The whole wet feet/heavy new engine thing

[makorider]

So this weekend I'm taking a break trying to get feeling back in my arms after waxing and holding the buffer over my head all day, and I'm staring at my transom thinking what a pair of new Etecs would look like hanging there.

Got me to thinking, obviously the extra weight of the newer 4 strokes or even DFIs has been an issue for most.

Maybe I'm crazy, tell me if so. But looking at the area between my engines (and granted they were straight...I didnt turn the wheel to see how much room I'd really have) I wondered if anyone had even thought about glassing out a box and bolting/glassing it on the transom to displace water. With a top cross section of a triangle, there is enough area under water, on my 261 at least, that I cant help but think that you could displace about 2 cubic feet of water. At 62.5#/ft^3, thats 125# of extra engine weight you negate, more if the box displaces more, and realistically more if you consider that lift is cantelevered aft of the transom.

So, was the newly welcomed sun and wax fumes just getting to me, or is this somthing thats actually worth thinking about?? Now that I'm sitting here thinking, what is the max angle an outboard twists/turns? If that doesnt work, what about a pair on each side??

Just thinking out loud...kind of anyways.

[Wilson Ayala]

What you seem to be describing is a flotation bracket. Check out Armstrong's website and see if this is the same. There are lots of other manufacturers too.

[makorider]

Yes and no. I know you guys love them, but you can keep your brackets, I will never own one. A major part of the reason why we bought used, I hate fishing around an engine thats haning 3-4 feet back off the transom.

I'm talking about making a 'flotation box(es)' to add lift to the stern while at rest to compensate for the newer, heavier engines. While sitting there staring, it dawned on me...I remember in a very old Mako catalog I had (among others that I WILL find for Ed one of these days), on the 17s they used to offer baitwells, as an option, that hung/bolted on each side of the stern. Thought to myself, if you did that, but made them completely closed and watertight, you'd add lift. And looking more, it may be possible that there is enough room between my engines to make a custom box that allows the engines to turn while still adding significant displacement. There are some other concerns, such as beveling the bottoms so they dont act like fixed tabs, but the more I think about it the more it may be an option down the line.

[Wilson Ayala]

I get it now, and I understand your feelings on the bracket thing. I used to hage them for exactly the reasons described, and I just recently got over it. I am thinking of putting one of those articulating brackets (Porta) from Bob's.