Electric motor?

[momist]

I have been messing with a very old Seagull recently.  I've not yet tried it out on the boat, but after some not inconsiderable expenditure on strange and unusual oils and some rare and unusual parts, I managed to get it to run on the first attempt in a large test bucket.  For those who are unfamiliar, the Seagull is the noisiest, smelliest, smokiest and most polluting outboard motor ever built.  The label says "The Best Outboard Motor In The World!"  Mine was built in 1954 and is therefore only five years younger than me.

Anyway, after spending half a day cleaning the resulting oil stains off the patio, my good wife has set me the challenge of economically finding or building a silent and clean electric propulsion unit to substitute for this oily beast, which I can then sell on eBay.

Can anyone (Jeremy?) please point me at the most suitable resources on t'internet to research this?  The boat concerned is my lightweight, eight foot praam sailing dinghy, Robin.

Thanks.

P.S. I also have a 4 HP Crescent to restore, but it is currently seized, with a rusty bore.

[Paul H (admin)]

Momist,

You can't go wrong with a trolling motor from ebay and a reasonable sized sealed-gel battery (it will not leak acid even if inverted). At least 25Ah, but if you need more cheap power use a leisure battery but the acid can spill.
For your boat a 20 something pound thrust is about right, 32lb thrust will give more speed and is enough to push a 14ftx6ft pocket cruiser.

They are so quiet fishermen use them.



-Paul

[momist]

Wow,  I never thought it would be *that* simple!  Many thanks Paul, I'll be watching eBay closely for a while, my birthday is coming up!  I had been thinking along the lines of a car scrapyard wiper motor and some serious DiY.

Currently all the trolling motors on offer are new, with a "buy it now" price.  I will see if any used ones become available over the next few days.  Are there any I should avoid, or recommendations from anyone?  Batteries I already know something about, please excuse my ignorance of "trolling motors", I thought the Torqueedo at £1k was the only real choice.  

Cheers.

[Paul H (admin)]

Ian,

Most are fresh-water rated, but I run mine in fresh water after occasional sea use. Some controllers can be a little inefficient (resistor rather than electronic speed control).

The maximum power will be much less than a 2-stroke, so lumpy tides will be a problem. But a silent river cruise at 2.5kts is a whole new world of relaxing boating.

Batteries don't last forever, so don't forget the oars!

-Paul

[GregHBBR]

Hi momist,

On 12 Oct 10 23:23 "momist [via HBBR Forum]"
<[hidden email]> said:
> I thought the Torqueedo at £1k was the only real choice.

Like Paul I have a Minn Kota on my SeaHawk. Much cheaper and you don't
have to buy their special batteries, but can use anything to hand.
See:

http://www.seahawk17.plus.com/boatshed/outboard.htm

http://www.seahawk17.plus.com/gallery/uk/pictures/seahawk311-03.jpg

[momist]

Thanks Greg,

That's a very nice report you've made there.  I must explore the Sea Hawk site some more.

I have been looking on eBay, and with a Google search, and found this in several places all from the same Fishingmad seller :

http://www.amazon.co.uk/BISON-ELECTRIC-OUTBOARD-TROLLING-MOTOR/dp/B0032Q45UU/ref=pd_sxp_grid_pt_0_0

which looks almost identical to the Minn Kota product.  I wonder if they're marketing under a different name in the UK, or is it a close Chinese copy?  Anyway, the price is right.