The vibration minimizing mount is one of the most overlooked components when maintaining a vessel. While vibration minimizing mounts may not be anything glamorous, this component plays an essential role in the engine room. Engine mounts are the connection between the engine’s power and the vessel’s hull, making it crucial they are robust and well-designed. However, even the best-quality engine mounts can have problems when incorrectly installed.
The most common reasons for vibration minimizing mount failure are:
- General wear and tear damage to the rubber/polymer material.
- Metal components damaged by corrosion.
- Improper installation.
- Under sizing.
- Hard shifting.
- Groundings.
- High loading impact/excessive g force caused by running hard in a high sea state.
- Poor vessel structure, such as weak stringers or a flexing hull.
Of the reasons above, improper mount installation is most often the cause of poor engine mount performance. It is important to ensure installation is done correctly. This will ensure your investment is protected, avoid premature engine wear, prevent damage, and, most importantly, improve overall passenger comfort and safety.
Boats are designed to provide a comfortable experience for passengers, making smooth operation the top priority. One crucial component that significantly enhances the ride quality is the use of vibration minimizing mounts.
Poly Flex’s high-quality, durable, and robust true propulsion vibration minimizing mounts have controlled thrust and lateral deflection under propulsion load and inertia due to sea conditions. Poly Flex analyses the engine set-up and tailors our engine mounts to suit the application. This way, we can establish that the vibration minimizing mount will work to its desired performance before installation.
With over 1600 vibration minimizing mounts and workloads ranging from 10 to 2200 kilograms per mount, Poly Flex can assist with a commonly stocked item; however, should a custom engine mount be required, Poly Flex has the capacity to manufacture products to suit a customer’s requirements.
Made from high-quality engineering-grade polyurethane, these vibration minimizing mounts prevent rust and are resistant to oil and fuel. They are designed to isolate vibration across the rev range without compromising the alignment of the driveline. The system is designed as a fail-safe system capable of holding the same weight inverted to avoid the engine tearing away from its anchor point in rough conditions or in the event of a capsize.
Poly Flex vibration minimizing mounts allow for easy replacement of the core and hardware, limiting the need to replace the whole unit. They control thrust in all directions due to the core design being 360 degrees and can handle shock upon impact due to a 400% stretch factor in the polyurethane base material. All the metal components are coated in SA5 Cobalt Zinc, inhibiting rust for extended life. Due to the polyurethane design, no electrolysis occurs between aluminium and steel structures.
All Poly Flex engine mounts are Det Norske Veritas (DNV) type approved for vessels in survey. Poly Flex has been providing Australian-made quality and performance that is second to none since 1981, and with a strong focus on customer service, we hope to continue for many more years to come.
Please feel free to contact us with any questions you may have or to place an order.