Test wheels

[Tinman]

Are test props worth having to test motors prior to getting them on the water? Thanks.

[fleetwin]

Test props are surely nice to have, but not that necessary when testing little motors in an adequate test tank set up. Needless to say, using a test wheel can help when having to test run engines at high power settings for extended periods, they put a decent load on the engine without all the erratic water flow in and out of the test tank. I guess I would describe test wheels as “nice to have”, but usually not necessary for smaller outboards.

[Mumbles]

For smaller motors and the average Joe I would say no but if you have a very large test tank and higher horsepower motors, they can save a lot of grief by having the motor prepped and ready to mount on a boat. It’s a lot easier on the nerves to tune a 200 horse motor in a test tank than leaning over it while it’s running at full throttle on a boat! If you don’t have a test tank, the motor can also be run up while mounted on a boat which is secured well to its trailer and dipped in a lake at a clean ramp.

[frankr]

Depends. Do you just want to start it up to make sure it runs? Or do you want to run it wide open throttle. Also, what kind of a test tank? Test prop or not, you can’t run a 10hp outboard at high speed in a garbage can. It will empty the can, test prop or not. Test props still have a small bit of forward thrust to prevent cavitation.

In the service shop, however, I always used a test prop, if available, even with small motors. It allows WOT throttle for thorough testing.

[Tinman]

No big test tank here. I put mine in a 55 gallon drum. No real big motors either. 20 hp max down to 5.5. Just thought it would be nice to get them dialed in before hitting the water.

[frankr]

Certainly better than the stock prop.

[fleetwin]

Tinman wrote:

No big test tank here. I put mine in a 55 gallon drum. No real big motors either. 20 hp max down to 5.5. Just thought it would be nice to get them dialed in before hitting the water.

And you are right, test wheels make working/troubleshooting in the tank much easier. The problem is that there is a different one for each family of engines, so it can get expensive to have one for all the various OMC outboards you may have collected. But, it is surely worth keeping an eye on ebay/aomci classifieds/swap meets, you will find an affordable one sooner or later for the common older OMCs that you have….D

[Tinman]

Thanks for the help. I’ll keep an eye out for some.

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