Float pods , hinged

[Sparky508]

I cant see a need to drop em like that, other then to drain em. Might be nice when I'm trolling alone, definitely keep my trolling motors prop in the water.

 

[LDUBS]

That is creative. I look forward to the water trials.

 

[lckstckn2smknbrls]

That is creative. I look forward to the water trials.

+1

 

[Vader809]

Wishing you good luck with those. There are some boats manufactured with similar equipment. I think one is called Beavertail. The sponsons are just an extension on both sides, allowing room for an out board, or mud slinger motor. However, any gap between the transom and a similar attachment will cause water to accelerate in different directions. Wear your rain gear! Anxious to hear how it goes.

 

[Sparky508]

Hoping to get it in the water this coming weekend. I still have my small outboard on there now, so if there's any drag it will likely show up dramatically.
Going to try an simulate the extra weight of a larger motor by hanging buckets of lead bars off of her. See how much squat or lack of that's present.

Need to seal off the access covers, but dont want to 3m them yet. Thinking a sheet of cork or gasket material will get me through a test or two before I seal them up for good so to speak.

15hp 4 stroke weighs in about 110-125, couple buckets added to the weight of my little 7.5 2 smoker should give me a pretty good idea. I'll mark some measurements on the side of the hull so I can take pictures of the draft as i add the weight of motor and driver. Maybe even flood the pods to show a before and after type effect.
( it'll be a fun day for anybody at the boat launch to watch that!)

Really interested to see if I get any problems with the gap. I had found where an individual, who supposedly hangs these things professionally, uses bracketing that is left open on the side such as if not more so then mine, claims they run dry inside the gap. A smart man would save these links so i could find them again and share them.

If it's simply to much splash or drag from the sides, then maybe some of that squishy gutter guard foam stuff to block the opening and still allow articulation of the pods? Lots of options to dance with if that's the case. Side guards, filler stuffs, who knows?!

Also need to fab a mount for the transducer. Pods come up to much for an adjustable mount, leaving transducer high and dry. Will probably make an extension off of the stern to extend beyond the pods. Thatll get me by for a minute until I can get busy on that part.

 

[richg99]

It certainly is a creative approach. Looking forward to the results.

With regard to saving "stuff", I've created about ten sub-categories in my Chrome. I add items daily.

With regard to the FF transducer.. some people have had luck "Shooting Through" aluminum hulls. Goop it down in the right place, and you may get good results. There is a device called the Alumaducer. Some guys skip the device and just use what they already have. That's what I would do.

 

[maintenanceguy]

Very interesting idea. Looking forward to the real world test.

 

[samuelh1987]

its common practice to goop transducers in kayaks. cut a piece of foam to fit shape of transducer & fill cut out halfway up with goop, then seat the device.

 

[Sparky508]

Got her out today, splash between transom and pods is significant, so I'll have to do something about that. Seems to cost about 1-2mph.


They do float the boat, however. Here I have 2 5 gallon buckets on the pods, 1 bucket in the boat, and 20 gallons of water dumped in the boat.


Here is the same and I have flooded the pods. Pulled the plugs and tipped em up till the bubbles quit.


Here is a shot, I am standing on the pods, not flooded, with 3 buckets of water in the boat. Water is just covering top of pods.


Still a bit of freeboard left, considering such an extreme. 225 pounds on the pods, and 120 pounds of water on the seat.

Tried to get shots of all the different lods with a tape measure in the image to show how much freeboard was left, but didnt want to go swimming....

Act as a semi decent brake while pods are buried and main motor is at an idle, or as close as I can get it and keep running. Drags down to 1.5mph.
Keeps the stern up pretty high, thinking this will be nice for trolling.

Pretty excited to strap a 15hp on her, if I could set it back 6", I would clear the pods in any position. Cavitation plate does touch when they're buried, makes a hell of a racket. (Not the prop, checked that earlier!)
Current motor sits 2" or so too low so 6" back and several up should help a good bit.



Here's a before pic, just motor no added weight.

 

[Sparky508]

Actually I think both of those images the pods are flooded. Seem to be missing lots of pictures from this morning.

