Here are some pics of my home built. Any feed back would be great

You are on the right track. Extend the skeg all the way up the outdrive to the belt housing. Having it short will give you issues with catching weeds. The tiller handle looks like it may need a bit more material in it to keep it rigid. What will you be running for a prop. What are you using for a drive system, timing belt? ratio?

Nice work.

Mag10

Funny you mentioned the skeg plate. After I took it outside and looked at it from the side I thought the same thing. As soon as the prop gets in I will be replacing that skeg plate with a longer one. The prop is a 10x8 from hill marine and I am running a 1.6 to 1 ratio. Im using a #50 chain and sprocket. I would have liked a belt and fully set up but that was going to take me over my budge

That is a 16 hp? Are you running bronze bushing for the output shaft? I am just to the assembly stage of a 16 hp build for a buddy. I will see if I can get some pics.

Yes its a 16 hp duramax from max tool. I have a set of needle bearings with a seal mounted in the end cap. I went back and fourth on bearings it bushings and thought I would try the bearings. If they fail I can easily replace them with bronze bushings later. I have a grease fitting just behind the end cap to help lubricate the bearings and to help keep water out.

Here is a pic of the bearings I used

looks neat- good job, I cant wait to hear how it does on the water!

Well...... I guess I didnt think about that. Im going to test run it this weekend (if my prop gets here in time) and then Im going to tear it apart just ot check for wear alignment.

I have always been a bit leary of using needle bearings. What material did you use for the output shaft? I still like to use stainless steel ball bearings. They take a larger housing, but I have not had any issues with that in the past. As you said, you can always fall back on using bushings. If you do, use a bushing go with SAE 660 bronze.

Its looking good. If you use needle bearings you need to have hardened and ground shaft or use an inner bearing race. So like 50 said they might not last too long. What are you using to handle the prop thrust? Also if you decide you want to step that motor up, let me know...I have a marine grind cam and spring with about 1.5 hrs on them. I also have a mikuni carb, jets, and mikuni pulse pump with carb adaptor. I had a DuroMax on mine until I decided after 1.5hrs that I needed a bigger engine.

Also you might want to change your gear ratio. 1.6:1 means you will need to spin the motor about 5700 rpm's to get the prop in the correct rpm range. I just switched from a 1.5:1 to 1.2:1 and picked up 4mph in deep water.

I don't think that handle is going to hold up.

the whole setup looks scary weak.

you asked for feedback. sorry to be so blunt but thought you wanted the truth-not sugar coated stroking.

I ran it for the first time yesterday afternoon and to my surprise everything went fine. The engine pushed my 14x48 lowe boat around 14 MPH and I think after a little tweaking I can squeeze another 3 to 4 MPH out of it. Mag10 you are 100% correct. When I ran through grass it caught on the skeg plate so I will be making a change in that this week. Overall I’m happy with the results.

One quick question. On my initial run I did not have a cavitation plate. Would yall recommend having one and if so what advantages would I get for having one?

Thanks for the help and advise

You do not need a cavitation (anti-cavitaion) plate with a surface-piercing prop. You are not trying to hold water on the top of the prop as you would with a sub-surface (long tail) prop. Your 10X8 should be running half out of the water when on plane. What RPM are you running out of the water and at top speed in the water? You may be able to decrease your gear reduction to get more speed at the prop. You should be running 4100-4200 out of the water with no load and 3800-3900 at your top speed.