outboard mailbox blower?

[bucketofguts]

i bought a 13.6 ft RIB to do a little treasure finding next season. anyone have any ideas, or pics of such an outfit. i don't wont to see any "it can't be done" posts. thank you for your time! ben

 

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[wailinmacs]

i heard it can be done . i think a jetski would be easy-er and attract a lot less attention

 

[rgecy]

Here is one I made for my Yahmaha 225. Its 18" diameter and has a 2' longer down tube to help blow in deeper water. I also have a picture of another smaller one on a 25 horse outboard that I will post later.

This pict is before we put the mounting brackets on. Will try to post those later as well. I think there are some picts in another topic if you do search.

http://forum.treasurenet.com/index.php/topic,48219.0.html

Robert

 

[rgecy]

Cornelius,

I did the design work and templates but a friend did the welding at HIS shop. I did the fitting and installtion as well. I haven't learned how to weld Aluminum successfully yet! I tried down in Cocoa when we were installing the blowers on the Conquistador, but it was a futile attempt.

I will leave that up to the pros for now!

Robert

 

[Salvor6]

Here is a picture of the blowers I made for my outboards. They work great.

 

[bucketofguts]

thank you thank you!!!!!!!!!! no permanent attachment point on the boat like i have seen. the outboard blower is affixed the the shaft when blowing. then taken off and stowed when moving? thank you for fielding my newbie questions. is there an equation for blower diamenter for prop size? thaks again for you time! ben.............ps how much of an art form is blowing holes?

 

[Blacksheep 6]

RGecy and Salvor 6...

Very nice pics indeed...always wondered if that had ever been tried before, just never asked...Thanks for your pics!!!

Blacksheep6...

 

[bucketofguts]

off topic! Blacksheep 6 , i took a tiger cruses on the USS America in the late 80s. the air crew dressed me in green gear and i stood on the deck 10 feet from f-14 tomcat wings while landing!!!!!! on of the scariest things i have ever experienced!!!!, and i was still drunk from the night before. was a guest of VAW-123 i think. EC2 Hawkeye squadron. seems like a long time ago. i always think of that when i see you post. back on topic they are great pics and have helped me bunches! ben

 

[FireRescue]

The welds on that aluminum look clean.

 

[Blacksheep 6]

OFF TOPIC...Sorry...

Bucket...ahhh,booze,women,hangovers and tailhooks...the lost days of Naval Aviation...when we could STILL kick everyone's azzz as we still can...it seems the good old days ended after Cliton took office (yeah, I know how I spelled it)...and Trader Jon's down in P'cola started going south...due to Jon's failing health unfortunately...suddenly a lowly LTJG couldn't count on the XO to be more sober and get him back on base, but instead worry about the azzchewing he was gonna get in the AM...

Glad to read you didn't get blown OB from the "deck effect" of a landing cat...

Ballsy indeed...

Best of luck with your outboard project!!!

Blacksheep6...

 

[bucketofguts]

much thanks! will try to post some pics sometime!

 

[bucketofguts]

not all welds are created equal. that is a fact! but, a strong weld is not necessarily a beautiful weld! in the posts above you see several kinds!!!!!!!!!........... someone told me one time i made the worse weld he had ever seen. i told him it had good penetration!!!!!!!!!!!!! i am laughing so hard now! i will sub my blower welds, unless i get a bunch of practice!......... ben

 

[Blacksheep 6]

Bucket...

Can't seem to find what thread it was on here, but someone posted about using PVC blowers...much lighter to manipulate and just as effective...and they do make PVC in that large of diameter...might be something to think about...

Blacksheep6...

 

[bucketofguts]

you know i thought about that. i was in the directional boring business for a time and we pulled innerduct back made of HDPE. Frogfoot said in "salvaging Spanish sunken treasure" that he had tried everything and alum. worked the best. that is where my mindset is. i live in n.c. and have friends in high tech industry, racing you know, so metal is probably where i am going. but, i am not set in my ways in mailbox construction! i would like to see some pics of PVC or alternative to aluminum blowers. thank you for taking the time! i would like to see a smaller 50hp blower setup if anyone has such!!!!!....... thanks in advance!

 

[abacopirate]

I've made two different size blowers for out boards. Got a big used truck intertube. Inflated it to the size I needed then wrapped fiberglass around one quarter of the tube.Wetted it out, then put on two more layers. When done added more to spots. added a frame of fiberglass tubes and bolted it to the motor. Much like the pic of the twins. You see I can't weld at all. It worked.

 

[rgecy]

abacopirate,

That is pretty cool! I would love to see some picts if you have them.

 

[FireRescue]

That fiberglass idea has my wheels turning. Great idea.

 

[DandyDon]

All,

Has anyone rigged up a mail box/hose assy to work with a jet ski, we're talking a working depth no deeper that 20 feet. We really need something small, as we really don't need to attract anymore people to the site we're diving. We have a hard enough time keeping other boaters a way from us when we have divers in the water, as the fools out here think the dive flag is a sign that there's a party going on - LOL.

Any assistance is greatly appreciated,

PS - sounds like there's a few Airdales and Black Shoes out there, as I did 3 west pacs back in the mid 70s on the Big E and worked as a Final Checker/Safety Officer before we punched our birds of the Cats.

DandyDon

 

[bigkid4]

Re: outboard mailbox blower? Couple of things you need to think about.

I had a blower on a 115 horse outboard for a short time. I only got to use it one time and the results were disappointing. For one thing the exhaust is expelled through the prop which I found counterproductive for blowing holes. All the air bubbles from the exhaust tried to rise back up through the tube and while I don’t know for sure how much this affected the stream of water going down I’m sure it didn’t help any. The main problem I had was the sand came back up and after blowing for 15 minutes clogged up the water pump and the engine overheated. I got in the water with the engine off and beat on the lower unit and watched the sand come pouring out. After doing this for a few minutes the sand quit coming out and I was able to start the engine and blow the remaining sand out of the engine. I don’t think the rubber water pump impeller would last long doing this. I’m sure I could have solved some or all of the problems by changing the angle but it was the end of the season and I didn’t work with the same company the next season and the blower belonged to them. The results of the one hole that I tried to blow was in 10 feet of water I only moved two feet of sand in an area about six foot across. Between the time it took to unclog the outboard and the time we spent with the Marine patrol showing them the paper work for the lease I never got a chance to detect the hole. Hope this helps or at least gives you something to think about.
Gary

 

[bucketofguts]

bigkid4, thank you very much for your detailed post on your experience with mailbox blowers. i b