small motor on dory

I just ordered a Dory with shipment in mid July. I am considering reinforcing the stern to accept a very small outboard.  2.5 to 3 HP with probably 20 " shaft. Any ideas on how to reinforce it?


4 replies:

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RE: small motor on dory

I'll be interested to see the comments on this....hopefully John Harris can offer up his thoughts.   One thing good about not having the kit delivered yet is that the upper (interior) part of the transom comes with a drop out piece.  You may want to leave it in and after gluing to the transom, fill the groove with thickened epoxy, but I'm definetly not the authority on this...just passing along a thought.

Curt

RE: small motor on dory

For a boat with such a narrow transom and a 2 HP motor, all you need is 3/4" total plywood thickness, extending from side to side, wide enough to acommodate whatever attachment mechanism you're using.

Laszlo

 

RE: small motor on dory

I just got back from the CLC showroom where I got a chance to look at a Dory's transom and in my opinion it's plenty strong for a 2 hp motor as is. I base this on a brand-x sailing dinghy that I built with the designer's recommended options to be able to use a 2 hp motor. The standard Dory transom is much stronger than the brand-x dinghy's, so it should be able to handle even the 3 hp just fine.

Laszlo

 

RE: small motor on dory

Laszlo,

Wouldnt you agree he might as well not remove that oval shaped drop out piece?  Sort of a no harm no foul issue that it wont hurt to leave it in and provides full thickness thru the top part of the transom, plus provides strength right where the bottom of the motor mount will be pushing forward  under load so it's pushing on full width wood, not single thickness.  See no reason to not just leave that piece connected with the tabs and fill the CNC routed groove with thickened epoxy after glued to the transom,

If he is building the dory without inner rails, maybe a block at the top on each inside area, bridging the transom to the top hull panel would be good at the highest twist area.  After 8 years on a hydroplane I built one time, that is where it cracked first.

 

Curt

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