I love it. Thats the way we were raised and we had the greatest childhood. My Dad was so much like this...he made us the coolest fun stuff. Thank God he did that instead of spending all his free time judging other people on the internet
Thanks for the comment and the observation. Amazing how judgemental some people can be about others, but that's the world we live in I suppose. I think that your dad was very wise. Cheers
The boats over there in Thailand are made with this same type of engine mount setup! They use small gas powered engines to V-6 & V-8's as well! I've been to Thailand 3 separate times while serving in the U.S. Navy & road on these boats from the aircraft carrier to shore & back! They'll hold 20 or so people in some of these boats & they do go purty fast out across the water! A job well done on your lil ole project there, bud! Your youngin was having some fun, wasn't he!
I love this, its lightweight, and moves you arround! its perfect, and its pretty much the only thing you can use, a boat motor would flip small rafts such as that one
15 minutes after the camera stopped rolling, Mummy and Daddy are in the holiday room having boisterous copulation and discussing what to say to the insurance man about little Harry's nautical mishap.
New Zealand mate, New Zealand! All of those nasty things you've heard about live in Australia. Different country, like Canada, but lots of water in between. Not connected. The nastiest animals that we have are possums, and they came from Australia! Clean, green and nasty things free. That's us.
I used to go boating with this guy that always had some kind of engine failure and left us stranded on the river. I told him I was going to make one of these with a weed wacker and bring it along.
I was just thinking how cool it is to see kids still interested in stuff like this especially these days, with all the i phone smart phone shit going on. Some kids do nothing but sit on their ass and stare at a screen all day untill their eyes sting. Its nice to see kids getting outside and that parents are willing to take time to slap together some old boat and a weed eater for their kids amusement.
This looks like a revival of the old British Atco Boat Impeller which went out of production in the 1950s. Air-cooled engine, long straight shaft pivoted in both up and down and side to side axes on the stern. It's really not much more dangerous that a conventional outboard - but it's a lot noisier. I'd still say though it's more important for kids to learn to row than use outboards.
String trimmers were originally outboard engines for small boats - until someone thought it would be fun to destroy some weeds with the prop. Now the technology has gone full circle.
@LyonsdenNZ Amen to this, my father was always building things for me to test, and some were quite suspect, but constantly fun. What a good family you have. Oh, I'm 52 now.......
Very good great video we tried it years ago but kept cutting out too much pitch on our prop i would have made a full guard cage round the prop in case little lad falls in
It was fun to do, and "Phase 3" included RC boat props which have enclosing ducts. Unfortunately the pilot is now too big and I'm looking for another candidate for the trials!
Point taken. Since this vid there has been "Weedeater Boat Project Phase2", which added another weedeater, and Phase3 is coming. You'll be pleased to know that Phase3 has shrouds over the propellors for both safety reasons and improved thrust. Cheers.
This is the only application were I would say to use a weed eater with a curved shaft over a straight shaft, but when cutting grass, straight shaft weed eaters all the way!
There was a wee bit more to it than that, and earlier comments on this and the later "Weedeater Boat Project Phase2" will tell you a bit about how it was done. Most of the stuff I had lying around, so don't know exactly what it would cost to do, but the boat would probably be $50 or $60, the weedeater around $50, the prop about $10, plywood $15 to $20 and old bike forks should be able to be found for free! There were a few bits and pieces extra that would probably cost $30 or so. That's all $NZ.
Depends on the hull you are using, but if you're going to use a weedeater, which is quite good as it's light, go for the biggest capacity one that you can find. Some are around 32cc, which may give you between 1 and 2 HP.
@whiteboyfunk1 Hmmm... I won't be seeing 52 again, but that doesn't stop me from trying to get, and give, a little fun out of life. Unfortunately I didn't have the time to do this sort of thing with my own sons, but now that that commodity is a little easier to find, doing stuff for enjoyment is a big priority. We've all had a lot of kicks out of this project, Weedeater Boat Project Phase2, and we're looking forward to Phase3 in the near future. Hope you enjoy with us. Cheers.
I see kids that small sail boating at the lake all the time the boy is wearing a life jacket in a dingy and his dad seems to have allot of trust to just let him go like that.
@LyonsdenNZ Thank you for the reply, Dad turned 82 on Nov. 22, I showed him the video and detected a spark of joy and memories, too bad there aren't more of good ol' fashioned fun-lovers out there....
See previous comment. Since this vid we've had phase2, and now phase3 is on the way. The latest version has prop guards and is just waiting for some warmer weather before trials. Cheers.
@stuart18100 Agreed Stuart. Having trouble locating something suitable but I'm looking at cropping the existing prop(s). Have a look at "Weedeater Boat Project Phase2". It gets along a bit better with two motors, but the inflatable is too blunt. I've built a planing hull which should appear as "...Phase3" before too long. Still looking for some props...
@PBKiteboarding . Fun to do as well! "Weedeater Boat Project Phase2" was even more fun, and funnier to watch. Sort of doing donuts on the water. The 3rd phase is not far away!
ATCO made lawn mowers and they were a pig to start they also made some outboard motors but they didn't last long the good old seagulls were the best I've still got one I keep it just to surprise people that don't believe it will go
Simon,. Did you know that Seagull engines were only designed to run ONCE? They were first made for the WW2 and the landings in Normandy and after the war a few were "refined" into the engines we now have.
No, no, no! You can still see the marks that the manacles made on Australian's ankles. We had to pay to come all the way to Godzone, and we talk like them the way Americans talk like Canadians.....
I hope theres no saltwater crocs around, since this is an Aussie video. In America we have times of the year where they control the population, not sure if anything similar in Aussie land.
Not very strong! That's why I went for two motors on the next clip, "Weedeater Boat Project Phase2". The engines are only 28cc, so not much power. I have fitted smaller props (off RC boat) but haven't tried that yet as I've made a new boat which needs some work to make it float better.
yes, i agree, he might even start to (le gasp!) think for himself, and develop aspirations and goals to work towards. We cant have that happening, now can we ?
Mounted huh? we just hold um, yet ours seem a lot faster, GPS 15mph. Here in Texas the game warden gets kinda pissy about that on the river. He wanted to give me a DUI, I was in a truck tire inter tube no less, pulling a cooler. Yeah I was a lil wasted! lol He wasnt impressed!
