What's new
Van's Air Force

Don't miss anything! Register now for full access to the definitive RV support community.

Gator Air Boat Engines

Status
Not open for further replies.
Hmmm

Well it is clear they cut and pasted factory lyco and eci pics. I wouldnt buy one...but you go first...and let us know. What can happen? Maybe its the harbour freight of aircraft engines.... :p
 
Gator Airboat engines by a company in Colorado with a web page showing the owner/mechanic/builder holding a phone. Nope. I don't think so. Next thing you will probably want to do is go to a Chevrolet dealer and buy an engine for your plane.
 
Nope

I worked with an agency where we had to spend a lot of time in the marshes of south central Florida. Came into contact with lots of airboat guys. They push those engines to the limit and they literally get "rode hard and put up wet". Unless you are a real engine expert I would be real careful.
 
DO NOT BUY AN AIRBOAT ENGINE! I lived in South Florida for a while and airboat guys would hang around the FBO I worked at, taking any enigne part we would throw away. They would even buy cylinders from us that had physical defects or to low of a compression to pass on a certified airplane. I have seen cases put back together with JB Weld and run just fine on an airboat, but most of the parts they use/buy are not good for aircraft use. As Build9A said, they ride them hard and put them away wet big time.

On a side note. It was interesting to talk to them and see the things they would do. For instance, they would use JB weld on case cracks and they would actually hold. Makes you think if some of the repairs they would do would actually hold up on aircraft (although they do not go through the elevation and pressure changes that aircraft do). We tend to scrap parts on aircraft when they reach a certian limit, but these airboat guys run them until they literally fall apart and it is amazing to see just how far this stuff can go.
 
WESTERN SKYWAYS

I work for an FBO that operates mostly Continental powered Cessnas. We use Western Skyways exclusively. These are the best Continentals I have ever flown. I put my life on the line on a daily basis-short runways, high density altitudes, etc. They have NEVER let me down. A far as mix and match of new parts, what is wrong with that??
 
My favorite quote:

"The agony of poor quality lingers long after the sweetness of cheap price has worn off." Thought for the day!:)
 
Take a good look at the website. It's a branch or product of Western Skyways, a well known aircraft engine builder in Colorado. An RV-10 builder here at Houston Hooks airport had them build an IO-540 and is pretty happy with it. Like JRS said, they do large fleets, Lycs, Continentals, and turbines (PT6 & JT15).

Their main page is here, http://www.westernskyways.com/, halfway down on the right is the link to the Gator Airboat engines.

At $12,700 for a new O-360-A1A with carb, mags, warranty and test cell certification, I'd be all over that like white on rice. At the very least, a phone call couldn't hurt. Heck, at that price I'd make a trip to Montrose to watch 'em build it.
 
I talked to few of those air boat good ol boys when I was selling an engine of my own. Judging from the contact address the guy selling these engines is crossing a few of my bridges. Long story short the airboat crowd isn't interested in spending that much money on an air cooled engine.
 
At $12,700 for a new O-360-A1A with carb, mags, warranty and test cell certification, I'd be all over that like white on rice. At the very least, a phone call couldn't hurt. Heck, at that price I'd make a trip to Montrose to watch 'em build it.

I thought that too John - then I saw that the engine with "All New" parts sells for north of $21K. As long as I knew where all the new parts came from, and the assembler had a good reputation, I wouldn't mind...but I think that's about what we pay for an all-new experiemntal built by any reputable builder these days...
 
I would appear that the engine for $21K has new cylinders, but I bet the crank, cam, crankcase, and possibly the accessories are all used. Unless you have a history of where they came from and how many hours they have, I wouldn't buy one.

I wouldn't touch the cheaper O-360 with a ten foot pole. For that price, I'm guessing these are all non-certifiable parts discarded by the aircraft engine company that is the parent organization, hence the "airboat" or "experimental" moniker. That's fine for chunking it into an airboat, but not fine for protecting my butt.

With something as important as the engine, I would only go with someone with a track record. I personally know of three RV'ers in the area who have been snookered over the years by bad engines that sounded good. One guy lost $15K alone. Unfortunately, there are some shady people in this line of business. I'm not saying these guys are shady, but know what you are getting. If they can give you the history and you are comfortable with that history, then consider it.
 
DO NOT BUY AN AIRBOAT ENGINE! I lived in South Florida for a while and airboat guys would hang around the FBO I worked at, taking any enigne part we would throw away. They would even buy cylinders from us that had physical defects or to low of a compression to pass on a certified airplane. I have seen cases put back together with JB Weld and run just fine on an airboat, but most of the parts they use/buy are not good for aircraft use. As Build9A said, they ride them hard and put them away wet big time.

