which boat should I choose

wiudavis · May 4, 2009

Update. Well the 20 hp Mercury was locked up. We removed the plugs thinking it might be "hydro locked" (I think that is the term) but the rope still wouldn't budge. I then went to the tradin post and bought a Mariner 28 with electric start and throttle cables. I got a heck of a buy on it, but when I picked it up I realized it was a long shaft. Two questions, how hard is it to install a steering console, and two is there any problems with a long shaft motor on a boat with a regular length transom? I realize the motor will be deeper in the water, but what other problems do you face?

Zum · May 5, 2009

I'd seroiusly think about building a jackplate(or raising transom).
It will be in the water further,might hit more stuff
Wouldn't handle as good,especially in turns.
I'm thinking with that much in skag in the water the bow will "dig" in?
Plus more drag(speed) and I think maube more spray behind boat.
You can use it though.

Bend some aluminum with some wood inbetween it.(may not need the wood)
Pretty sure theres a few mods on here that did it.

seaarc · May 6, 2009

Here's a link to what I used for my long shaft motor.https://www.thmarine.com/product.cfm?PRID=23

You can look in my gallery to see pics of it and my console. Not too hard to do this and it works great. Give me a holla if you have any questions.

Dave

wiudavis · May 7, 2009

Thats for the help. Seaarc, thanks for the link. Now with that mini jacker, what is the other piece in the photo from th marine? It looks like a block of wood divided into 4 pieces. My brother in law is a welder, so I was going to have him fabricate me one of these beauties out of stainless. I wasn't sure what that other piece was, or if it were necessary. I like what you have done with your boat too. My outboard motor is also setup for a steering column, is there anything special that is needed if you place your motor on a mini jacker and have steering controls? I plan to build my column out of wood also, if I cannot find an old one at my local marina. Thank you so much for your help.

seaarc · May 7, 2009

wiudavis said:
Thats for the help. Seaarc, thanks for the link. Now with that mini jacker, what is the other piece in the photo from th marine? It looks like a block of wood divided into 4 pieces. My brother in law is a welder, so I was going to have him fabricate me one of these beauties out of stainless. I wasn't sure what that other piece was, or if it were necessary. I like what you have done with your boat too. My outboard motor is also setup for a steering column, is there anything special that is needed if you place your motor on a mini jacker and have steering controls? I plan to build my column out of wood also, if I cannot find an old one at my local marina. Thank you so much for your help.

Your welcome. Yes the other piece is just a block of wood. I am not sure why they cut the devision lines in it but it is needed, it gives you something to clamp the motor to, like the wood in most transoms.You will have to decide where you want the console to be in the boat so that you can measure to determine how long of a stearing cable you will need. I used a stearing setup by Teleflex there web site will show you how to measure for the cable. Here is a link for Teleflex https://www.teleflexmarine.com/steering-us/
I used one of the top three mechanical stearing system can't remember which one. You can check with a local marine supply store to see what they carry that's what I did. If you have access to someone that can weld that's a great way to go just cut a block of 2x? to put in it. The local marine store may have one in stock that you can get some measurements off of.
good luck Dave