Just got word that Copperhead now offers a clutch for their 18hp engines. I called up Gil and sure enough they do. I brought my boat over there to have it installed. I’m sure it will perform as great as the rest of their products. I will post a review once I get my boat back. Best part is no more having to kill the engine then having to start again every time you need to pick up a crab net, or decoys! As always , Gil and Josh are always looking for ways to make their products better than before.

An their customer service is insane. They never say "no" or "we dont do that". If you have had dealings with them, you know what I'm talking about!

That is cool stuff there!!
I am sure it can be done on the smaller motors as well??

Reminds me of the old mini bike days.

K

Wow!

So now they're finally offering what almost every other brand has been offering?

I'm going buy two of em..

Lol

K

Wow another smart a** Gator tail owner. Whats new?

We need a toy forum!

k

So can you gator tail fanboys help me out?

I'm looking for a motor that can go on my 14' light weight, top of the truck rig? I have a big boat. I need a boat that will never be trailered.

I will be taking off the motor every time and throwing it the back of my truck? something on par weight wise with a 25hp outboard.

Anyone? anyone?

Not GT anyway. They got nothing under 200lbs.

I'm sure your GT's work for you, but stop being f*cking Fanboys.

-Yes this is my first post. -I couldn't help my self.

Hope you enjoy the new parts! Only time will tell the toughness- keep us posted!

Will do thanks

Ok,

Here are the results of the clutch. It took some getting used to, but after a short while i had it down. It was a bit of work if you have a lot of no wake zones as you need to keep the RPM's turning at 2100 RPM's to prevent the clutch from slipping. But, like i said, the luxury of having the clutch, far out weights having to trim your engine up to not throw a wake. All in all, I'm happy with it and would recommend it to anyone with a copperhead.

If you follow any of my post, you know that my little ones and I do a lot of crabbing. If you also crab a lot, then you will really appreciate this feature.

Later!~

I have a 18 copperhead also. Did Gil say the cluch life would be shortened if it was slipping? Did you notice any loss of power or speed? What did it cost?

The cost was around $250 and he cranked it out in about 6 days. Gil did not specifically mention the life span of the clutch, however he did say that he has an 18 with a clutch with 140 hours on it, if that is any indication. The one wake zone i have to ride thru is about 100 yards, so im not the greatest indicator. I had zero loss of power, but i will tell you that it takes gettign use to. The engine needs to be around 1800-2000 before it starts to engage.(fully engaged at 2200 rpm) So you have to be prepared for a slight jolt. But to me that is a very min issue for the benifits. What size boat do you run yours on and what speed do you get? I'm always curious.

Later

What kind of clutch?

Sounds like a centrifugal?

That would be a PITA IMO... I likes me some low idle.

It is a centrifugal clutch, the clutch itself wont burn up its the heat generated in the clutch bell that transfers to the belt. Ive had my clutch glowing red during testing and the belt withstood the temps, i have done this several times without problems but i get moving along after that and the clutch cools quickly. Just to see what would happen i got the clutch red hot and then killed the engine, the belt started to smoke on the gear, i fired her up and got moving to cool it down. I will say having to hold the throttle at all times to keep moving was somthing i had to get used to but the trade off is more than worth it. When digging in mud or real thick vegitation, if you do come to a stop lift the prop to get some rpm and drop it in, once engaged there is no slip and dig out as usual. It really shines when your running flooded timber and have several trees to get over that are close together, you have time to get the boat gatherd up before hitting the next one. With direct drive or an electric clutch its point and shoot, your along for the ride. Just squeeze the throttle and your off. If you do have a long way to go at idle speed and dont want to slip the clutch just trim the prop up like you would with direct drive and engage the clutch. I hope this clairifies some questions you guys have.

I would be worried the clutch heat could transfer from the crankshaft and risk melting a seal...

No, the heat stays in the bell and the bell has a heatsink made into it. The shoes dont gather alot of heat in them, theyre always spinning and cool themselves, the bell is supported by needle bearings that ride in grease. Centrifugal clutches have been around forever in mini bikes go karts and so on, no problems with seals ever. You have to figure these little engines run at 300-400 degrees anyway and the seals are designed to run well beyond that. My race engines dont start to make power untill 425 degrees and ive run them well beyond that with no seal issues, the seals also have oil on the other side of them keeping them at a safe temp.