Here is a photo of a 4 stroke Sindaiwa. It looks like a nice engine to convert.

Do you have any info such as cc's,weight, cost etc?

The engine is 25.4cc. The weight of the engine only is unknown by me. I am sure after conversion it will be light as the other 4 strokes in the same cc size. I got a dealer working out a price for just the engine short-block only. The regular price is well over $300. I read the price will come down as production goes up. Hope this helps Capt,n

Thanks, I appreciate the info, it is an interesting engine.

Does this one use mixed fuel/oil, or does it have the sump-type thingy.

Seems like mixed gas/oil would work the best for simplicity sake.

CrazyHerb

this one uses premix in a YS crankcase-supercharge type of way but with reed valves. might be lighter than other 4-strokes since it doesn't have that sump-type thingy, might also use a normal 2-stroke walbro which would make carb swapping easy. now whose gonna buy one and convert it?

dave

The Shindaiwa uses a Walbro WYL carb. Go to your nearest dealer and they have very good literature to read all about how they run and photos of how easy the engine parts fit together. I got a dealer working out a Price for just the short block. Capt,n

I'm not sure how well it will work in an RC airplane, but I can assure you from my own experience that Shindaiwa weedeaters are the best weedeaters you can get. I've tried Stihl, Echo, Husky, etc but I'd take a Shindaiwa over any of them. Years and years of realiablity out of those engines. They start first pull after sitting in storage all winter. Shindaiwa makes an entry level weedeater that you can get for around $200. I think it's a smaller displacement. However, most Shindaiwa's have smaller displacement engines comapred to Ryobi, Homelite, and other cheaper brands. Larger displacement doesn't automatically mean loads more power in this case.

About that Sindaiwa engine. I finally got the price for just the power-head. Try $340.... a lot of money for a experiment!!!!

capt,n
if thats the price for the whole power head including all the plastic and magneto you might get a lower price for just a short block.
either way it sounds like you need to find a dealer who is more sympathetic to the r/c cause. i made good friends with one dealer by showing him my conversions and taking him flying a couple of times, he was totaly flaberghasted! he has a really small shop so i don't find too many goodies there but he does help me make hubs on his lathe and will order me parts at dealer costs. the only profit he sees from all this is the fun involved in this hobby.

dave

i can backup what people say about being reliable, and i can also backup what people say about them being expensive, my dad owns a Shindaiwa weedwhipper. rare day when you have to pull it twice to start it. quiet. just a sweet machine, to use one of these in a large plane would be nice.

especially that 4 stroke, i would own that engine in a heartbeat. infact, i would probbly install the pullstarter on my plane also.