Help with determining how best to mount OB

Motor discussion
dawgaholic
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Joined: Thu Oct 06, 2011 9:20 am
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Help with determining how best to mount OB

#1

Post by dawgaholic »

How do you calculate the most efficient mounting solution is the question. And how do you know if you need to employ a jack plate or transom set back? I'm trying to understand how builders determine when to utilize the transom setups they employ, like Wooldridge using a literal extension to achieve the desired performance, other CC builders using Armstrong brackets, others use conventional jack plates and Porta Brackets, and then the high end guys married to fixed transom installs.
I only do what the voices in the Tackle Box tell me to.
kmorin
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Re: Help with determining how best to mount OB

#2

Post by kmorin »

dawg, the term 'best' in your topic name may be a little bit relative? There are reasons each different boat or group of boats use different geometry and structures to get that geometry so "best" isn't going to show up here.

What is more likely is a discussion of why the different applications are solved/built/installed the way that particular solution is found.

For example if a boat has a very high horsepower to weight ratio (?) then the engine is most often on the large and heavy end of the range available for that size boat. This leads to a very deep immersion at rest and therefore a hydraulic jack plate is the best solution possible to adjusting the prop and 'cav-plate' for the most engine performance. But that set of conditions isn't present with a wider beam hull with more moderate power because the at rest waterlines of the two boats are so different.

Another major difference is the design purpose of the boat. Some fishermen want the engines tucked in close so they can fish over them when a fish changes sides of the boat while being fought at the stern. Others prefer to work their gear/fish over a fixed quadrant so they want every square inch of deck they can get therefore- they prefer their outboards; well... outboard. That's why this "deck priority" fishermen/boaters group request large cantilevers to get the engines out and aft- to get more deck.

Still others argue, "If you've hung the engines out a yard aft.... why not box that in and extend the hull?" Endless cycle here -right?

I'm not sure the word best is going to return much in the discussion because I'm not confident you could make a statement about "what's best" and get much agreement of that definition?

It may be more educational to ask "What arrangement do you have? and why does that arrangement fit your boating requirements?"

cheers,
Kevin Morin
kmorin
dawgaholic
Posts: 509
Joined: Thu Oct 06, 2011 9:20 am
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Re: Help with determining how best to mount OB

#3

Post by dawgaholic »

Thanks Kevin, those of us not in the biz have to throw something out there to see if it will stick. This came about as I was admiring various Bay type boat styles and noticed such a variety of mounting applications. After going back and examining the testing of the various offerings I can better appreciate the degree of difficulty in the task. I suppose some of it is personal preference but there are considerable cost differentials that come into play among the various options and so I was also trying to account for them in the pricing along with the cost effectiveness of the application.
I only do what the voices in the Tackle Box tell me to.
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