What mount does anyone use for this engine that doesnt require a nose ring, and doesnt cost an arm and a leg

The gator mount. Also Hyde has one model that does not require nose ring. Check in Central Hobbies.

Vicente Bortone

It says the Gator mount is for the 140, will it work with the 160?

It will with some serious grinding of the area on the crankcase, IF you do that one be patient and just grind in that area...As for the Hyde mount it is just a bolt on...I would lean that direction, Merle has a newer design now....Charlie

If your planes' nose can have a nose ring installed, then the Budd Mount is made for the 1.60, in addition to the Hyde "A".
Budd mount - $60, Nose ring - $16
Hyde A mount - $199


hmmmm

Merel Hyde has a new mount series called the firm Idle Series. A mount that needs a nose ring sells for around $55 and one that does not need a nose ring sells for around $65. All I have ever run have been Hyde mounts. They are proven and he is great to work with if you need a special mount or on that needs to be modified.

yeah but they dont fit the OS 160

Yes, they do. You just have to tell Merle....I've run his, my own, and have a Budd mount - all for the OS 1.60
There's more of those out there than you may think...

If you email Merel, he is very prompt in replying. He treated me like a top F3A pilot even though I am a 403 nobody. Quick to respond to my questions, did some custom things to mounts from me. I have bought 3 Hyde mounts in my 3 years of pattern flying and they have all been directly from him. I see no reason to go anyplace else.

Being an impoverished (read mean) Brit. I've always been horrified at the cost of Hyde-type mounts---but accept that they are essential for four strokes. The running costs of the 30% nitro fuels, at around 20 oz per flight, means that I have stayed with 2 strokes.
My soft mount for the OS 160 consists of four medium-hardness (50-60 Shure) rubber isolation bobbins, 20mmdia.,15mm front to back.
They come with M6 studs bonded to front and rear.
I have these bolted through the firewall, and into the mounting holes that come on the simple aluminium T -beam engine mount that I use. The spacing is 25mm up and down from the Centre-line(as dictated by the holes in the ali. beams), and around60 mm apart side-to side, as dictated by the OS crankcase/mounting lug dimensions.
This provides more than adequate vibration damping/noise "softening" for a 2 stroke.
Better resistance to torsional movement can be had by mounting the bobbins further apart, on an ali or C/F plate, and then bolting this in turn to the beam mounts.
With previous 2 strokes ,I used a similar system with the bobbins bolted to a plate attached to the engine backplate, but 2 broken crankshafts showed that that method is not wise with the OS 160!

I was running my Hyde C mount today with an OS 1.60. It keeps the nose of the spinner pointing the right way and does it's iso-mount job well with a 2-c engine.

Regards,

Eric.