Guest Posted September 19, 2012 Share Posted September 19, 2012 Have a look at these........http://www.electricpaddle.com/index.html 2 hours at 3.5 knots.......WOW. Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Posted September 19, 2012 Share Posted September 19, 2012 They look pretty good but I think you would still need an alternative for longer expeditions in the dink. I can't see that motor pushing against river flow in narrows to do some serious exploring upstream. I'm not talking hulking great 15hp monsters but something in the range of 3-4 hp on a 10' dink to go reasonable distances. Link to post Share on other sites
Absolution 7 Posted September 19, 2012 Share Posted September 19, 2012 They look pretty cool to me.... perfect for a stealth mission! Link to post Share on other sites
Fogg 427 Posted September 19, 2012 Share Posted September 19, 2012 Don't forget to factor in the addition cost of: 1. The price of using your mobile for calling your mate for help when you run out of juice 2. The price of the bottle(s) of rum you'll need to give your rescuer(s) ... and multiply x number of times you expect to break down per season etc Link to post Share on other sites
Clipper 343 Posted September 19, 2012 Share Posted September 19, 2012 i bought an electric outboard a few months back to go back and forward to the mooring. It hooks up to an old boat battery, seems to have enough juice to go back and forward as many times as I need it to in a day. Think it is an 'omoto'. looks pretty cheap and nasty, but does the job. Even managed to tow mcmurph out to his boat when his 2hp outboard broke down. And guys like booboo, rodboy and marshy thought it just looked so cool. Well, thinking about it, 'so cool' may not have been what they said. But something close. Link to post Share on other sites
B00B00 310 Posted September 19, 2012 Share Posted September 19, 2012 Cool wast quite the term we used but close, I think it more like queer or something. Link to post Share on other sites
Marshy 30 Posted September 19, 2012 Share Posted September 19, 2012 Yeah same here, think we wondered by the noise it was making if it came from your top drawer and made you less of a man! Link to post Share on other sites
wheels 543 Posted September 19, 2012 Share Posted September 19, 2012 The little electric outboards have been around for many many years. They call them trolling motors. A number of companies make them. The MinnKota would probably be one of the better known names. Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Posted September 19, 2012 Share Posted September 19, 2012 These are better. Longer range. Smaller, smaller batteries and geared correctly for small dinghy's. Take your oars if you are worried about how reliable they are, though bound to be better than a 2 stroke! 4 kilo motor and 4 kilo battery. Link to post Share on other sites
wheels 543 Posted September 19, 2012 Share Posted September 19, 2012 Longer range?? 2hrs @ 3.5kts??? All those depend on what you are putting it on. To make those comparisons, they need the other outboards to be fitted and tested on the exact same hull and in the exact same conditions. Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Posted September 19, 2012 Share Posted September 19, 2012 Not at work now wheels just talking about them. Look at the size of this device! Its so small and the way I see it can be used on the dinghy or the kyak. Neat. Link to post Share on other sites
DrWatson 374 Posted September 19, 2012 Share Posted September 19, 2012 electric outboards are used a lot over here on the lakes as aux for yachts up to at least 30 ft... seem to be pretty good Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Posted September 19, 2012 Share Posted September 19, 2012 Anyone have feedback on the torqueedo? Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Posted September 19, 2012 Share Posted September 19, 2012 Seems they are very good. I've kept up an interest in them and have read good stuff on power of these. I know of one guy using one to power a Catalina 30! Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Posted September 19, 2012 Share Posted September 19, 2012 I did a trial thing with some electrics compared to petrols a couple of years back. This was with one of the electric importer dudes. The electric was spooky quiet. They were lite enuff. They didn't quite do what was suggested but they were close but they were new units with new batteries. On the same dingy/s a 2hp Yammy was faster than the bigger electric, just by a smidgen. We had a couple of dingys and swapped the motors around to see differences. The electric was pricey, very much so. The electric range was questionable, as in what they were saying was correct? Had the feeling Yes but only when brand new in ideal situations. The range wasn't that crash hot. The lectric had huge torque. The marketing was more 'bestest ever' case than everyday Hauraki Gulf case. In the after match chat we decided electric were for people with lots of money and the capacity to charge batteries easily as they do suck a lot of amps. We also decided if you got a lectric outboard you'd have to get a second battery, unless you got the wired into the boat version in which case you'd want a big battery. I think from memory you can buy a Yammy 2hp and quite a few seasons worth of fuel for less than a battery for one of these. To the average boater electric is more an ideal than the most practical..... at the moment. As one who likes his toys and the environment I'm still struggling to see how a electric OB is either more efficient, cheaper or even nicer to the environment than a bog std 2hp is....... at the moment. I make the environment claim as do you realise just how much of the earth gets fucked up to just get the bits to make the battery let alone all the other parts then dispose of the toxics later. As smelly and noisy as a std 2hp is they are made with cheap shite that is easy to recycle and at the end of the day they use feck all fuel in the big scheme and I'd go as far as to suggest the unit used to recharge the OB batteries would use just as much if knot more fuel than a 2hp. So I'm really struggling to see how these things can claim to be environment nice. Link to post Share on other sites
Fogg 427 Posted September 19, 2012 Share Posted September 19, 2012 Surely it depends what your motive is here? Are you a genuine tree-hugger or just wanna be different as a talking point? And even if you are a beardy tree-hugger, surely from a practical, environmental point of view the cleanest option is a modern, efficient 4-stroke o/b for the dinghy? Because unless you have got an ample supply of efficient wind and/or solar generation, you are gonna end up charging an electric o/b motor with the ship's main engine (diesel)? Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Posted September 19, 2012 Share Posted September 19, 2012 Oars. Link to post Share on other sites
Fogg 427 Posted September 19, 2012 Share Posted September 19, 2012 Oars. Eh? I thought the debate was electric vs combustion? If you want to change the goalposts then how about 'swim'. Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Posted September 19, 2012 Share Posted September 19, 2012 Oars have one big problem, you cannot see where you are going! The amount of times I've bumped into a yacht or mooring line is scary. Other than that though I love rowing a nice dinghy except in a S wester in Pilot bay! My old dinghy used to hover in the air off the back of the yacht there in a SW wind! Link to post Share on other sites
Grinna 2 Posted September 20, 2012 Share Posted September 20, 2012 There's the rub though ... lots of dinghies aren't very nice to row, so while rowing is an option, it's more of a "do it if I have to" option rather than a viable method of moving about. Link to post Share on other sites
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