1. Have you been in contact with the Saildrive owners group on Yahoo Groups :  They seem to find powerhead parts, but more trouble with the saildrive unit below the water line.  I'd be inclined to plan an upgrade myself however.

2.  The Beta looks good.  I have the YSE8 Yanmar  which might actually be 7 HP and it moves along OK.  What alternator size will you have ?  

3.  I don't have many photos, but will try to find something that may help.  

4.  The Saildrive 280 and 330 would be a much simpler installation and I'd think the fuel usage would be reasonable.

Good luck, and keep us posted please.  Steve

Let me re-phrase that.  I hate dealing with close measurements.

Steve, send me a good email, and I'll send a copy of a rear view of the Yanmar YSE rear view, taken fromt he aft cabin.

Steve sfisher896@aol.com

Steve I seem to recall that the Beta  10 also had a Beta 13 of the same size.  Why not go for it all >>

Steve,  I have my boat on the trailer after having it towed home from Seattle.  I'll be washing it today and will try to get photos of the strut and prop.  It currently has a 3 blade, which was helpful in the San Juan Islands where wind can be hard to find.  I have a two blade as a spare, so I'll get that our as well to get the numbers from it.  These work with the Yanmar YSE 8  (7hp continous,  8hp for an hour)
My Digital Camera just got crunched, so give me a few days.

Steve in San Jose  Hull 26 "Banana Split"  (Yellow Hull)

I now officially own a Universal M3-20B. Michigan wheel states it will turn a 16" prop to be ideal. I am planning about 14" by design to definitely fit my set up, not sure what exactly I'll end up with yet.
With verifying measurements on the boat to the CAD model it became clear that the prop shaft angle and how the engine sits in the hold could create an interference problem. Best case angle was about 4-6 degrees without hitting the top of the hatch ext. Based on this it MAY have fit but I would not have much adustment to fine tune it.
I also cut templates of full scale drawings in plywood for the sides and top view. These were very helpful, anyone planning such a project I highly reccomend this.
Based on this info I opted for a ZF 15MA 8 degree down angle transmission for this job. It will allow the engine to sit essentially flat in the hold giving me a bit more adjustment to line everything up.
I've got the old sail drive hole glassed up and the area for the bed all cut out (Hull by the way is 1"thick! no new boats like this one!)
I may try to start glassing the beds in if I can get a slightly warm day. I'm also looking at options to drop the motor in. Don't want to injure either the motor or the boat.
STEVE F.: If you ever got photos of the shaft log and prop stut layout it would be a bonus. Don't think my shaft log will be in the same spot (probably 12" further back) but it will be a very good aid.


Steve Johnson

Update:
Sea Trial complete. Flawless for the most part (engine leveling bolts loosened up a little).
End result: Very quiet and incredibly smooth. Can cruise in calm to 3 ft seas at 7- 7.5 knots. Almost unaffected by rough seas... Top speed is 8.5 knots (it appears to be semi planing).
Prop is a 13x9 Michigan wheel (MP series) and probably should be a 13x8 (close enough).
Fuel economy was most interesting. I burned 3-4 gallons in over 40 miles of cruising. The baldwin saildrive had used at least 5 times that!!
I'll post a follow up this fall with pictures if anyone is interested.

Last note: Some other posts have shown Beta repowers requiring the hatch to be raised. This is NOT required with the M3-20b. I was even able to re-use the original rear access panel (stair way). It is not evident there is a big motor in it until you open either the top or rear hatch.  



Steve Johnson

Steve,

Congratulations on a huge project.  I can only dream of 7+ knots in big chop with my Vire.

Bob