Ok in my never ending quest for a 28' pontoon, I'm still holding out
for one that has a GM 3.0 mercruiser basicly for the 4 cycle economy
over say a 2-cycle 70hp Johnson etc. And I like the size of a 28'
because I want something I can take my brothers and families out for a
river cruise or a good day at the lake.

But one thing I'm wondering is if there would be any type of
practicality to going "hybrid" on something like this. And I dont'
mean a true hybrid but rather an electric alternate power.

Here's how I look at it. A 28'r would provide ample bouancy for extra
weight. I have access to air cooled electric forklift motors up to
about 10 h.p which is actually quite a bit more power than what one
would think. With the automotive engine and plenty of surrounding
room, I can make charging systems up to 64 v. w/no problem. Even
mounting a seperate alternator on the engine is only limited to the
pulley and bracket[s].

My idea would be to mount the electric motor not quite midship,
inboard, and run direct drive to a folding prop, like on some sailboat
applications. in other words, this would be one huge, stationary
trolling motor!

Cruise around on electric, using the mercruiser drive as a rudder,
then when the batteries get low, or you need some speed etc, you start
the 3.0 , use mechanical power and charge the thrust batteries at the
same time.

I dont' really like the idea of 600+ lb. of extra aparatus etc, but
I'm thinking this could be a neat alternate to running straight fossil
fuel all the time.

It worked on submarines for years. I can't see why it wouldn't work on
a pontoon boat.

comments deffinately welcome.

On Jul 18, 6:28*pm, Tim wrote:
Ok in my never ending quest for a 28' pontoon, I'm still holding out
for one that has a GM 3.0 mercruiser basicly for the 4 cycle economy
over say a 2-cycle 70hp Johnson etc. And I like the size of a 28'
because I want something I can take my brothers and families out for a
river cruise or a good day at the lake.

But one thing I'm wondering is if there would be any type of
practicality to going "hybrid" on something like this. *And I dont'
mean a true hybrid but rather an electric alternate power.

Here's how I look at it. A 28'r would provide ample bouancy for extra
weight. I have access to air cooled electric forklift motors up to
about 10 h.p which is actually quite a bit more power than what one
would think. With the automotive engine and plenty of surrounding
room, I can make charging systems up to 64 v. w/no problem. Even
mounting a seperate alternator on the engine is only limited to the
pulley and bracket[s].

My idea would be to mount the electric motor not quite midship,
inboard, and run direct drive to a folding prop, like on some sailboat
applications. in other words, this would be one huge, stationary
trolling motor!

Cruise around on electric, using the mercruiser drive as a rudder,
then when the batteries get low, or you need some speed etc, you start
the 3.0 , use mechanical power and charge the thrust batteries at the
same time.

I dont' really like the idea of 600+ lb. of extra aparatus *etc, but
I'm thinking this could be a neat alternate to running straight fossil
fuel all the time.

It worked on submarines for years. I can't see why it wouldn't work on
a pontoon boat.

comments deffinately welcome.

Of course, ehre's a neater idea.

hmmmm

On Jul 18, 6:40*pm, Tim wrote:
On Jul 18, 6:28*pm, Tim wrote:





Ok in my never ending quest for a 28' pontoon, I'm still holding out
for one that has a GM 3.0 mercruiser basicly for the 4 cycle economy
over say a 2-cycle 70hp Johnson etc. And I like the size of a 28'
because I want something I can take my brothers and families out for a
river cruise or a good day at the lake.

But one thing I'm wondering is if there would be any type of
practicality to going "hybrid" on something like this. *And I dont'
mean a true hybrid but rather an electric alternate power.

Here's how I look at it. A 28'r would provide ample bouancy for extra
weight. I have access to air cooled electric forklift motors up to
about 10 h.p which is actually quite a bit more power than what one
would think. With the automotive engine and plenty of surrounding
room, I can make charging systems up to 64 v. w/no problem. Even
mounting a seperate alternator on the engine is only limited to the
pulley and bracket[s].

My idea would be to mount the electric motor not quite midship,
inboard, and run direct drive to a folding prop, like on some sailboat
applications. in other words, this would be one huge, stationary
trolling motor!

Cruise around on electric, using the mercruiser drive as a rudder,
then when the batteries get low, or you need some speed etc, you start
the 3.0 , use mechanical power and charge the thrust batteries at the
same time.

I dont' really like the idea of 600+ lb. of extra aparatus *etc, but
I'm thinking this could be a neat alternate to running straight fossil
fuel all the time.

It worked on submarines for years. I can't see why it wouldn't work on
a pontoon boat.

comments deffinately welcome.

