Electric Start?

[Lynn]

I have a 1984 Johnson 35 HP outboard on a 16 foot Klamath center console I want to use for crabbing and hunting.
I am 62 years old and was thinking about going to electric Start.
I found a starter solenoid and starter motor online for a reasonable amount but don't know about other brackets or other hardware that would be needed?
Also the engine currently has a flywheel on it but is a pull start motor.
Do I need a different flywheel for electric Start?
Wiring I can handle and the boat already has a battery for the marine radio and fish finder.
Do I need a second separate battery? An alternator to charge the battery?
Is this a good idea?
It starts now without a lot of effort.

 

[Lynn]

Has anyone tried this?
How does a starter work without a flywheel?
I am automotive by nature so go easy on me.

 

[Stand Up]

Does the kit come with any directions?
This is an interesting idea.

 

[Ray Clark]

The starter needs a flywheel to engage.

If it was me, I wold want an alternator on the setup.

I use a small Group 24 battery for cranking and a separate 100Ah LiFePO4 battery for trolling motor and accessories.

My tinnie had a 30HP Johnson when I bought it. The Johnson only had pull start. For a number of reasons, I wanted to add electric start. I do have some limited automotive capability but no outboard experience. I looked for a donor motor, but there was little available to me in my region. I looked for kits that might help with the conversion. I was not comfortable that I really understood all that I needed, and so I never pulled the trigger on buying parts. From what I could tell, that conversion was going to cost me at least $800 unless I could find a smoking deal on a donor motor somehwere. Meanwhile, one fishing season had slipped by, and another might, too.

I ended up just selling the finicky outboard and buying a new 20HP Merc. My hobby is fishing and not fixing old outboards. I can do a lot of my own maintenance, and I'm happy to do some of that, but there was a limit to the amount of time and expense I was willing to sink into that old motor.

 

[Terry Nagel]

I was contemplating the same thing. I figured a fully charged battery would be able to provide starting all day.
I found that my motor already had the charge coil under the flywheel, so I would only need a regulator/rectifier. Some electric starter kits come with a ring gear, or a flywheel with the gear attached. Mine was on a 2016 Yamaha 30 HP. 2 stroke.

 

[Pappy]

Has been done a million times. There are tons of donor motors out there as well for the correct parts. If the flywheel has engagement teeth then you do not need the flywheel. As for an alternator? The original alternators put out very little current (around 4 amps) and that was well up in the RPM range to get that. Pretty much zero output at low RPM. Will be added cost with very little benefit on that engine. I start my 1960 V4-75hp for days and days with just the battery and no charging system. This is assuming you will get a group 24 battery. No reason not to.

 

[thill]

The parts were cheaper than I thought when I converted mine. I think it was something like $120 total, but that was way before covid. No idea what current pricing is.

I was happy with mine and never had to charge my battery again. Lights, fish finder/GPS and maybe a few other small things.

Just my experience. I doubt I would do it for $800. I think I bought my whole motor with electric start already in it for something like $400