outboard fan/airboat motor who posted it???

Robert Stanfield

Robert Stanfield

Active member
ok I saw on one of the sites a fan/airboat type motor that had transom clamps like a outboard and powered by a small motor like a honda. My questions are who has the specs on these type motor, a picture and or someone who has or is using this type motor please let me know what you think of them


This little tunnel is great but when I get there the boat is sitting on the mud I am screwed and I have to find another option to get to some of my spots this year short of a full scale airboat
 
I think I saw that..I don't believe that it would push you across mud..you might look at one of the smaller mud motors.
 
Here's one. Looks kind of small. The couple guys around here use chevy 350's.

http://www.bowfishusa.com/community/index.php?topic=10866.msg109651;topicseen
 

There were two manufacturers of these many years ago. One was called Airboy and the other I can't recall right now. They are considered clasics now and fetch a hefty price. I saw a movie of one of the Airboy's pushing a canoe upriver and it looked like it was going 5-6 mph. No way would it puss you across mud.

Mark W
 
Mark ,
thanks I will do a serach and see what I can find out about there set ups

Andrew ,
I have that big mud boat with the 400 sbc just thinking of a smaller version

Lee,
small mud motor may not work for this boat would have to build a new hull
 
I do have a few picture of the Airboy if you would like to see them? A guy who visited this site once was selling one and I got a bunch of pic's.

Mark W
 
That would be great. I can't seem to find anything for airboy motors doing the goggle thing unless I did it wrong somehow:) if you have pictures please post them to let me see if that is the one I am thinking of.
 
We had a similar set up to hunt the Platte River in Nebraska when I was a kid. Too shallow and sandy to use an outboard, so everybody runs airboats. We used a JLO 2 cylinder 2 cycle snowmobile engine, must have been about 40 hp. My dad ordered a special propellor from Banks/Maxwell in Texas and bolted it directly onto the driveshaft. Used a tiller handle with a motorcycle twist throttle. Straight pipes, they have to be tuned, it was loud as heck. The whole motor and propellor (which was in a cage) twisted as a unit to steer. We always joked that the old man should have patented the setup.

The neatest part of the airboat was the hull. We had used a plywood/fiberglass originally, and then a jonboat, but the skegs caused problems and it wouldn't skim over the sandbars. There was a welder in town who was an amazing guy, and somehow he and my dad got ahold of a surplus aluminum drop tank from a B52 or some cold war bomber. It was rectangular in shape, and some wild alloy, must have cost the taxpayers about 20K apiece. It was more than 3/16ths thick, and if you hit it with an axe it would bounce off and your hands would hurt for days. They figured out how to heliarc/gas weld this stuff and made a 16 x 4 boat, with integral ribs.

That thing is still on the old farm, minus the motor. The grandkids use it as a swim platform in the pond...
 
that sounds like what I am think of the engine I will use is probaly the rotax 587 witch is 60-65hp or possiably I may use a rotax 720 witch is 95hp I want to use the direct drive to avoid the cost of the gear box but if I have to go that roiut I may be able to build a chain or belt reduction drive like the airboats use. pretty much all teh aluminum boat hulls I have built don't have any extrenal skegs so they will slide good across the mud flats or so I hope.
You don't have any pictures of the motor stll or remeber what the diameter and pitch of the prop was do you?
 
It is hanging in my brother's garage, but he's in Iraq at the moment flying a Blackhawk helicopter. Maybe he caught the flying bug from those airboats, like me... I think it was about 42", and pitched pretty steep.

With a Rotax turning around 4 -5K rpm, the tips of your propellor will be going, I dunno, supersonic. Bad for propulsion, and dangerous (prop delaminating etc.), and loud. I didn't realize this til later in life, when I first saw a Lycoming engine torn apart and wondered why the pistons were so huge, and the rpms were so low.

Reduction gear or limit the revs to 2 - 2.5K. Check out Great Plains VW aircraft site http://www.greatplainsas.com/screddr.html and look at their reduction gears. They are pretty well engineered and reasonable. Otherwise, look at some of the Subaru conversions and reduction systems. Or how about a Corvair? Low rev's etc.

You can look at Ivoprops, adjustable pitch. Very reasonable. Sterba props are good also. Try looking at Aircraft Spruce's catalog or online. They have some airboat specific props in the last catalog.

Yeah, I'm into homebuilt airplanes too!

I will look for some pictures, but can't guarantee I'll find any. But I remember every bolt of that setup, so hopefully I can answer questions if you have them. It looked a lot like the tadpole setup.

best,
Dave
 
mike just sent me pictures of the airboy and that is what I was thinking of (thanks again mike)

actual the great plains belt reduction style gear is what I was thinking of building. I have seen guys around here using setups like (belt driven)that on 400 sbc airboats and I am pretty handy think I can build one fairly easy.

PS' "I built a dragonfly several years ago and still have a few of those catalogs laying around aircraft spruce store was only about 20 mintues form my house :)"
 
Robert -

Glad the pictures helped. One other thing to consider, I have book marked a couple of pages on airboat motors (homebuilts) ans another thing to consider is to look at those motors that one straps on your back and uses with a parachute (parasailing I think).

Like mentioned earlier, if your building one, I'd sure like to see it.

Mark W
 
Mark,
the home built planes and helicopters don't bother me but I'll let the parisailing to someone else :)


I will post pictures when I get started building, have to pull the engine and get a prop first
 
There's one one on Ebay right now. Ends in 24 hours and located in Minn. If I was closer I would take a look.

Just search ebay for 'duck boat' and it will come up. 5hp clamp on fan type of rig. "Dragonfly"
 
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