Considering trolling motor in place of 10 hp Mercury

[Catigale]

LAST WEEKEND , WITH NO WIND

Aye...theres the rub...I get the impression people think the electrics work with no wind, ergo 'with wind' they will work but perhaps not as well

On a calm lake, with no wind, you can move a heavily loaded with a canoe paddle. With 10 knots, you cant. You will follow where the wind blows you.

[aya16]

this is really a tough decision, about aux. power. You really have to weigh the good and bad out. First an electric trolling motor weighs very little compared to a gas outboard.
Butttttt if you add the weight of the battery to run it, the gas outboard wins hands down. Power, moving a boat a few feet and that's all you need, the electric will do the job.
a two hp honda will run circles around any electric motor, and do it all day on a tank of gas, at about 24 pounds.

Getting stuck in the middle of no where with no wind or a sail problem. the electric wont cut it. The 10hp outboard you said you have can be taken to a shop and made reliable
for very little money, that 10 hp motor will push your boat in the worse conditions, as well as get you home when there is no wind. We are also talking about a sail boat, so where you are
there's some wind, that wind will not be over come with an electric motor, you will be shoved into docks, other boats, all over the place trying to fight a stiff wind with an electric.

But you sound like that's what you want to do anyway, so do it. All the bad will show its head as you use it.

Whats so unreliable about your 10 hp? most outboards are so reliable they are used for many years without a single problem, I have some outboards that are 30 years old or older, that run like sewing machines
can sit for years (with proper maintenance) and start right up with fresh gas every time. It sort of comes down to the best tool for the job, sure you can take a nut off with a crescent wrench,
But the proper size wrench or socket is way better to use.

If being green is the goal, and not wanting to buy a half gallon of gas to run an outboard, but sometimes being green cost way more than going the traditional route, (batteries every other year, solar panels
corroded wires) not to mention that you would be absolutly no help to another boat in trouble that could need a tow.

In my opinion electric motors are best for bass boats, and such, the range and power of them make them almost useless on a traditional boat as a power source.
Mike

[mastreb]

sometimes being green cost way more than going the traditional route

Being green always costs more than the traditional route, or it would be the traditional route. Bicycles and sailboats are prime examples of that: They are green technology that we don't think of as green because people have been using them for so long that they are the "traditional route".

[uanhanlouee]

You are gonna be carrying size 29 batteries on and off. They weight 65# each. I have a minn kota 55# on a 15' sailboat aand it will not push boat against current or winds over 10 mph. I got tired of the hassle and bought and outboard motor. Hauling gas is less tiresome and runs way longer. Lot less weight on boat with gas motor.

[Paddlefish]

Has anyone tried an electric motor combined with a generator? At first it seems like unneccesary complication, but if you are using a generator anyway to run the A/C or fridge, then you could get by with one gasoline engine instead of two.

Alternatively, one could use use a gasoline outboard for high power motoring and a trolling motor for quiet, low speed, short distance movement. Many bass boats have the main outboard for getting to the fishing site and the trolling motor for fishing. But where would you place the trolling motor on a Mac?

[mastreb]

I'm looking at a Torquedo. It's got an electric motor about equal to a 3hp outboard, and a lithium Ion battery that doesn't weigh that much--the whole kit is about 40 lbs. They have an available solar charger, and given my usage patterns it should have a full charge from solar every time I go out. I'd be using it primarily as a tender motor and secondarily as alternate propulsion for the Mac, although I've not figured out how to mount it yet.

It's too expensive to pull the trigger on until I know I need it unfortunately.

[capnmac25]

After an entire summer using a 55-lb-thrust trolling motor instead of a gas-powered outboard, I'd have to call the experiment a success, at least for my particular situation. The best parts were being able to forget about gasoline all summer long and never tugging on pull-cords!

The solar changer I used was about 14" square in size, and it kept the battery charged all summer long. On average, we sailed once a week - I don't think it would have charged the battery enough if we sailed every day, but for us it was fine.

There were limits to the amount of wind the motor could push against, but since we are on the end slip this never gave us a problem. Most guests who sailed with us were very surprised as to how well the motor pushed us along.

Mark

[dlandersson]

There are several youtube video of Mac's with Minn Kota's for motor power.

My game plan is to mount (someone already did this) a piece of wood on my swim ladder and mount a Minn Kota there as a backup.

Has anyone tried an electric motor combined with a generator? At first it seems like unneccesary complication, but if you are using a generator anyway to run the A/C or fridge, then you could get by with one gasoline engine instead of two.

