dinghy & electric motor

[8philip8]

Hi all
has anyone use electric motor on their dinghy?
does it work well?
"Sylph"
8philip8

[Marinka]

have not done that but funnily enough was asking myself the same question today - it would seem that for use of a tender it woud be ideal if you don't want ot mess around with petrol and outboards.

[8philip8]

electric motors are not cheap! a good one for salt water use cost somewhere over $1000
but they are light,small, easy to hook up & remove,
BUT have they got enough power to push the dinghy & 2 person?

"Sylph"
8philip8

[storm petrel]

I see people trowling with electric motors from time to time near where I am moored. They seem to push the boats quite slowly, but these are fishing tinnies with outboards. I overtake them easily in my oar powered dinghy.

Cheers,
Mark

[Miker]

Trolling motors are different to proper transom mount electric motors.

I've seen a two man rubber dinghy going almost as fast as my 3.3 Mercury on our slat floor dinghy with two aboard.

The Minn-Kota information states that their motors do about 8kph on small dinghys.

It all depends on how much money you want to spend and whether you want to carry a battery or a can of fuel.

There are larger "pod" styles that are replacing traditional forms of propulsion too, having up to 10 hours of power before a charge and getting quite high speeds.

Here are some references for your enjoyment....
http://www.mindspring.com/~jimkerr1/sebc&t.htm
http://www.electricboats.org.au/

Michael

[Phillip]

Philip,

Spoke to the guys who own the other Mk1 at Camden Haven River.
Said they had the $200 Minn Kota, which would do about 2km on
a 1/2 size car battery before recharging.

But, isnt' there always a but, if the plastic prop hit anything, even sand, it would shatter!

I noticed they had a 2hp petol outboard on their dinghy today!

Phillip
SEAKA

[8philip8]

hi Philip SEAKA

Minn Kota for $200, might be a toy one,
there is always a BUT, whenyou try something unusal.

8philip8

[robf]

Hi

I have used an electric "thruster" motor using a jump-start battery in the past with good success on the 400m run out to the boat on an inflatable dinghy. Now I have a fibreglass dinghy on a rack near the mooring I simply use the manual labour approach and row my way out - less gear to take!

I've measured the drain as being around 30 amps continuous, which in theory would give 15 minutes running to drain a 15 amp-hour battery to 50%. They are reliable and with no fuel to leak make a nice alternative to the heavier 2 hp outboard. I think I paid about $250 about 10 years ago for the motor, and have had several battery replacements in that time (the cheap jump starters from K-Mart or auto stores probably come in from China).

Cheers all

Rob
Isabella II Pittwater

[8philip8]

hi Rob
have you got any photos?
8philip8

[robf]

Hi 8philip8
I don't have photos to hand, but could take some if you like. I've since sold the inflatable dinghy but do remember getting the electric motor from Whitworths - much less than $1000!

Cheers
Rob