He Repaired His Outboard Motor With A Briggs & Stratton Engine

He repaired his outboard motor with a Briggs & Stratton engine ENGINES Engines 13-4-9 When the 7 1/2-hp Evinrude outboard motor failed on Donald Bray's 12-ft aluminum boat, he replaced it with a new 5 hp air-cooled Briggs & Stratton motor for about one fifth the cost of a new outboard motor. "A new 8-hp outboard motor would've cost about $1,100 whereas the Briggs & Stratton motor cost only $200," says Bray, of Litchfield, Ill. "I used it all last summer and it worked fine. It uses less fuel and oil than the Evinrude and goes almost as fast. I would have preferred to use an 8 hp motor, but the motor's extra weight might have made the boat a little awkward to handle because I don't have aboat trailer. This air-cooled engine is lightweight and has no exhaust or water intake so I can set the propeller nearly 7 in. higher than normal which allows metorun the boat in shallow streams." Bray removed the onginal motor, keeping the propeller, gearbox and transmission. He extended the propeller driveshaft upward, installed a new bearing on the drive shaft, and attached a pulley to the upper end of the shaft. He also mounted a pulley on the Briggs & Stratton output shaft. "It runs at a slower rpm than the original engine, so I used a larger pulley on the engine than on the drive shaft. The transmission allows me to go forward and reverse just like before, at almost the same speed. I tighten the belts by turning a crank, and I can install and remove the motor using only a wrench," notes Bray. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Donald Bray, 1208 N Madison St. Litchfield, Ill. 62056 (ph 217 324-2284).

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