There’s the quiet serenity of paddling through the backwoods in a canoe, and then there’s this. It’s a lawnmower motor powered canoe that comes complete with steering wheel, throttle, and a stereo system. To keep the craft balanced the driver rides in the front seat while the motor is hanging off the stern of the boat. The biggest trick is not swamping the thing while getting the motor running, but future plans do include adding an electric starter. There is a kill switch for safety and it appears that top speed will not cause any stability issues. It’s hard to tell for sure from the video after the break, but it sure does seem to be loud!
[Thanks Rob]
Now, if he vented the exaust into the water like a real outboard does, that should quiet it down a bit.
i do think that i have see this once before isit called a motor boat
An outboard motor on a canoe? Neat console in the front, but this isn’t really new.
@jeremy beadle, @JC
The point is the outboard motor is pulled from a lawnmower. Thats not an off the shelf outboard.
Nice one! I remember a summer project of mine, a bit like this; http://dl.dropbox.com/u/2741941/S1053630.JPG
HaD should consider renaming themselves ‘Hacks, Every Day’ – or even ‘Assorted, Unfiltered Hacks From The Legions of The Unwashed, Every Day!’
I remember a time when it was 1 (rarely 2) really good hack a day. This is neat, and I’m sure this guy put a lot of effort in it, but this does not meet standards from the hack a day of wayback.
What the heck, why is everyone missing the point of this hack which is that he built it with a LAWNMOWER ENGINE? Listen to JJ and read before you comment, people. He didn’t just throw an outboard engine on a canoe like everyone keeps suggesting.
should have used the blade as a prop
It would be a lot nicer if he had used a motor out of an electric lawnmower – way too noisy ! Of course if he is in a spot with lots of those jet -skis I guess it doesn’t matter too much.
Cool project. Now put a gps in it and start exploring :)
Am I the only one that thought of James Bond when they saw this? Where he is in a canoe with what I thought was a weed eater motor attached to a prop.
Way to turn an environmentally friendly mode of transportation into a pollution-mobile!
Lawn mowers are not exactly known for being efficient.
Have you noticed that most of these hacks AREN’T very green?
Anybody else notice this?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=osNluWPOpJ0
@quiet: and just how long would the extension cord have to be to power the electric lawnmower motor that you suggested?
I think that re-purposing stuff in ususual ways such as the lawnmower engine used here IS the essence of a true hack.
What’s up with all the negativity people? I don’t see this negativity on the boring hacks. Are the hackaday commenters going all soft-core the way Radio Shack did? If so, hackaday will start to look like a best buy catalog… ;-(
He could have at least dressed the control cable.
SORRY – I work QC.
The rest is TITS!
Mix Germ-X hand sanitizer with toner from laser printer cartridge.
Put mixture in paint spray gun .
Spray metal object and let dry.
Put metal object in oven at 350 degrees.
Watch toner melt onto metal object.
Hackers D.I.Y powder coating!
That doesn’t sound very safe… Let’s do it!! ;)
I would like to see just the build on the homemade outboard. Very nice!
They have really made a great plan altering the structured mechanism and electronics of this lawn mower. Cheers for the good work!.
Why doesn’t he just run the pull start up to the front as well. Then he doesn’t have to worry about running the gauntlet everytime he starts the thing.
This is all well and good, but without seeing how the drive system was made, this entire video is a waste of time.
Aww, man. This is NOT a hack. All he did was fasten a lawnmower motor to a drive that was already made for that purpose. In his own words,”I actually took a shortcut with that step…We just bought an old bought leg off ebay so fortunatly we didnt have to deal with the 90 degree turn for the propellor. We simply made some brackets for the motor to sit on the old leg, and just bolted it down.” The misspelled words are his, too. These drives were made for this type of engine. I feel like I’ve been ripped-off by his post. Two thumbs down.