Electric motor to power a dinghy
 

We have a trawler and an 8' Livingston which we use as a tender. Generally we
go back and forth to shore but occasionally will explore a small cove we may be
anchored in.

I've been using a 4HP Johnson (2 stroke) but it is failing, as am I. I leave it
at home but rowing a Livingston is no slice of Heaven. So I want power again,
but more reliable and hassle-free for the limited use.

Does anyone have experience using an electric trolling motor this way? What
kind of motor and/or battery rig did/do you use and how heavy are the parts?

I'll appreciate hearing from experienced users. Thanks

Electric motor to power a dinghy
 

Minnkota sells a bunch of electric trolling motors that would work, but
you have to deal with a battery which may weigh 50# or so, much heavier
than the 4 hp Johnson, (I have one, a 1987 model that weighs 33#. I love
it!) although not quite as awkward to handle. I once read something that
said 15# of thrust is approximately equal to 1 hp, but then a whole
bunch of posters chimed in with the information that thrust and hp were
as different as apples and chipmunks, so.....

I had a 7' Livingston that I am happy to be rid of, as it was too heavy
to handle and tended to like to take on water over the bow when power
was cut. I replaced it with an inflatable, which runs a little bit
wetter in big waves, but I will take it out in stuff I wouldn't even
consider doing in the Livingston.

Electric motor to power a dinghy
 

http://www.rayeo.com/motors.htm
builds complete electric outboards 4.5 hp 48 volts

Jack
"Chuck Bollinger" wrote in message
...
We have a trawler and an 8' Livingston which we use as a tender.
Generally we
go back and forth to shore but occasionally will explore a small cove we
may be
anchored in.

I've been using a 4HP Johnson (2 stroke) but it is failing, as am I. I
leave it
at home but rowing a Livingston is no slice of Heaven. So I want power
again,
but more reliable and hassle-free for the limited use.

Does anyone have experience using an electric trolling motor this way?
What
kind of motor and/or battery rig did/do you use and how heavy are the
parts?

I'll appreciate hearing from experienced users. Thanks

Electric motor to power a dinghy
 

Jack Rye wrote:

http://www.rayeo.com/motors.htm
builds complete electric outboards 4.5 hp 48 volts

Jack

Looks beautiful, but the weight is too great. Even without the charger it would
be something like 230#.

I'm beginning to get the picture that, for practicality, the answer I am
receiving is "No".

Thanks for the reply.



"Chuck Bollinger" wrote in message
...

We have a trawler and an 8' Livingston which we use as a tender.

Generally we

go back and forth to shore but occasionally will explore a small cove we

may be

anchored in.

I've been using a 4HP Johnson (2 stroke) but it is failing, as am I. I

leave it

at home but rowing a Livingston is no slice of Heaven. So I want power

again,

but more reliable and hassle-free for the limited use.

Does anyone have experience using an electric trolling motor this way?

What

kind of motor and/or battery rig did/do you use and how heavy are the

parts?

I'll appreciate hearing from experienced users. Thanks

Electric motor to power a dinghy
 

Jack Rye wrote:

http://www.rayeo.com/motors.htm
builds complete electric outboards 4.5 hp 48 volts

Jack

Looks beautiful, but the weight is too great. Even without the charger it would
be something like 230#.

I'm beginning to get the picture that, for practicality, the answer I am
receiving is "No".

Thanks for the reply.



"Chuck Bollinger" wrote in message
...

We have a trawler and an 8' Livingston which we use as a tender.

Generally we

go back and forth to shore but occasionally will explore a small cove we

may be

anchored in.

I've been using a 4HP Johnson (2 stroke) but it is failing, as am I. I

leave it

at home but rowing a Livingston is no slice of Heaven. So I want power

again,

but more reliable and hassle-free for the limited use.

Does anyone have experience using an electric trolling motor this way?

What

kind of motor and/or battery rig did/do you use and how heavy are the

parts?

I'll appreciate hearing from experienced users. Thanks

Electric motor to power a dinghy
 

Messing In Boats wrote:

Minnkota sells a bunch of electric trolling motors that would work, but
you have to deal with a battery which may weigh 50# or so, much heavier
than the 4 hp Johnson, (I have one, a 1987 model that weighs 33#. I love
it!) although not quite as awkward to handle. I once read something that
said 15# of thrust is approximately equal to 1 hp, but then a whole
bunch of posters chimed in with the information that thrust and hp were
as different as apples and chipmunks, so.....

I had a 7' Livingston that I am happy to be rid of, as it was too heavy
to handle and tended to like to take on water over the bow when power
was cut. I replaced it with an inflatable, which runs a little bit
wetter in big waves, but I will take it out in stuff I wouldn't even
consider doing in the Livingston.

Thanks for the reply. I guess I'll stick with the Johnson, for a while, anyway.
I agree with your comments about the Livingston 'box', but as much as I'd like
to have an inflatable, I really don't have the need for A) speed and 2) range.
Putputting to the dock and back is about it, or setting the odd crab pot near
the boat, or looking around a small bay. Would be a waste for an Avon, like
hooking Secretariat to a wagon for toddlers.

Electric motor to power a dinghy
 

Chuck, the only other thing I can think of is going with a Honda 8hp
electric start. Weight about 100lbs. I thinks it's the only one, that
small with electric start. You would think that as the population gets
older building electric start 2hp + 4hp would make sense.

