Changing petrol outboard for electric on tender?

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I'm thinking about changing the 15hp pull start Mercury outboard on my RIB tender because in 7yrs of ownership its been nothing but trouble despite regular servicing. I was thinking about changing it for a brand new petrol outboard, this time with electric start but then I thought why not just go for the simplicity of an electric outboard like the Torqueedo 8hp

We are not into watersports and the RIB only ever gets used as a ship to shore tender so acceleration and speed is not essential but reliability and a reasonable range are

Anyone got any views on this? The battery seems a bit bulky and heavy but I'm guessing that will go under the helm seat in place of the petrol tank
 
I've been so tempted and when you mentioned 8hp I was ready. Had a quick look at the required package and baulked. £3k for the motor is steep but for the luxury, doable. But it has a 4kW motor and the battery is only rated at 2.6k Whr. So I imagine battery life is not as good as the lower hp spec models. So you'd want two, possibly a 3rd as spare. But they weigh 24kilo each and cost £2.2k a unit. So for the privilege I'd be paying almost as much as as a modern OB, that should it fit, would probably also move my boat at a fair clip. And 24kilo a battery! The whole reason for me wanting to go electric is to lighten the load, not add to it. My 8hp 2-stroke which never misses a beat is only marginally heavier than a single battery.
 
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BruceK said:
I've been so tempted and when you mentioned 8hp I was ready. Had a quick look at the required package and baulked. £3k for the motor is steep but for the luxury, doable. But it has a 4kW motor and the battery is only rated at 2.6k Whr. So I imagine battery life is not as good as the lower hp spec models. So you'd want two, possibly a 3rd as spare. But they weigh 24kilo each and cost £2.2k a unit. So for the privilege I'd be paying almost as much as as a modern OB, that should it fit, would probably also move my boat at a fair clip. And 24kilo a battery! The whole reason for me wanting to go electric is to lighten the load, not add to it. My 8hp 2-stroke which never misses a beat is only marginally heavier than a single battery.
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Ouch so 5.2k for an outboard and a battery.

Buy a williams!
 
jrudge said:
Ouch so 5.2k for an outboard and a battery.

Buy a williams!
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And pay £30k for it and wreck the jet nozzle when you get too close to the beach? And freshwater flush it every time you get it back on board. No thanks;)
 
mcanderson said:
You do hate that outboard.
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Yes youre right! It has let me down so many times and its got a malevolent personality in that it likes to let me down at the most inconvenient and embarrassing moments. There is nothing that quite ruins your street cred as much as being towed out of St Tropez harbour in the middle of the high season by the harbourmasters dory and being summarily dumped outside to row your way back to the mothership. It was only the SWMBO's soothing words which stopped me giving that bloody outboard a burial at sea after that incident:disgust:
 
I replaced oars with a Torqeedo T1003, and have been very pleased.

I have never had a petrol outboard, but this seems to be fine, not too heavy, no need to store petrol on the boat, no leaking oil or fuel. It is not man enough to get our small RIB onto the plane, but that has not been a problem for us.
 
NoviceRod said:
I replaced oars with a Torqeedo T1003, and have been very pleased.

I have never had a petrol outboard, but this seems to be fine, not too heavy, no need to store petrol on the boat, no leaking oil or fuel. It is not man enough to get our small RIB onto the plane, but that has not been a problem for us.
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Thanks. What sort of range does it have? What capacity of battery does it have? How and how often do you charge it?
 
mcanderson said:
What about trading in on a smaller outboard with electric start - the Honda 9.9 has electric start.
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An outboard engine with electric start (rather than pull start) would probably cost as much if not more than an electric outboard set up which is why I'm thinking about the all electric unit
 
Deleted User said:
We are not into watersports and the RIB only ever gets used as a ship to shore tender so acceleration and speed is not essential but reliability and a reasonable range are

Anyone got any views on this? The battery seems a bit bulky and heavy but I'm guessing that will go under the helm seat in place of the petrol tank
Click to expand...

We actually never acquired a petrol, Ive been using a 13 y old minicota on a 2.4 flat bottomed thing .
Child friendly was the main reason
Of course there are plenty of secondary reasons no petrol on the boat , lighter , turn key etc
And it’s weedy compared to say a Suzi 2.5 .
Buy you have placed emphasise on “ we are not into water sports .
Torquedo,s were not around much ,however the principles apply the same , just different Hp , bit like computers they just get better / more powerful .

