4.1 rib 50hp tiller steer

[GraemeCooper]

Hi Ian - what budget do you have for an engine? I know of a new tohatsu 30 short shaft going - its new but the dealer wants rid of it and may do a good deal - depends on your budget I guess - pm me if you like

[ian parkes]

Thanks Graeme
i have bought the 50 now so have spent my budget really . I would have considered a 30 but only if i could have tried one on the boat and been sure it had enough grunt.
A new 30 is a rare find

[GraemeCooper]

No Worries

Have to make my decision this weekend - got it down to 3 choices really - an SR4 Avon with a 40 in VG condition, an Avon 5.4 with a 75 Mercury - or go the SIB route and have a QS 380 SXD with a console fitted and a Mariner 25 - all very different and have their own pros and cons. Would be interested on how you get on with your new outfit - when will it be on the water?

[ian parkes]

To update this thread , I have the 50 tohatsu and lodstar 4.1 on the water now . There are no issues with overpower etc , it all seems to perform very well indeed .
Done about 41/2 hrs so far so the motor is still running in and I expect it will rev a little harder and run even smoother etc when its on the normal 50-1 oil mix instead of 25-1.

Quick bursts of Wot show about 30 kts , but the way it gets there is very quick , it literally fires out of the water to top speed as quick as you open the tap , you really have to hold on. I expect some adjusting of trim angle etc will improve things a little .

Cruising is very relaxed at 3-4k revs and it uses about 5-6 litres an hour at about 25 kts so plenty of power and light boat seems to pay off .

I really expected it would need a steering damper but there is no need at all for one so far , no pull or kick on the tiller at all even if I throw it about as hard as I dare . Maybe a different story when I start playing in the surf etc

Iam quite surprised at how quiet smooth and civilised the Tohasu 50 is , i expected a noiser harsher version of my yam 25 at least but its much smoother and quieter with a lovely snarl when you open it up .

Its a relief its worked out so well , I did have fears of the boat feeling unstable and chine walking and not being able to use all the power etc but its nothing like it . Even My 8 yr old daughter can drive it with ease .

[Andy JC]

Surprised the 50hp is so easy to handle, are you sitting on the floor to steer or have you got some kind of seat?

Any pics yet?

[ian parkes]

Originally Posted by Andy JC

Surprised the 50hp is so easy to handle, are you sitting on the floor to steer or have you got some kind of seat?

Any pics yet?

Iam as surprised as you . I really did expect it to be a bit of a handfull.

I have been out around Rame Head this evening and tried it in some chop and smallish rolling swell. hitting waves and bouncing about at cruising speeds its ok . I reckon if I drove it hard in that sort of sea then its going to get a little more challenging and maybe need some sort of damper , but i don't think my body will stick too much of that anyway I think just a bungee on the tiller will be enough

I sit on the tube most of the time , but the boat is just the right width to wedge yourself in sat on the floor .

It was just me and my daughter in the boat tonight so it was very light and we cruised at a steady 3500 rpm ish ( still running in ) the best bit was we used about £8 of fuel for a trip that was costing me about £30 before .

I will try and sort some pics somehow , ---Bob

[randski]

Originally Posted by ian parkes

I will try and sort some pics somehow , ---Bob

Ian e mail me any pic's you have and I will put them up . If not I will take some this weekend

[ian parkes]

cheers mate , its all been a little too busy so far to take any decent pics.

[Andy JC]

Out of interest, how do you know what rpm it's doing?

Assuming it's by using a tacho, where do you mount it with a tiller setup?

[Easyrider]

Hi Ian-glad youre happy with your rig- i remember you wanting to get a surfcat-hard to find at a decent price eh.
Your rib probably weighs a bit more than my surfcat, but i think that you will find that running the std prop it will be a little under propped when going flat out- i run a worked semi cleaver 15inch powertech prop and it revs to about 5600/5700 (rev limiter cuts in at 5900)with 2 adults on board(about 45 knots)-i would imagine that you could run the same size prop.
If you do decide to get a higher pitched prop you will probably want a damper as when you jump out of even a small chop it tends to snatch quite a bit when the prop hits the water which makes you weave along.
The damper i use is the Mercades van steering damper with a tiller extension(same as the ones on the thundercats)from Mullacott marine, which is alot cheaper than the other dampers, but just as effective when set up properly. If you do decide to get these ill let you know what simple changes i made to make it much better.

