Can someone give me some advice, I have a Roberts 25 with the outboard on a bracket on the back, I am having issues with it like this, eg coming out of the water in rough water, hard to start because it's in a crap spot along with poor maneuverability. I have looked around and seen motors that have been mounted in the well, how hard is it to do this and also any idea od a cost
Hey Benny, 1st question, does the 25 have a well......
2nd most of us use the motor for launching and retrieving, whats wrong with your sails
No well. I use the sails as much possible but there is always times when I have to use the motor for what ever reason. It works ok being on the back but it is difficult to use.
Yeah I know the feeling hanging off the back throtteling and stearing. Have the same issue in lumpy water with the motor coming out and then submersing and dieing.
Not sure how you would go with a long leg on the back or maybe get an extension for the tiller arm on the OB, or though if you have a pushpit your steering is greatly reduced by the length of the extension.
I also have a Roberts 25 with the same problem. I was planning on lowering my bracket to the lowest possible and seeing how much that helps. I was thinking that forward controls (throttle / gear shift) might solve the access problem, if it's possible to add. I have an evinrude 15.
Benny, I have a similar issue with my Top Hat and an 8 hp standard leg on a bracket.
Mine doesn't come out of the water all that much, but it does on occasion when there is too much weight forward, or an odd chop on a bar. The gear shift is done using an 18" length of poly pipe and I can reach the throttle easily. One day, I'll get around to remote controls.
Remote controls aren't that expensive, considering the alternative (inboard). You can get just gear and throttle, as well as electric start and a charging system, and you can also get hydraulic lowering if you want to go to all that trouble.
In a bay near me in Pittwater, there is a Roberts that has a duck board affair off the back and the outboard is bolted on to that. It's almost water level, and looks butt ugly, but it would be functional.
Here is what mine looks like out of the water, I can't find one with it down, but when it is down, the head just clears the surface below the gearshift. It too gets dunked, but Tohatsus are well sealed and it never gets any in under the cowling.
Michael
I would forget the well idea. Outboards on the stern are a pain and a bit hopeless in a chop. Having the unit as low as possible will help but its not the total answer. The problem is as the prop lifts it has a large variation in pressure on the blades similar to cavitation, the prop just does nothing.
My yacht tender is a Windrush 14 cat with a platform/cockpit which I row or use a Tohatsu 2.5 uprated to 3.5. The prop sits in the correct depth but because of the nature of the wash between the hull it cavitates very badly. Fitting a cav plate resolved the issue pretty much. Next up I made another unit with a SS plate but with a vertical blade each side of the prop making in a sense 3/4 of a Korts nozzle. The improvement was astonishing. Now I am busy laying up a full Korts nozzle with epoxy and cloth over a plastic tube that will fully enclose the prop with about 6mm of clearance. In a true Korts nozzle the blades are square ended and have a very tight clearance inside the nozzle.
A Korts nozzle on your outboard would have the same effect, the nozzle would maintain water flow over the blades an you would get rid of the annoying noise the blades make as they slip. The up side is much more thrust and greatly improved steering. Not hard to make.
I've been doing some more research and it seems it is possible to put a well in but I'm not sure of the cost, the process dosen't seem to hard.
I have the long shaft and a tiller extension, it all works well most of the time, I think I'm just over having a motor hanging on the back like an afterthought, it would look so much better if the motor was hidden
Not sure of what the set-up of a Roberts 25 with a well would be....
I had a Top Hat 25 with an 8hp outboard in the well, it was a constant nuisance, to get the leg out of the water while sailing, you had to lift it out of the well & onto a bracket on the pushpit....it was dangerous, hard & risked giving it an unwelcome wash.
The well on a TH 25 doubles as the cockpit drain, so it is open to the cockpit, the outboard was noisy (had to wear earmuffs!), smoky (caused nausea), but it was out of the way, until you wanted to lift it out (couldnt tilt it up out of the water), if I have to re-power my current inboard, I'll just put a small outboard (LS) on a bracket off the transom.
cheers
