New to boating and looking for advice – Fastwin 18

[Bradley Metzger]

Hi,
I’m brand new to boating and don’t have any knowledge, we recently bought a home with a beautiful lake that warranted owning a small boat. We found this cute little wood boat that had been sitting for years with the previous owners desire to get it back in the water, it came with an Evinrude 18hp Fastwin that matched all the controls/cables so I assumed it had been on the boat and used successfully. Now after running it in the water and doing some research I think this is a “short-shaft” engine and the boat requires a “long-shaft”.
Would you please help me determine if the lower end is sitting too high?

I attached pictures of the boat and a picture that shows the boat out of the water with the prop height, I also found a video online that I took a picture of showing the same type of Fastwin sitting much lower than mine for reference.

• This topic was modified 4 years, 3 months ago by Bradley Metzger.
• This topic was modified 4 years, 3 months ago by Bradley Metzger.
• This topic was modified 4 years, 3 months ago by Bradley Metzger.
• This topic was modified 4 years, 3 months ago by Bradley Metzger.
• This topic was modified 4 years, 3 months ago by Bradley Metzger.
• This topic was modified 4 years, 3 months ago by Bradley Metzger.

[labrador-guy]

Hello Brad and welcome! Normally the cavitation plate will be 1/2 to 3/4″ below the bottom of the boat. Now racers will tell you level with the bottom is where you need to be. It all depends on you application. In one of your pictures it shows a couple shims between the transom clamps and the motor. Some one must have been experimenting. The higher the motor is the less drag and the faster you will go usually!!! That propeller if it catches air it will spin freely and make a noise the boaters call cavitation or slipping. It all depends on your boat and bottom configuration. So about all I can tell you is you will have to experiment. Your motor looks like it is a little long or deep in the water. Be careful with to many shims on the top. You do not want that motor jumping off!

dale

get’em wet…don’t let’em set

[frankr]

Your rig looks fine to me, Short shaft motor on a short shaft boat.

[crosbyman]

As a member you should download yourself a copy of the johnson maintenance red book under MEMBERS ONLY … INNER SANCTUM…. LIBRARY…. GARRY’S drop box ===> JOHNSON MAINTENANCE MANUAL

print it into a PDF file on your PC

I had my paper printed and spring bound for flat laying and easy reading 🙂

Great motor btw just feed it oil …and gas

Joining AOMCI has priviledges 🙂

[outbdnut2]

If it acts like it looses its grip on the water when you increase the throttle, the propeller may be slipping on its hub. There is a piece of rubber between these parts that you usually cannot see. This rubber goes bad and it will behave like it went into neutral when you put a load on it. Some propeller repair shops can fix this, or you can buy a new prop at places like http://www.propcopropellers.com. Take the prop off and mark the hub and prop position with a scratch or a permanent marker. Run it again and see if the marks still line up, or if it slipped.

Dave

[Mumbles]

These classic motors were designed and built in the fifties when most boats were made of wood and had keels. The anti ventilation (cavitation) plate had to be in line with the bottom of the keel, not the hull, to prevent surface air from entering the propeller area. That is why the A/V plate sits a few inches below the line of the hull. Your short shaft motor is the proper length for your boats transom, which should measure in the neighborhood of 15″. If your transom measured 20″, then you would want a long shaft motor on it.

[joecb]

Bradley… that is a nice looking boat, more photos please, and makers info if available

Joe B

[Author]

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