Re: [electricboats] Advice for electric conversion

I converted my 25HP Tohatsu outboard to electric just over 20 years ago.

Since, I have been running with an original Briggs and Stratton Etek motor.

The mount is fairly simple with a thin quarter or three eights inch thick aluminum plate on which is mounted 3 thick aluminum uprights maybe 2inch high each and on top of that a half inch aluminum plate that the motor is mounted to.  The motor direct drives the spline shaft and there are no additional bearings.

Initially I cast my own spline to 7 eighths inch diam. Shaft couplers by casting the spline part with JB weld…those would last 2 or 3 months before shredding… Later I learned that outboard driveshafts typically have identical splines on top and bottom.  And so, for 35 dollars I picked up a used lower unit spline bevel gear, then bringing that and a 7 eights diameter shaft coupler to a machinist I had the machinist grind down the gear to 7 eighths inch diam at one end, then inserted and epoxied the result into the 7 eights diam. Coupler.  Result has been solid for nearly 20 years and cost just 100 dollars total including the machining.  I was looking at at least 500 dollars to get a spline coupler machined, so this was a bargain.

 

See pics at www.evalbum.com/492

 

Myles

 

From: electricboats@groups.io [mailto:electricboats@groups.io] On Behalf Of Randy Cain
Sent: Saturday, October 7, 2023 6:54 AM
To: electricboats@groups.io
Subject: Re: [electricboats] Advice for electric conversion

 

This is the approach that I'm taking. I have dual ME-1616 motors and dual 120S saildrives. I plan on using 0.5in aluminum plate, reusing the existing spline welded to a new jackshaft that sits on bearings in an oil bath.