Of course, ehre's a neater idea.

hmmmm- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

OOPS, sorry, I forgot to install the link:

http://www.u-fabboats.com/boatkits/electricboat.htm

"Tim" wrote in message
...
Ok in my never ending quest for a 28' pontoon, I'm still holding out
for one that has a GM 3.0 mercruiser basicly for the 4 cycle economy
over say a 2-cycle 70hp Johnson etc. And I like the size of a 28'
because I want something I can take my brothers and families out for a
river cruise or a good day at the lake.

But one thing I'm wondering is if there would be any type of
practicality to going "hybrid" on something like this. And I dont'
mean a true hybrid but rather an electric alternate power.

Here's how I look at it. A 28'r would provide ample bouancy for extra
weight. I have access to air cooled electric forklift motors up to
about 10 h.p which is actually quite a bit more power than what one
would think. With the automotive engine and plenty of surrounding
room, I can make charging systems up to 64 v. w/no problem. Even
mounting a seperate alternator on the engine is only limited to the
pulley and bracket[s].

My idea would be to mount the electric motor not quite midship,
inboard, and run direct drive to a folding prop, like on some sailboat
applications. in other words, this would be one huge, stationary
trolling motor!

Cruise around on electric, using the mercruiser drive as a rudder,
then when the batteries get low, or you need some speed etc, you start
the 3.0 , use mechanical power and charge the thrust batteries at the
same time.

I dont' really like the idea of 600+ lb. of extra aparatus etc, but
I'm thinking this could be a neat alternate to running straight fossil
fuel all the time.

It worked on submarines for years. I can't see why it wouldn't work on
a pontoon boat.

comments deffinately welcome.

Boat US magazine just had a spread on Hybrid boats.

"Tim" wrote
I'm thinking this could be a neat alternate to running straight fossil
fuel all the time.

It would gain you some quiet time and redundancy, but probably not much in
the way of fuel economy unless you can come up with some sort of
supplemental charging method so you don't have to do it all with engine
power.

On Jul 20, 5:46*pm, "Ernest Scribbler"
wrote:
"Tim" wrote

I'm thinking this could be a neat alternate to running straight fossil
fuel all the time.

It would gain you some quiet time and redundancy, but probably not much in
the way of fuel economy unless you can come up with some sort of
supplemental charging method so you don't have to do it all with engine
power.

Ernest, I know what you are saying, but that's what I was pointing
out. say a group of 4-12v deep cycle batteries seriesed on 48v, an
extra alternator mounted on the engine to be dedicated for the 48v
charging system. True, when the batteries are drained it would take a
while to get them charged back, however, the engine doesn't have to
run while using the electric. And I'm not necessarily looking at the
speed of the craft, like the engine is pulling a dual load. But while
using the gas engine you're charging your electric motor system. And I
figure engine load would actually be a minorly questionable
concern,unless speed is configured into the equasion.

Yes, it's a "toy" project, and the time and effort for the extra
batteries motor installation labor etc, wouldn't out weigh the cost of
fuel consumption, but I was looking for a means to not be "totally"
dependant on petroleum.

"Tim" wrote
But while using the gas engine you're charging your electric motor system.
And I figure engine load would actually be a minorly questionable
concern, unless speed is configured into the equasion.

One of those laws of thermodynamics says you don't get any free lunch. To
recharge your battery, your engine has to supply as much energy to put into
the battery as your motor took out. Your engine normally converts gasoline
to noise and propulsion at a rate of X gallons per hour. If you add the
burden of producing charging current to its chores you'll use X plus
something. If what you mean about speed is that you don't have to put energy
back into the battery as quickly as you took it out, there's probably
something to be gained there. The question then is whether or not you break
even on the conversion losses.

On Jul 22, 1:29*pm, "Ernest Scribbler"
wrote:
"Tim" wrote

But while using the gas engine you're charging your electric motor system.
And I figure engine load would actually be a minorly questionable
concern, unless speed is configured into the equasion.

One of those laws of thermodynamics says you don't get any free lunch. To
recharge your battery, your engine has to supply as much energy to put into
the battery as your motor took out. Your engine normally converts gasoline
to noise and propulsion at a rate of X gallons per hour. If you add the
burden of producing charging current to its chores you'll use X plus
something. If what you mean about speed is that you don't have to put energy
back into the battery as quickly as you took it out, there's probably
something to be gained there. The question then is whether or not you break
even on the conversion losses.

Ernest, you are correct. I'm not trying to achieve perpetual motion,
or gain a free lunch as you said. And I agree with what you are
saying.


I suppose what I am trying to convey is that, no I don't need to have
a speedy recovery rate on the batteries, like some monster 325A 24v,
greyhound bus alternator, and the electric propulsion would only be
auxillary power anyhow. But would still allow for "quiet cruise" , and
I just have a feeling that I could get some decent milage out of the
electric with no engine running, and speed/hr.s in this application
would be subjective. I suppose what I'm trying to do is burn less
petroleum constantly.