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Franklin A/C

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AirAg

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Are these engines commonly used on airboats? Saw an ad with a franklin engine. Any pros or cons with this setup? Thanks, Brent
 
My first airboat had a Franklin helicopter engine 200 hp +- it ran fine up to the point that i started playing with fuel additives and burnt it up... at that time I knew nothing about aircraft engines and had no idea where to get parts.. I think parts are still hard to find for them.
wayne
 
Brent, parts availability and a lack of technical support were Franklin's undoing back when there were still a lot of them flying. It hasn't improved. You would be much better off to find a Continental or Lycoming engine for your boat.

BF
 
My dad's first airboat had a 220hp Franklin. they had a problem with ruinning hot, you had to have a shroud on them to make em live. His also had a bad tendency for dropping valve seats. After replacing all the jugs a couple of times he pitched it and put a 540 on it.

Larry
 
FRANKLIN.jpg


I found this picture of an O-200 Franklin. The source said it was rated at 90 HP
 
There were a lot of things about the Franklins that were to like. You'll notice in the above picture that they had a inspection plate on the top of the crankcase. You could unbolt a rod without splitting the cases. And the dual plugs are both on the top side of the cylinders .... easy to get to, and a lot less subject to fouling or flooding.

As I understand it though, there just weren't any spare parts for them and people had to rob other motors to keep them running.

BF
 
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