The Importance of Marine Engine Mounts
One thing that is often neglected within the marine industry is the importance of quality marine engine mounts. As your craft revs up and takes off across the water, the engine and the vibration isolators that support it undergo a lot of thrust. This added thrust on top of the already high vibrations that the engine naturally puts out creates the need for some good vibration isolators. It is easy to get into the trap of thinking that all marine engine mounts are the same, but that is just not the case. When you think about the value that is riding on a marine engine mount, it is wise to consider doing your homework and finding a vibration isolation solution that is proven in quality and reliability. Let us help you in selecting marine engine mounts for your craft.
Replacing a Marine Engine Mount:
If you are replacing a metalastik cushyfloat marine engine mount, there are a few things to look for in helping ensure that you get the right mount. There are four size variations of this standard marine engine mount. To determine which size you have, measure the distance between the centers of the bolt holes on the base of the mount. The 17/1600 cushyfloat series will have a distance of 3.93 inches, or 100 mm. The 17/1609 cushyfloat series will have a distance of 5.51 inches, or 140 mm. The 17/1657 cushyfloat series will have a distance of 7.17 inches, or 182 mm. Lastly, the 17/1841 is easy to differenciate as it has a four bolt pattern. This is typically the best way to designate which mount you have.
You can also look at the center bolt hole size on your marine engine mount, but this does not always match perfectly. There have been special production runs over the years with differing center bolt hole sizes for each of the metalastik cushyfloat series. The standard for the center bolt holes is 12mm for the 17/1600, 16mm for the 17/1609, and 20mm for the 17/1657.
Once you have the series of marine engine mount identified, you need to determine the durometer (stiffness of the rubber withing the mount). Metalastik stamps this two digit number on the top of the base plate near one of the mounting holes. You will typically see either a 45, 55, 65, or 75 stamped into the base plate of the marine engine mounts.
If your mount is too worn down to read the stamped number, you will need to calculate the weight of the engine and transmission that you are isolating. If the weight of your engine is fairly evenly distributed, you can divide the weight by the number of mounting positions to determine how much weight each marine engine mount will need to carry. If you don't have a thrust bearing on you drive system, such as an aquadrive setup, you will need to accomodate for the extra thrust that is applied to these mounts. The specifications page for the Metalastik Cushyfloat has two seperate max loads, one for applications without thrust, and ones that will need to accomodate thrust.
As always, we are here to assist you in selecting the correct marine engine mounts. If you have any questions about which mount you have, or which mounts to choose, please contact our marine engine mounts specialists.
Installing Marine Engine Mounts
When installing your marine engine mounts, you want them to be installed on a level plane. These mounts are designed to isolate vibration when the load is applied directly perpendicular to the plane that the mount is fastened to. Once you have the marine engine mounts installed, you will want to make sure your engine is level so that the load of your application is evenly distributed between your marine engine mounts. For information on height adjustors, please refer to our blog on Installing Height Adjustors.