tophatyachts.com

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

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.

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

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

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

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

hi Philip SEAKA

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

8philip8

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

hi Rob
have you got any photos?
8philip8

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