James,<br><br>These are great questionsIm kind
of surprised to realize how recently I was asking
myself exactly the same ones!<br><br>Motor to prop
shaft: there are a number of different ways to do it and
youll likely get other suggestions from this group. The
way I chose in the end was simple and has worked to
my complete satisfaction. I use a single V-belt
(some people use doubles) with a pulley or wheel on the
motor and another on the shaft. The difference in
circumference between the two determines your reduction. Im
running a 3.5" dia. on the motor and 8.25 on the shaft.
You can swap out the pulleys to get the most
efficient ratios once youre ready for sea trials. My local
place at least was very good about just letting me
exchange till I got about what I thought was right. One
unanticipated limitation was to be aware of how much clearance
you have for the larger pulley between drive shaft
and hull, floor or sole.<br><br>Some people in this
group like the cog belts under the theory that they are
more secure and have no slip. I went with the simple
V-belt because I had a chance for a trip in a boat with
a cogged belt and found it was LOUDsomething I was
intent on avoiding. The owner thought it was because of
the belt but perhaps he was wrong. All I can say is
that my belt is quiet and doesnt slip.<br><br>Prop
pressure to motor: I use a "pillow block"a bearing (about
$35) that fits around the shaft and is secured to a
convenient floor. Mine swivels in two planes so as to be
self adjusting to the shaft angle. It is an extremely
tight fit to the shaft and took some work getting it
mounted. It has integral grease fittings for the bearing.
I dont know whether something more than that might
be needed for your 14 tonsas you know my boat is a
long way from that. I saw the pillow block arrangement
on another electric launch, luckily, since Id
already spent some head-scratching time over the problem.
It has worked fine.<br><br>Motor to boat: with the
pillow block arrangement as a "thrust bearing", the
motor itself doesnt receive much of the forward thrust
of the prop. I made my own motor mount out of "
Okoume plywood and stainless bolts. (Ive seen somewhat
similar arrangements out of aluminum plate but Im not a
welder. Wood is what I do!) I constructed the motor mount
so that tightening a set of bolts allowed me to
adjust the belt tension. I have positive tensioning
ability by tightening the nuts as opposed to a pivot
arrangement (like on a car alternator) that must be held in
place, in tension, while securing nuts are tightened.
Again, so far its worked fine for me but I dont know
what effects the extra size might have for
you.<br><br>Im glad to see by your recent questions that it
looks like you are seriously moving forward. Some of
these things you just cant answer until you get in
there and do it and see what works. In the end I think
its just not as hard as it seems!<br><br>Keep us
posted.<br><br>Larry
