Re: what ya think about these motors?
 

A bracket's a great place to pee. You might want to check the weight of the sea drive model on the 18.

Re: what ya think about these motors?
 

I didnt know they came with one. :-/

That would be interested. ;D


On the peeing thing, I totally agree. I look forward to that as well as a place to work my shrimp net more easily. 8)


DANG with all this talk about it, Im ready to go snatch my friggin motor off tonight!!! :D

Re: what ya think about these motors?
 

My Bracket has platform and it weighs 125# according to the guy at Stainless Marine
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A 1990 120hp force weighs 300# thats total 425# hanging off the back
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The boat in the pictured looked good cause it has floation!! The one you say you have has none, so its going to sit much lower with out the floation!
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Get the plastic scuppers with the ball in it and that will stop the water from backing up??

Re: what ya think about these motors?
 

OK next question.

What about adding flotation to mine? It has a 6" access hole for mounting and such.

I also cant see where a little flotation in that small bracket housing will be that bigga deal. :-/

Especially with all the foam in my boat, especially the transom. I guess every little bit helps though.

Here is a pic of my bracket.

http://www.forumpictureprocessor.com.../Brackett3.jpg

Re: what ya think about these motors?
 

well the guy sold the $400 motor from under me :( but i got a lead on a possible 86' 110 evinrude...

Re: what ya think about these motors?
 

Your bracket has floation!! after install you add a new deck plate, and and a plug underneath, that space in the bracket becomes a air pocket giving you floation!

This is a NO floation bracket
http://syncboard.com/albums/Boat-Tac...titled_001.jpg

Re: what ya think about these motors?
 

Stinky, go into www.wellcraft.com and click on 1986 and the 18 fisherman. You'll see a picture of an 18 w/sea drive.

Re: what ya think about these motors?
 

Hay Stink
I think I have followed this thread but maybe I missed something? If your bracket were sealed to the transom than you would already have the max. Flotation from the "box" on your bracket that is filled with air. Putting foam inside would not increase the flotation unless the water seal was compromised.
As you were pointing out about the beam of the 18, it is not just a scaled down V20 like my V17 is, It was designed to be an 18’ boat. I have a friend with a V18 and he rebuilt the transom and installed a 155hp Evinrude outboard on the transom. It will run around 50mph but now he wishes he had installed a 130 or 140 that was lighter due to handling.
As far as the effects of a bracket on a 18’ boat, I think any effects in performance are really more dependent on the boats weight (the more it weighs the more possible improvement) not the length as long as it can handle the weight shift involved. I agree that any info from the seadrive installations in the past would be helpful. They have close to the same setback as a smaller bracket with no flotation. A 1.6 liter seadrive V4 weighed about 385lb, the 1.6 standard 1.6 outboard =310lb. With my 17, I can understand the importance of "More space" the bracket will give you!
My $ .02

Re: what ya think about these motors?
 

MJ, all I can say is DOH!!!! *I was thinking too hard and didnt realize air=flotation. *::) Thanks man!!!! *8)


Seacrets, I checked it out...cool deal. Ill bet the guy that I met (pics above) was a seadrive. His transom looked factory.



Pikfish- thanks for the imput man, I really appreciate it.



OK, I think Ill be going with a V4. Itll be less immediate expense, less weight, less maintenance (two more spark plugs, hey wow!) and probably not much of a performance loss. If I werent going bracket I would definitely jump to a 150, but not on the bracket, Ive got enough variables with this swap to worry about w/o that.

8)


BUT, I hope my Force runs for 80 more years and I dont have to worry about it. ::)

Re: what ya think about these motors?
 

The thing with the old Sea drive set up is they kept it real close to the boat as not to hang way back and have that more leverage.
A sea drive kind of went up and out when you tilted the motor up.

The way we are doing it you have to put the weight further away from the boat to have room for the power head to come up when tilting.
There for making more weight further from the boat giving it more lea verge on the transom.

I also agree you will gain nothing by adding foam to the bracket. The air tight pocket in the bracket is all you need.