11-18-2013, 11:36 PM
Thanks for the heads-up on the "hot" units.
Mine was actually a used unit bought from a reputable online dealer. It's clearly not "new" and "hot". But good advisory for others.
I measured and cut the base aluminum frame today. The Mirage drive plastic mounts are 12" apart. The metal pegs are 5" apart and 2" up from the plastic mounts.
I'll need to buy some wood (or something) to shim up to the metal peg mounts. I then plan to notch the wood and use some gate clasps to latch over the metal pegs to hold the drive in place.
One thing I am wondering about as I've watched the drives functioning on the kayaks.... I am concerned the bottom of the kayak is integral to the provided thrust of the Mirage. It appears to "squeeze" the water between the fins and the bottom of the kayak.
I may lose some performance if I just have an open frame and the fins flapping near the surface of the water.
As a test I'm going to build a cloroplast floor that I can zip-tie on to the bottom of the aluminum frame if necessary. This will add more drag to the pontoon so I'm going to try not to use it if possible.
[inline AluminumMountMockup.jpg]
[signature]
Mine was actually a used unit bought from a reputable online dealer. It's clearly not "new" and "hot". But good advisory for others.
I measured and cut the base aluminum frame today. The Mirage drive plastic mounts are 12" apart. The metal pegs are 5" apart and 2" up from the plastic mounts.
I'll need to buy some wood (or something) to shim up to the metal peg mounts. I then plan to notch the wood and use some gate clasps to latch over the metal pegs to hold the drive in place.
One thing I am wondering about as I've watched the drives functioning on the kayaks.... I am concerned the bottom of the kayak is integral to the provided thrust of the Mirage. It appears to "squeeze" the water between the fins and the bottom of the kayak.
I may lose some performance if I just have an open frame and the fins flapping near the surface of the water.
As a test I'm going to build a cloroplast floor that I can zip-tie on to the bottom of the aluminum frame if necessary. This will add more drag to the pontoon so I'm going to try not to use it if possible.
[inline AluminumMountMockup.jpg]
[signature]