engine shaft size?

[lee]

i have recently acquired a 1972 22 cat.i purchased a 3hp gamefisher air cooled short shaft. when i put the engine on the motor mount and lowered it to the lowest position, the prop did not quite go down to the water line. i was thinking mabe i should buy a long shaft, but i have been told that a short shaft should work. now i am considering lowering the motor mount 8-10 inches and sealing the old holes.  my concern is that lowering the motor that far down on the stern, (1) can i still reach down ok to control and steer and(2) with a following sea or wakes from boats, will i end up with a submerged engine? thankslee

 

[greg]

short shaft

I normally use a long shaft 6 hp on my 22. However, when I was repairing it, I used my 3.5 hp short shaft to push the boat around. Apparently, my motor mount was low enough to accomodate the 3.5hp short and it worked very well in calm water. When the waves kicked up and the chop was from astern, the little motor was too close to the water and was in danger of drowning. It was at these times I forgot about using the little motor and sailed instead. You are justified in your concern about the motor being too close to the water and yes it is more difficult to reach the controls.

 

[Aldo]

Get a Long Shaft 6 HP

Lee: A long shaft motor will solve this problem. Did you check with the previous owner to see if he or she used a long shaft engine on your boat before? I would bet that your motor mount is in the right place for a long shaft motor. Relative to motor horsepower. I was just given a 5 HP Honda motor to use while my 6 HP is in the shop. With the 5 HP, I can only get the boat to go 5 knots/hr. With my 6 HP, it would go 6, which is near the theoretical hull speed of the boat. I can tell you that 1 knot/hr. makes a huge difference if you are going 40 miles on your boat one way, as we did last weekend. The 4-stroke Honda used very little fuel, didn't smoke at all, had great starting out and great reverse power, but it's not the right engine for my C-22. I need a 6 HP. I would check into the Nissan motors. They are much lighter than the Hondas. The Honda also had a tendency to rip the stater handle right out of your hand. It happened to me once and to my 16 year old son once, and it wasn't a pleasant experience. Both of us could feel it in our arms the next day. (I guess if we had the motor for any length of time we would figure out what caused this, or get used to it). I would only buy a 4-stroke engine for my next motor, although I am currently having my Johnson, 6 HP, 2-stroke repaired at this time. We use our boat over what I consider long distances for a C-22, and with a 2-stroke motor, it just takes too much fuel in weight and room. With a 4-stroke motor, 6 gallons takes the boat a long way. I hope my thoughts help you. Aldo

 

[Randy]

Gamefisher

If its the same motor I have, its shorter than a shortshaft....The small motor was designed for an inflatable boat or a small aluminum boat...You can make it work though..for little money.......on your motormount...it should have a handle with a notch for the top position and a notch for the lower position...Not sure what mount you have but the object is to drop the mount further than the lower notch... I've done this on a couple different boats...On My MKll the handle has been removed completely...when raised I have a pin that fits through a keeper to keep it raised, when lowered it drops to the bottom ...I have over 17 inchs of travel from top to bottom..I have removed the springs to keep it from binding but with a small motor I have no problem in lifting it......