[ian parkes]

Originally Posted by Andy JC

Out of interest, how do you know what rpm it's doing?

Assuming it's by using a tacho, where do you mount it with a tiller setup?

Yes using a tiny tach , great little thing , shows hrs too . I have just mounted it with tie wraps on the casting the tiller is hinged on . It easy enough to read on the move .

[ian parkes]

Originally Posted by Easyrider

Hi Ian-glad youre happy with your rig- i remember you wanting to get a surfcat-hard to find at a decent price eh.
Your rib probably weighs a bit more than my surfcat, but i think that you will find that running the std prop it will be a little under propped when going flat out- i run a worked semi cleaver 15inch powertech prop and it revs to about 5600/5700 (rev limiter cuts in at 5900)with 2 adults on board(about 45 knots)-i would imagine that you could run the same size prop.
If you do decide to get a higher pitched prop you will probably want a damper as when you jump out of even a small chop it tends to snatch quite a bit when the prop hits the water which makes you weave along.
The damper i use is the Mercades van steering damper with a tiller extension(same as the ones on the thundercats)from Mullacott marine, which is alot cheaper than the other dampers, but just as effective when set up properly. If you do decide to get these ill let you know what simple changes i made to make it much better.

I really fancied the surfcat but its a lot more money and didn't seem as suitable as this little rib for load carrying . probably even more fun I guess . We often end up with 4 or 5 on the boat for short trips

i am on the standard 13.5 alloy prop at present and it seems to be fine , I have had a few short bursts of wot at 5400 rpm so i expect when its properly run in and on 50-1 It may rev a few hundred more . Havent checked the speed flat out with the gps yet but I don't expect it will be as quick as the surfcat
I see those merc steering damper shocks on ebay for about £12 , its just the bracket that needs making . How stiff does it make the steering for slow manouvering ?
I was looking at the steering dampers for motorbikes but they don't seem to have a long enough stroke
Thanks for the info i would be interested in how yours is set up ,Although i say it doen't need one I should think it would make longer trips less tiring

[Easyrider]

It feels very stiff if you move the tiller whilst stationary, but in use its not that bad at all.
The problem i encountered with my damper/extension was that it restricted the amount of turn-i sussed that if i mounted the damper closer to the engine by drilling an additional hole in the tiller it gave much better travel-enough to turn the boat 180deg at 30+ knots within 2 boat lenghts!!I also changed the position of where the damper mounts the transom from a top mount to an internal mount - You could probably mount the damper by just drilling an 8.5mm hole through the transom about 3cm from the top and use a long 8mm stainless bolt with a spacer/washers between the damper and the transom. I havnt worked out how to post pictures yet- but as soon as i have i'll put some up.

[prairie tuber]

This is good stuff - I installed a tiny tach style tach about 2 weeks ago. I'm running a 10 1/2" x 13 prop on my 40 and am finding that a WOT the rpms are a little lower (4900) than they should be (5500). Then again, that is with 20% less hp than you guys have. I have a bad case of Tohatsu 50 carb'd 2 stroke envy!

[Easyrider]

Originally Posted by prairie tuber

This is good stuff - I installed a tiny tach style tach about 2 weeks ago. I'm running a 10 1/2" x 13 prop on my 40 and am finding that a WOT the rpms are a little lower (4900) than they should be (5500). Then again, that is with 20% less hp than you guys have. I have a bad case of Tohatsu 50 carb'd 2 stroke envy!

Hi Prairie, Used Tohatsus are available over here occasionally which are ex RNLI ones-they are badged as Mariners but are Tohatsus with a couple of mods on them-they have a different transom mount with a vairable lock gas tilt(which is great for ANY trim angle) and a slightly longer leg(a 3 inch spacer added in) - i should imagine that its easy to shorten it back to short shaft though.They also have an electric start added too, but still retain the pull start.They are usually only 3/4 years old.
Worth a look into............