 

[richg99]

As far as set back and prop height, the rule around here is for every two inches of setback, you can raise the engine one inch.

 

[Sparky508]

As far as set back and prop height, the rule around here is for every two inches of setback, you can raise the engine one inch.

So if I'm already low, I can go up a country mile right?

 

[Sparky508]

So my first attempt to deal with this is going be that gutter foam filter stuff. It would squish between the pod and boat when the gap closes.


I reckon it will arrest the splash, but I wonder, will it have any affect on the drag? Its porosity would allow it to catch water I guess, but enough to hurt, or not enough so as it would help???

Looking at the video, it appears to be mostly coming from the outside edge, and spraying up, between transom and back of the pod.

I suppose that a shield of sorts on the side would perhaps work, but would need to be pretty tight to the hull, lest or it would get ripped off pretty quickly.

This is gonna drive me nuts!

 

[Churak]

Evening Sparky, have loved following this thread and watching the project progress so far!

I had a few minutes to rough mockkup what you've got so far with some added artistic liberty (hope you like green and orange metal flake paint :lol in the spirit of just throwing ideas and burning time towards resolving the splashing issue. I saw mentioned already a side skirt for the pod which I think would be the way to go, and seeing as though you're not too afraid of some light fabrication I figured I would doodle some stuff up.

I think you can make use of your existing hinge mount point and the actuator mount point to create a structure that won't tear off, and build off of that.

Not everything is captured in the little model below, but I find it's helpful to explain my own garbled intent through pictures rather than words. The skirts would pull into the side of the pods and use that for support so they don't collapse inward and the bottom of the skirt extends down into the water a bit. Making the bit that sits vertical in the water stable enough is probably going to be a matter of the material thickness of the skirts without some clever reinforcement. Some unintended benefit might include better tracking and handling of the boat, heh. Hope this provides at least a conversation starter, looking forward to seeing how you move forward!

 

[richg99]

Those drawings certainly look like that approach should work.

 

[LDUBS]

Those drawings certainly look like that approach should work.

X2. And, if I understand, the "skirts" would use the same fasteners that hold the hinges to the hull, so no need for any additional holes.

I wonder if you could get a rough test (with emphasis on rough) of the concept by clamping a piece of angle or something to the transom that extended down to just the outboard bottom side of the pod.

 

[Sparky508]

Evening Sparky, have loved following this thread and watching the project progress so far!

Thank you sir!

That is a brilliant solution, I think I may have those materials, or enough around to crank that up!!

 

[Sparky508]

I got to test the pods finally with a little power!

At about 1/2 throttle, when pods are level vs up, I gain 2-4 mph, haven't been able to really test at WOT yet..... I do get a bit of spray still from the gap in between the transom and gap in the pods, despite being sandwiched with foam. I'll worry about that later. (Prop ventilation, need some adjustments to motor, maybe more set back)


Hopefully not caused by the pods as it would seem they would funnel water to the prop? Perhaps to turbulent to help though? Did seem to decrease slightly as they were lowered, but not enough to make a definitive conclusion. Hard to tell yet any gain or loss from level vs raised. Need to get that ventilation problem fixed first. (Always has to be something!)

They are really helpful with keeping the front mounted trolling motor buried in the water when wakes from other boats come around or when I'm flailing around in the boat! Can get the stern up pretty good when I put them down a bit beyond level. Pods completely submerged. When launching, boat floats up off of the trailer very early on the ramp, wich is nice.

 

[richg99]

Sounds great. Keep experimenting and post the results

 

[eeshaw]

I'll give you my take on this. The reason you're gaining mph with the pods level is because you've increased the planing area. You're getting spray because the void between the pod and transom is creating a low pressure area. It can syphon water and expel it along the edge with the least resistance. Usually when pods are attached to the transom they are kicked up so that when the bottom of the hull is level they are "kicked up" about 3/4 of an inch to an inch for every foot of length. So if they're 18 inches long the tip at the end farthest from the transom should be about 1 and 1/8 inches to 1 and 1/2 inches. Are they set so they are level side to side with the sides of the transom? They should also be raised up some from the bottom of the hull also when installed. This will help with the hull trying to squat on takeoff.