was a bad motor and bought a different one, but much to my surprise the new one did almost the same thing. I've beefed up the transom some with little or no benefit, but think the next thing I will try is vibration pads of some sort. You may want to thing twice before going to an outboard and note that you will need an extra long 25" shaft.

Really weird. I saw Ericsson 25 and 27 with outboard 4 stroke without any hitch or vibration. The Honda are the best on my opinion. Anyway, I choose to give the old Volvo a chance. I'm on the process to replace head gasket, clean injectors and pump and replace water impeller, filters and diesel tank. If smell disappear, I will keep the engine at least for now. So many projects, so little money to think on invest another 2K on an outboard.
 

gabriel

Live free or die hard
Really weird. I saw Ericsson 25 and 27 with outboard 4 stroke without any hitch or vibration. The Honda are the best on my opinion. Anyway, I choose to give the old Volvo a chance. I'm on the process to replace head gasket, clean injectors and pump and replace water impeller, filters and diesel tank. If smell disappear, I will keep the engine at least for now. So many projects, so little money to think on invest another 2K on an outboard.

Depends on the size outboard. The smaller 4 strokes are are single cylinder and do vibrate, especially when turned at high rpm. The 2 cylinder 4 strokes are smooth but they are monsters (compared to the older 2 cylinder 2 cycle) that take two MEN to hang on a transom.
 

toddster

Curator of Broken Parts
Blogs Author
?? I suppose we'll all get old some day, but if I ever do, I think I could still mount an OB by myself with a boom tackle. BTW, my Suzuki 9.9 four-stroke only weighs 25 pounds more than the two-stroke. And exactly the same as the 15 HP. (The only difference is the throttle body.)

Edit: Well, that sounds a little rude. I think I was trying to be ironic along the lines of the old saw “Getting old sucks, but it beats the alternative.” And my outboards only mount on the dinghy or the stern rail. Just put the big one on and off again this morning, as a matter of fact. Glueing another patch on the floor/tube seam :(
 
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steven

Sustaining Member
way back, owned and converted my Hunter 27 (7000lbs. displacement) from diesel inboard to outboard. 4 stroke Yamaha with ignition, shifter and throttle at the helm.

ran beautifully. less vibration (by far) than the former inboard. two less holes in the bottom of the boat.
way less expensive maintenance. better performance in part because no barnacles on the prop.

Maybe helped by over-kill on the mounting system:
- very heavy duty spring lifting mounting bracket
- thick rubber pad where the O/B mounted to the bracket
- hard 1/4" rubber pad where the bracket bolted to the hull
- large bolts, large washers, and substantial inside backing plate

--Steve
 
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