Your revs are probably down due to the extra gear you carry-ive seen your pictures of your grx on your adventures.You could do with a 12" prop on your yam.
The power difference between your Yam and the Tohatsu is chalk and cheese-if you do get one, youll be blown away with the difference.They're pretty economical if you cruise around at 3/4 throttle- i was quite suprised the other day when i was out, travelled about 20 miles at 3/4 throttle-5 miles full throttle and another 5 miles kneeboarding/looning about doing 3g turns and wake jumping, and got through only 18 litres of fuel!!!! Sea conditions were flat calm,2 adults(about 170 kg's) and just the bare essentials of a bit of extra fuel/flares/ropes/anchor ect.

[randski]

Ian's Rib

[Andy JC]

Always fancied a Tiny-tach for mine as it's not fitted with a rev counter so had a look on the net and there seems to be a very few outlets selling them. Thought I'd contact the company direct last night and I had a reply this morning saying that the model I require(for a 3cyl, 2smoke) would be £45 inc vat/del. He also said he'd send one out with an invoice imediately and I can pay once I've received it!

That's what I call a good service (albeit a little too trusting in this day and age)

Hopefully it will arrive in time for the SR jolly at the weekend

[ian parkes]

Originally Posted by Easyrider

Hi Prairie, Used Tohatsus are available over here occasionally which are ex RNLI ones-they are badged as Mariners but are Tohatsus with a couple of mods on them-they have a different transom mount with a vairable lock gas tilt(which is great for ANY trim angle) and a slightly longer leg(a 3 inch spacer added in) - i should imagine that its easy to shorten it back to short shaft though.They also have an electric start added too, but still retain the pull start.They are usually only 3/4 years old.
Worth a look into............

Your revs are probably down due to the extra gear you carry-ive seen your pictures of your grx on your adventures.You could do with a 12" prop on your yam.
The power difference between your Yam and the Tohatsu is chalk and cheese-if you do get one, youll be blown away with the difference.They're pretty economical if you cruise around at 3/4 throttle- i was quite suprised the other day when i was out, travelled about 20 miles at 3/4 throttle-5 miles full throttle and another 5 miles kneeboarding/looning about doing 3g turns and wake jumping, and got through only 18 litres of fuel!!!! Sea conditions were flat calm,2 adults(about 170 kg's) and just the bare essentials of a bit of extra fuel/flares/ropes/anchor ect.

I did look into the ex rnli engines but the price wasn't that good , the more recent engines were within £400 of what Paid for a brand new Tohatsu and still needed the leg length sorting etc . nearly all were at a certain well know High price dealer
Prarie it may be worth speaking to Locozodiac about a tohatsu 50

That gas tilt sounds useful , I was only thinking today how useful some sort of manual trim adjustment could be other than stopping and moving the pin , Any idea where I could get hold of one

[Easyrider]

I like the pics- nice rib.Barrus marine devision could possably help-but i think that its not just the tilt ram thats needed-im pretty sure that the whole saddle needs changing as the RNLI 50's use the old Mariner 40 saddle thats been adapted, not the origonal Tohatsu item-so it could be a bit pricey.
I did the same as you-decided to get at the time was the last available new one instead of an ex RNLI one.I think one or two became available after, so i presume you got it-weve been very lucky eh!!! Did you get yours from Extreme Marine? I bet you cant wait to get it run in.
Just adding to what was mentioned earlier about the stiffness of a damper- I too have an 8 year old daughter and she steers it with no probs at all.

[ian parkes]

Yes I can't wait to get it run in . The motor starts missing if i run slow for a while , I hope its just the plugs getting a bit oiled , a quick burst of wot cures it , but thats not always possible if its a bit lumpy so i can't go play for another 4 hrs
sods law on the gas tilt , nothing ever comes together simply with boats does it
Yes my motor came from extreme marine , the last one