On a side note. It was interesting to talk to them and see the things they would do. For instance, they would use JB weld on case cracks and they would actually hold. Makes you think if some of the repairs they would do would actually hold up on aircraft (although they do not go through the elevation and pressure changes that aircraft do). We tend to scrap parts on aircraft when they reach a certian limit, but these airboat guys run them until they literally fall apart and it is amazing to see just how far this stuff can go.

Agreed. If we could paddle, pole, or tow our airplanes back to the airport, we too could afford to squeeze every last drop out of our engine parts.
 
WESTERN SKYWAYS

Read my previous post and that of jbDC9. This is a quality company that appears to be branching out into a new market. My only critisism is that they should not have lumped "experimental" and "airboat" together in the same ad. My boss says that Western Skyways dates back more than thirty years and three of the original principals are still involved.He has been using their engines for 28 years. READ THE AD: the XL360 in the upper left corner is 100% new parts. The 0 360 is obviously built with many used/reconditioned parts. Same as most overhauls.
 
Take a deep breath...

Listen to you guys. You sound like the certified guys yammering about the home built planes. No doubt someone here has the savvy to ask the right questions and discern whether this is doable. When most home builts struggle to put 50 t0 100 hours per year on their ride this might be an option. Face it, in ten years the biggest enemy will be rusty cams and cylinders not whether the motor was perfect to start. My PPL trainer had 7500 hrs. on it. I would wager it was mostly to service limits not balanced, blueprinted etc., etc. I'm still fond of it's service to my cause.
 
no, nooo, no, nO, No, NO Nooooo......

Think about it, you can't buy a core, and rebuild it YOURSELF for the cost of this. I'm willing to bet the -A1A is simply assembled from red-tag parts that Western Skyways can't use. Probably even have custom bearings made to machine the cranks below M006.

Cases are probably welded up locally, and reassembled. Overhauled cylinders (lots of people scrap perfectly good ones), and new cams. Cranks ground below lyc's minimums.

Come on guys, we all know there is no free ride.
 
Last edited:
When I look at Janekom's pictures of the barren..

...and formidable Namib, I think of their dependence on those sound running Lycs.

Even in North Georgia, we have rather formidable areas with no open fields for a forced landing.

Do you really want to gamble that badly?

My .02c,
 
Listen to you guys. You sound like the certified guys yammering about the home built planes. No doubt someone here has the savvy to ask the right questions and discern whether this is doable. When most home builts struggle to put 50 t0 100 hours per year on their ride this might be an option. Face it, in ten years the biggest enemy will be rusty cams and cylinders not whether the motor was perfect to start. My PPL trainer had 7500 hrs. on it. I would wager it was mostly to service limits not balanced, blueprinted etc., etc. I'm still fond of it's service to my cause.
Then put one in your airplane and tell us how things worked out!

When the engine sells for LESS than the parts, YOU KNOW they are using discarded, red tagged parts.

Now, the XL360 sounds legit and it worth checking out. You've got to remember that there are many people on this forum who, like most of us way back when, don't really know much about engines and where they come from, and the difference between junk, overhaul, rebuilt, and new. I'd hate to see someone put a cheap engine on their RV thinking it was as good as a new engine, only to find out later that it's not. I agree that I think their web page advertising is most unfortunate and maybe they should seperate aircraft worthy engines from the airboat ones.
 
Then put one in your airplane and tell us how things worked out!

When the engine sells for LESS than the parts, YOU KNOW they are using discarded, red tagged parts.

Now, the XL360 sounds legit and it worth checking out. You've got to remember that there are many people on this forum who, like most of us way back when, don't really know much about engines and where they come from, and the difference between junk, overhaul, rebuilt, and new. I'd hate to see someone put a cheap engine on their RV thinking it was as good as a new engine, only to find out later that it's not. I agree that I think their web page advertising is most unfortunate and maybe they should seperate aircraft worthy engines from the airboat ones.

No thanks I'm happy with my O-320 manufactured in the 1960's. The reason for my post was the original question postulated was whether these motors were an option. Without citing a single call to the supplier there was a overwhelming negative response. I assure you I would be suspicious too. No one came forth with anything more than speculation. Come on we can do better. If someone called them and they said " yes made from junk" hey, no problem. I guess I never learned to stop whacking the hornets nest.:rolleyes:
Congecture is no better than the" Gator "motor parts you cite.
 
Pretty sure this thread is teetering on the brink.

Think I need to keep it from falling into the abyss -----
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top