5.4m searider engine height and offset?

[mcinfantry]

ok, i have a short shaft etec 75 and a 5.4m searider.

i know why they have offset, is general reccomendation for the 5.4m searider still 1"? mine is dead center.

what height does the "cavitation" plate need to be. im trying to run a "maiden voyage" tomorrow, and mine is SEVERAL inches above the bottom of the "v". i am starting to wonder if my searider was/is set up for a longer than 20" shaft?????

can i cut the transom and lower the motor? what "too low" whats avg water line height from the bottom of the v at the transom to the water line?

please, help asap....

[Nos4r2]

Sounds odd. Got pics?

Does the transom have a cut out?

[walruz]

I'm with Nos. Only way a short shaft is going to fit is if the transom has been cut down which means you will ship a lot of water.

Ian

[matt h]

agree with Nos, these pics might help

[matt h]

thought these pictures might help too!!!

[reinier]

As far as I know there are only 20" (longshaft), 25" (extra longshaft), 30" (ultra longshaft) E-Tec 75hp. What could be the problem is that you're transom is 25" and you have a 20" shaft on your engine. I won't cut out the transom, but fit a setback on you're transom so that you easily can lower and raise the engine without cutting.

[mcinfantry]

hmmm.. im confused. im positive my motor is 20", and its on the lowest (as in motor is as low as it can go) setting. so the searider is supposed to have a 20" shaft or 25" motor?

ill update. going to get it at the boat shop now....

[Locozodiac]

Originally Posted by mcinfantry

ok, i have a short shaft etec 75 and a 5.4m searider.

i know why they have offset, is general reccomendation for the 5.4m searider still 1"? mine is dead center.

what height does the "cavitation" plate need to be. im trying to run a "maiden voyage" tomorrow, and mine is SEVERAL inches above the bottom of the "v". i am starting to wonder if my searider was/is set up for a longer than 20" shaft?????

can i cut the transom and lower the motor? what "too low" whats avg water line height from the bottom of the v at the transom to the water line?

please, help asap....

Get yor engine specs, some manuals mentions best engine height performance between boat's bottom to anticavitation plate. Your engine leg length must match your rib transom height. Had a tremendous amount of water splashing against the leg and into the sib's interior, in my case have risen the transom, now inside the engine range distance and solved the problem for ever with excellent water performance.

Don't think you can apply this principle to ribs as you do with sibs because of the deep v hull. Anyway there might be information available on best performer height tollerance distances, or ask the manufacturers. Maybe need a long shaft 20" engine to match your rib's transom height. Cutting down a perfect horizontal transom is a hell of a job than rising it.

Happy Boating

[reinier]

Originally Posted by Locozodiac

Get yor engine specs, some manuals mentions best engine height performance between boat's bottom to anticavitation plate. Your engine leg length must match your rib transom height. Had a tremendous amount of water splashing against the leg and into the sib's interior, in my case have risen the transom, now inside the engine range distance and solved the problem for ever with excellent water performance.

Don't think you can apply this principle to ribs as you do with sibs because of the deep v hull. Anyway there might be information available on best performer height tollerance distances, or ask the manufacturers. Maybe need a long shaft 20" engine to match your rib's transom height. Cutting down a perfect horizontal transom is a hell of a job than rising it.

Happy Boating

There is no such thing as a best height for outboards, that's different from boat to boat, and even the kind of prop you uses changes this. If you use a standard aluminium prop, you're prop starts cavitating inmediatelly when it rises slightly above the water. A 'normal' SS-prop can drive nearer the surface, inches above it if you want. Special propellors like choppers or cleavers made for extreme speeds are usually with one half above and with one half under the water surface...

In think the case here is: engine has a standard longshaft 20", the transomheight is 25", so you need to lower the engine somewhat for normal applications. What you can do is mounting a bracket, in order to lower your engine without cutting in you're transom. As a 'bonus' it gives you a somewhat higher topspeed. I suggest measuring you're transom and talk with some blokes at the boatshop about the mounting of a bracket.

Something like this:
http://continuouswave.com/whaler/ref...ate549x640.jpg

[Nos4r2]

Post a pic of the transom. I can give you a definitive answer then. The twin engine 5.4 seariders don't have a cutout AFAIK.