I thought of this type clutch a while ago. I found the following with the basic idea. Electric power is used to Disengage the clutch, which means it's a fail safe and if a coil or PTO switch smokes you still get home. I have to do more research but you can see by the chart for the 80 foot pounds of torque only 2500 rpm's recommended? Here is a look at what I found so far
http://electromagneticbrakes.sepac.com/ ... 2&filter=1

I'll call on Monday to pick their brain.

I was going to delete this post after speaking to the tech guy. It seems my idea with this clutch is a no go. You need both shafts not rotating before engaging, or the teeth will be destroyed. Trust me I'm not done with thinking about a fail safe (to engagement) system. Heck I might end up with a clutch lever or pedal to disengage or an air operated clutch. Sorry about the false hopes.

Ohhhhhhh, the emotions I just went through, mad as hell now, hahaha

Problem with rotaries is they lack Tq most of the time. 10K Rpm is fun but if it won't plane the boat to start with you'll never get there.

we need a gearbox, the hell with lawnmower clutches. Or, a good cone clutch design like the bravo drives.

Has anyone experimented with a centrifugal clutch? We use these (and similiar) in the kart racing scene.

http://www.buller.net/Item/098-469

We run the smaller 2 disc version of this clutch on motors such as the 6.5hp hondas - which can make 25HP @ 8k RPMS. They run these 4disc on even higher modified motors. You'll see them being ran on 250 to 500CC dirt bike engines (2 and 4 strokes) and all kinda of crazy contraptions. There isn't room to put a twin cylinder on a kart (and they weight too much). You do see a bunch of heavy big block single cylinder motors being ran too.

You would need a timing gear setup on the clutch instead of the chain sprocket. You would also have to ensure you're able to the clutch dry. You still have the problem that this is for a 1'' shaft and not 1-1/8. If there is a market though, I'm sure there are companies like Buller that would cater. There may be a possibility of building a jack shaft setup.

Thoughts?

I don't see this being viable for FNR applications, for F-N setups, and simple home made builds - this could have some potential.

MudBuddy used a centrifugal clutch long time ago. Kicked in around 2k rpms. Worked fine, but didn't allow idle at low speeds for frogging and other things.

I know one that still uses theirs. Never went to the electromagnetic. It's just like reverse. Some people don't want it or need it. I wasn't saying anything is wrong with them. Being able to adjust engagement makes it viable to a larger group.

All good replies, they get us all thinking which is good. Everyone uses their boats a bit different from what I have seen here. The only thing I really like about the clutch operation on the electromagnetic is when I'm coming back into the floating dock at the ramp. A touch of the momentary button slow and perfect each time, no matter how hard it's blowing. I just want the fail to engage instead of what we have.

If I could get any kind of neutral on my godevil I would be extremely happy. Even a centrifugal clutch that kicked in at 2,000 rpm.. Still can't believe nobody here has retrofitted one. I don't want to go to a motor with an electric clutch and power trim. I love the way to godevil trims itself.


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