Re: Recommented Motor Shaft Length (HMS18)

Rich Duffy (duffy@maui.com)
Wed, 3 Feb 1999 07:53:42 -1000


- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
West Wight Potter Website at URL
http://www.lesbois.com/wwpotter/
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
The theory of prop placement as described in the Nissan 3.5B manual
(and elsewhere) is that the motor should be located such that the
anticavitation plate be is one to two inches below the bottom of the
transom. This is presumed to stick the prop in a stream of water
comparatively undisturbed by the boat's passage. For me, this
dictated a long-shaft OB on my P14.

> Based on the input I have received on the list, the BHP Nissan/Tohatsu
> is the hands down winner for a good size for the '19 --- thanks all for
> your comments. (Somehow I knew it would come out that way...)
>
> Now I have to anguish over shaft length. I suspect that the long shaft
> outboard is also the best bet --- even though the stainless steel swing
> down watch-a-ma-call-it on my transom would probably allow me to use a
> short shaft motor. The cost differential isn't that much....
>
> My conservative Lutheran background seems to be pulling me toward a 2
> cycle motor as I was taught never to buy something that hasn't been well
> proven in the field. I guess that's why I had a string of five new VWs
> (all the same color) in the 60's and 70's --- what a trauma when they
> stopped selling them....
>
> Cheers
> Rye Gewalt
> '90 HMS 18
> Springfield, VA
>
>