Wife likes it - and yes we have potted into St Trop , tied up - shopped then returned hassle free .
It lives under a cockpit seat , has had Zero maintenance from me ,I can lift on the transom with one hand , has 5 speeds ,we normally use “3 “
Oh before anybody ridicules it’s a sea / Marine version not a lake trolling motor .
The strangest thing is this - €60 all those years ago bought me a 60 Ah lead acid car bat ( again one hand lift jobbie in a nice water /splash proof box )
It’s got one of those green light thingy to show charge — It’s still a good un - yup after all these years it’s seems to defy all the lead plate / discharges/ sulphate / short life - they knacker after 3 years Chaffee flying round this forum .
Don,t get me wrong love to buy another - but it’s still fully functional.
Remember U.K. lot there’s no tides in the Med and usually one can get in close .
We have a small dog so frequent shore trips - no noise - oh yes they are silent too .
Easy to charge up - shore or geny ac .
Never been left stranded .
Also I feel comfortable turning it off and paddling the last bit in no outboard zones .
Folks don,t give you a funny disapproval look when they see - mentally cos it’s silent I guess - dunno
 
Deleted User said:
Thanks. What sort of range does it have? What capacity of battery does it have? How and how often do you charge it?
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Range depends on speed. Torqeedo claim ~10 hours, 20nm at 2 kn. We use about half throttle ~3kn, for which they claim 3.5 hours ~10nm. So far, tendering on the Dart, I used very little, but it was a short run from buoy to quay. I have not tried running it right down.

I have charged overnight before use.

Hope this helps
 
Deleted User said:
I'm thinking about changing the 15hp pull start Mercury outboard on my RIB tender because in 7yrs of ownership its been nothing but trouble despite regular servicing. I was thinking about changing it for a brand new petrol outboard, this time with electric start but then I thought why not just go for the simplicity of an electric outboard like the Torqueedo 8hp

We are not into watersports and the RIB only ever gets used as a ship to shore tender so acceleration and speed is not essential but reliability and a reasonable range are

Anyone got any views on this? The battery seems a bit bulky and heavy but I'm guessing that will go under the helm seat in place of the petrol tank
Click to expand...

Is that the one that refused to start when I was onboard?!
 
Portofino said:
We actually never acquired a petrol, Ive been using a 13 y old minicota on a 2.4 flat bottomed thing .
Child friendly was the main reason
Of course there are plenty of secondary reasons no petrol on the boat , lighter , turn key etc
And it’s weedy compared to say a Suzi 2.5 .
Buy you have placed emphasise on “ we are not into water sports .
Torquedo,s were not around much ,however the principles apply the same , just different Hp , bit like computers they just get better / more powerful .

Wife likes it - and yes we have potted into St Trop , tied up - shopped then returned hassle free .
It lives under a cockpit seat , has had Zero maintenance from me ,I can lift on the transom with one hand , has 5 speeds ,we normally use “3 “
Oh before anybody ridicules it’s a sea / Marine version not a lake trolling motor .
The strangest thing is this - €60 all those years ago bought me a 60 Ah lead acid car bat ( again one hand lift jobbie in a nice water /splash proof box )
It’s got one of those green light thingy to show charge — It’s still a good un - yup after all these years it’s seems to defy all the lead plate / discharges/ sulphate / short life - they knacker after 3 years Chaffee flying round this forum .
Don,t get me wrong love to buy another - but it’s still fully functional.
Remember U.K. lot there’s no tides in the Med and usually one can get in close .
We have a small dog so frequent shore trips - no noise - oh yes they are silent too .
Easy to charge up - shore or geny ac .
Never been left stranded .
Also I feel comfortable turning it off and paddling the last bit in no outboard zones .
Folks don,t give you a funny disapproval look when they see - mentally cos it’s silent I guess - dunno
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I have to fully agree it's simple no need to spend 1000s on an electric outboard I also use an inexpensive one and it does the trick
 
I'll tell you what, M.
Get the oldest and cheapest used Merc 2 stroke 10hp you can find. It'll never let you down, and will run forever.
Not to mention than its performance might well be similar to a modern 15hp 4 stroke - if not even better.
Sure, you won't save the planet going that route, but also a 2500hp boat is hardly eco-friendly... :D
 
I had a go with SammyBs Torqueedo on the back of one of our DinghyGo inflatable Sailing Dinghies.
It works very well.
Not for me but it would do the job you are asking.
I think I heard somewhere that the Torqueedo has an inbuilt GPS and can keep track of its charge state thus keeping enough charge to go home.
 
If it were me, I'd go for an engine that actually starts easily and works properly, i.e. Yamaha 15.
If the tender is big enough, then an Evinrude E-TEC 25 would be a hoot, but not if you sink because the engine is too heavy for the tender (70kg).
 
FlowerPower said:
If it were me, I'd go for an engine that actually starts easily and works properly, i.e. Yamaha 15.
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When I bought the Mercury I thought I was buying a reliable engine. Let me turn the question around. Which 15hp motors have the best reputation for reliability?
 
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