Jack
"Chuck Bollinger" wrote in message
...
Jack Rye wrote:

http://www.rayeo.com/motors.htm
builds complete electric outboards 4.5 hp 48 volts

Jack

Looks beautiful, but the weight is too great. Even without the charger it
would
be something like 230#.

I'm beginning to get the picture that, for practicality, the answer I am
receiving is "No".

Thanks for the reply.



"Chuck Bollinger" wrote in message
...

We have a trawler and an 8' Livingston which we use as a tender.

Generally we

go back and forth to shore but occasionally will explore a small cove we

may be

anchored in.

I've been using a 4HP Johnson (2 stroke) but it is failing, as am I. I

leave it

at home but rowing a Livingston is no slice of Heaven. So I want power

again,

but more reliable and hassle-free for the limited use.

Does anyone have experience using an electric trolling motor this way?

What

kind of motor and/or battery rig did/do you use and how heavy are the

parts?

I'll appreciate hearing from experienced users. Thanks

Electric motor to power a dinghy
 

The trolling motor battery is more hassle and WEIGHS MUCH MORE than a
little outboard. Then there's the 14 hour battery charging every
time you use it. What? You got no AC out in your anchorage to charge
the battery? Neither does the dingy dock...dammit.



On Sat, 11 Oct 2003 18:57:45 GMT, Chuck Bollinger
wrote:

We have a trawler and an 8' Livingston which we use as a tender. Generally we
go back and forth to shore but occasionally will explore a small cove we may be
anchored in.

I've been using a 4HP Johnson (2 stroke) but it is failing, as am I. I leave it
at home but rowing a Livingston is no slice of Heaven. So I want power again,
but more reliable and hassle-free for the limited use.

Does anyone have experience using an electric trolling motor this way? What
kind of motor and/or battery rig did/do you use and how heavy are the parts?

I'll appreciate hearing from experienced users. Thanks




Larry W4CSC

3600 planes with transponders are burning 8-10 million
gallons of kerosene per hour over the USA. R-12 car air
conditioners are responsible for the ozone hole, right?

Electric motor to power a dinghy
 

I'd go with a nice little 4 stroke Honda or Yamaha outboard.


Chuck Bollinger wrote in message
...
Jack Rye wrote:

http://www.rayeo.com/motors.htm
builds complete electric outboards 4.5 hp 48 volts

Jack

Looks beautiful, but the weight is too great. Even without the charger it
would
be something like 230#.

I'm beginning to get the picture that, for practicality, the answer I am
receiving is "No".

Thanks for the reply.



"Chuck Bollinger" wrote in message
...

We have a trawler and an 8' Livingston which we use as a tender.

Generally we

go back and forth to shore but occasionally will explore a small cove we

may be

anchored in.

I've been using a 4HP Johnson (2 stroke) but it is failing, as am I. I

leave it

at home but rowing a Livingston is no slice of Heaven. So I want power

again,

but more reliable and hassle-free for the limited use.

Does anyone have experience using an electric trolling motor this way?

What

kind of motor and/or battery rig did/do you use and how heavy are the

parts?

I'll appreciate hearing from experienced users. Thanks

Electric motor to power a dinghy
 

Chuck, I'll add in my 2-cents.

Over the past 3 years I've used a Walker Bay 8 with a 40-lb (or is it
45-lb?) thrust Minnkota and type 24 battery. No complaints at all. I
added a trolling motor connector to the motor and battery, and to my
house bank so the trolling battery can be charged. Once it is, it's
plugged into a small 10-watt solar panel for "maintenance" charge.
This on a sailboat with solar and wind charging, and occasional engine
run or at a marina. I would think on a trawler charging would be no
problem.

The trolling motor is very light, the battery not so light. However,
the type 24 is not bad at all. Less trouble to transfer actually, than
a 3.3 HP outboard I had. It's large enough to give 2 hours at "wide
open", which I seldom use, and supposedly about 5 or 6 hours one notch
below. All I can say for sure is using the durn thing a lot during
4,000 miles of cruising, I've never run out of juice. Most of the time
the closest to shore I could get was about a quarter mile. Did a lot
of exploring, sometimes 4 or 5 or 6 miles according to the GPS.

During that time we bought an inflatable and the 3.3 HP outboard. The
Walker Bay turned out to be the best almost all the time. The only
thing the inflatable was best for was getting in and out while diving.
The outboard was used on the Walker Bay some, but as above, it really
was more trouble. It did give about twice the speed. Bottom line I
guess is I sold the inflatable and outboard and kept the Walker Bay
and trolling motor :-)

Hope this helps!

Rick


On Sat, 11 Oct 2003 18:57:45 GMT, Chuck Bollinger
wrote:

We have a trawler and an 8' Livingston which we use as a tender. Generally we
go back and forth to shore but occasionally will explore a small cove we may be
anchored in.

I've been using a 4HP Johnson (2 stroke) but it is failing, as am I. I leave it
at home but rowing a Livingston is no slice of Heaven. So I want power again,
but more reliable and hassle-free for the limited use.

Does anyone have experience using an electric trolling motor this way? What
kind of motor and/or battery rig did/do you use and how heavy are the parts?

I'll appreciate hearing from experienced users. Thanks




S/V Final Step
http://www.morelr.com/coronado/