Alternatively, one could use use a gasoline outboard for high power motoring and a trolling motor for quiet, low speed, short distance movement. Many bass boats have the main outboard for getting to the fishing site and the trolling motor for fishing. But where would you place the trolling motor on a Mac?

[robbarnes1965]

I'm looking at a Torquedo. It's got an electric motor about equal to a 3hp outboard, and a lithium Ion battery that doesn't weigh that much--the whole kit is about 40 lbs. They have an available solar charger, and given my usage patterns it should have a full charge from solar every time I go out. I'd be using it primarily as a tender motor and secondarily as alternate propulsion for the Mac, although I've not figured out how to mount it yet.

It's too expensive to pull the trigger on until I know I need it unfortunately.

If I ever have to re-power (burn the motor or buy a boat without one) I will go electric. There are some good choices now in all ranges of power that most sailboats would need. I would not go lithium yet however. regular deep cycle or tppl at best. The weight is less of and issue in a non racing boat. Electric motors have so little moving parts and, in the case of diesel inboards, less through-hulls to cause problems. Cost is starting to come closer to combustion. Several electric motors even generate power when sailing and most cruisers already have solar, wind and/or a generator aboard already to take care of charging. The larger Torquedo motors are even more interesting.

[FinallySailing]

Before anyone mentions, I know this is a resuscitated thread from last year .

I have a Yamaha M26 edrive for inland waters; in some places here in the UK combustion engines are not allowed, and a Tohatsu 6HP sail drive. Love the edrive, it is very responsive. Great where there are no tides/streams. Have to charge my leisure battery daily to be able to use it. I would not use an electric engine in the sea unless the higher powered ones are cheaper and there are better battery banks available. For me it is a reassuring safety feature to know that I have enough horsepower in my combustion engine and energy in a portable small fuel tank to get my boat into safety if necessary. I wouldn't try fight the tidal streams that we have here with a 3hp engine, be it electric or combustion. And whilst it is great to be able to charge your battery bank with solar/wind/stream, it does take a long time to replenish your empty battery bank again. A hybrid engine, that would be something I'd be intersted in, running a 5+ hp electric engine either from a battery bank (charged by solar, stream or wind) or directly from from a generator.

[Jenquay]

We had a 9.8 horse Mercury, electric start, but it was leaking gas. A few weeks ago we bought a 55 lb. thrust Minn Kota and it works great. On a fully charged 12v deep cycle, we ran it most of 2 hours cause of light wind and it still had some juice to return to the dock. It moved our V25 nearly 3 knots. Granted, we could not back from the dock last week with a 25-30 knot wind blowing us into shore. Years ago we used a smaller trolling motor, probably like the 32 lb thrust mentioned, and we traveled six miles easily with a Reinell 22.

[voltzwgn]

New MAC owner here, have a M25 and bought a 75lb thrust MotoGuide (24v) as I really hate the smell of gas and as we plan to do Lake sailing mostly at this point seemed like a good option. As many lakes don't allow gas or require clean running (more expensive) or just due to enviromental concerns would rather not run a gas motor 2 or 4 stroke if i have another option.

So far (only a couple outings) it seems to be fine. Last week come sunset the winds dropped off and we motored in just fine and seemed to be a moving at a good clip. We hope to get out this weekend maybe I'll open it up and check speed on GPS. When we get ready to hit SF bay I'll probably want the extra push of a gas motor. Guess i should start watching CL and wait for that "good deal" to pop up. Have always found being able to wait for the right option to come up beats feeling like you have to do something quickly and maybe not getting as good a deal.

[RobertB]

If using an electric motor because of restrictions not allowing gas engines, is it legal to have a gasoline powered generator to provide the electric power? The generator would not be in contact with the water and a source of polution.

[FinallySailing]

If using an electric motor because of restrictions not allowing gas engines, is it legal to have a gasoline powered generator to provide the electric power? The generator would not be in contact with the water and a source of polution.

Maybe different in different parts of the world. In Rutland (largest man made lake in Europe and an important fresh water reservoir) you were not allowed to use petrol engines. There were no restrictions to use generators. I used my genny for work on the boat there.

[Catigale]

I wouldn't count on this. The first time a genset owner splills petrol gem sets will be banned too.

Btw, without getting political, there is nothing "green" about replacing a few gallons of recreational petrol with an electric motor...you have to consider cost of energy in manufacturing too...lots of websites elsewhere where you can calculate the footprint...