Electric outboard - recommendations

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AndyG35

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Hi all, I've just got my hands on a Zodiac 230 as a tender for my boat. It's come with a 4hp Honda petrol outboard, but I'm tempted to switch it for an electric outboard. The Torqeedo and ePropulsion models look good, but are pretty pricey. Has anyone used one of the cheaper models like a Bison? I only need the outboard for pottering around in rivers and to/from beaches from the mooring.
 
Regular topic here - one thread yesterday for example - and the short answer is no. Trolling motors have limited application - limited power and range, need for bulky and heavy external battery and despite claims not made for saltwater use. If you only want to get to and from your mooring using a hard dinghy, and take the battery home for charging then fine , just not a substitute for use on an inflatable tender for a cruising yacht. They have been around for 40 odd years and rarely seen for use on tenders because of the drawbacks.
 
I recently bought a Torqeedo 1103c which I haven't had a chance to try out yet but if you were to decide on that one, Arthur Beale Ltd were offering them at a good price . Especially if you are a CA member as you can get a good discount.
 
Tranona said:
Regular topic here - one thread yesterday for example - and the short answer is no. Trolling motors have limited application - limited power and range, need for bulky and heavy external battery and despite claims not made for saltwater use. If you only want to get to and from your mooring using a hard dinghy, and take the battery home for charging then fine , just not a substitute for use on an inflatable tender for a cruising yacht. They have been around for 40 odd years and rarely seen for use on tenders because of the drawbacks.
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i've seen a couple of tenders using them over the last few weeks - reasonable pace, seemed ok for pottering around. thanks for the point re: salt water, i'll look into that.
 
Ditto a Zodiac 260 with a Torqueedo - 8 1/2 years now, year round, all salt water, totally neglected and iirc only fix has been a new shear pin incurred when I was coming back from the pub…
 
AndyG35 said:
thank you (and any issues with salt water?)
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No issues with salt water at all. Torqeedo do suggest that the unit should be rinsed with fresh water before stowing it away.

One thing I like about the Torqeedo is that I can install it on, or remove it from, the dinghy very easily as it breaks down into 3 main parts (outboard, control tiller and battery). The heaviest bit is only 11kg and is very easy to handle.
 
Thread on this question yesterday:
Small electric outboards for tenders?

It's hard to answer without knowing what your requirements and expectations are.
Last summer I reckon I never made a journey in the tender where I wouldn't have been better off using my Bison. But the summer before that, we did a couple of long trips where range might have become an issue.
My daily use of it is travelling about 100yds from a pontoon to my mooring. It's perfect for this, and I would never leave the much more valuable and temperamental petrol outboard on the dinghy 24/7 like I can with the Bison.
 
Poignard said:
I recently bought a Torqeedo 1103c which I haven't had a chance to try out yet but if you were to decide on that one, Arthur Beale Ltd were offering them at a good price . Especially if you are a CA member as you can get a good discount.
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In similar manner I've just bought an e propulsion which I have not had chance to use yet in order to get the larger battery capacity.

Albeit a longshaft, the weight of the leg ws pretty reasnable but I was surprised at how heavy the battery is.
 
AndyG35 said:
Hi all, I've just got my hands on a Zodiac 230 as a tender for my boat. It's come with a 4hp Honda petrol outboard, but I'm tempted to switch it for an electric outboard. The Torqeedo and ePropulsion models look good, but are pretty pricey. Has anyone used one of the cheaper models like a Bison? I only need the outboard for pottering around in rivers and to/from beaches from the mooring.
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There is another thread running about this. Yes, quite a few people use trolling motors and find that they work well, though lead-acid batteries are a wee bit heavy and it's probably worth looking for a salt-water motor. If some added convenience and/or increased pontoon credibility is worth £1300+ to you, though, go for the posh ones.
 
I purchased an e propulsion unit last year (and have used it !) a great bit of kit, one plus for me over the Torqueedo was that the battery pack floats. I Have no plans to use this option in anger but it does add confidence when separating the battery pack from the motor in the dinghy in order to lighten the transfer to the mother ship (which is another big plus)
 
Torquedo, agree with others. Two tiny irritations: the battery lock pin is a flimsy piece of plastic - thinking of replacement with a drop nose bolt. And the electrical connections are very easy to cross thread.

On that note, a friend of mine has constructed a handle that fits on the pivot connection of the battery so I can lower it into a padded daysack, adapted by him, for carrying ashore. He's ex Dyson.
 
I have an Avon Milpro 9 and an Epropulsion Spirit Plus. Great combo and motor very powerful.
Totally waterproof too. Found that out when I tested the combo out for first time, thought the motor would be a bit weedy so didn't bother with kill cord, grabbed full throttle and the whole boat flipped over. In I went! Didn't help being a round tail and me sat aft but good thing (depending how you look at it) was the motor kept going despite being fully submerged. No damage to motor at all.
Had to grow a pair though and swim under it to find the throttle to stop the prop going as I was on my own. Still got all my fingers and learnt a lesson - leccy motors have a bit of torque!
 
This page might give an idea of what trolling motors such as the Bison were designed for (and sell in the thousands in the US). An entirely different kind of product from a Torqeedo, or a petrol outboard, but can of course be used on a small dinghy if you can live within their limitations.google.com/search?q=trolling+for+bass&tbm=isch&chips=q:trolling+for+bass,online_chips:trolling+motor:CWtMF2rPois%3D&hl=en-US&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiQ8NGxwLDwAhUPcxoKHRQrBmUQ4lYoAnoECAEQHQ&biw=913&bih=897

Its a bit like saying I have seen a golf cart for sale. Is it any good as a city runaraound. Yes it has 4 wheels, 4 seats and an electric motor - but not quite in the same league as a Renault Zoe.
 
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Tranona said:
Its a bit like saying I have seen a golf cart for sale. Is it any good as a city runaraound. Yes it has 4 wheels, 4 seats and an electric motor - but not quite in the same league as a Renault Zoe.
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Nah, it's more like asking "Can I use a Renault Zoe for motorway trips?" and being told that only a Tesla will do ...

Trolling motors sell, as you say, by the thousand and have been around for decades. They are a highly successful product and only battery limitations have restricted their use.
 
JumbleDuck said:
Nah, it's more like asking "Can I use a Renault Zoe for motorway trips?" and being told that only a Tesla will do ...

Trolling motors sell, as you say, by the thousand and have been around for decades. They are a highly successful product and only battery limitations have restricted their use.
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Yes, they are sold in the thousands - just not for use on dinghies as tenders. Battery is not a problem when they are used in the way they were designed for as they are plugged into the main battery on the fishing skiff which is charged by the big outboard. Also they get very little actual running as the most common use is for holding the skiff in position while fishing. You can see this in the rigs shown in the link.

Saw all this in the US in the late 1970s and little has changed except that more powerful versions have been introduced reflecting the trend towards bigger and heavier skiffs.

As I have said many times, given that they have been on the market in the UK for at least 30 years, if they really were a viable product for use on tenders they would be everywhere and Torqeedo etc would never have got a look in.

They have been tested in the mags several times against other motors and the results are always they same, highlighting the well known limitations compared with proper outboards. The only thing that might shift the balance a bit is Lithium batteries, but once you combine those (at current costs) with the more powerful models much of the cost advantage disappears.
 
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