Electric outboards?

[BarryD]

The boat I'm looking to buy has a "get-you-home" wing engine. But it is 9 (or so) horse power which I think will make it too big for a four man inflatable. I've heard of lightweight electric outboards (no cracks about length of the extension cable please Matt) - any recomendations from users here? Are they worth considering?

Many thanks

Barry D.

 

[markc]

Ideal for silent midnight stealth voyages, helps if you cover your boat with matt black painted sheets of ply to avoid radar detection.

 

[peterg]

most electrics will be only suitable for a non-tidal river rather than estuary/Hamble use etc. where tides can easily get over 4-5 knots every day.

A 9hp isn't that much for an inflatable although you may have difficulty lifting it on and off without dropping it into the briny! - also check to see if it is the 'short shaft' (fnarr fnarr) variety as if not it will not be suitable for an inflatable anyway otherwise

BTW- we use a 4hp 4stroke Yamaha (short shaft) for the tender (a 3mtr aerodeck Quicksilver) but I suspect this would not power the Rinky-Dink (MVII) enough to 'get you home' unless in a flat calm

 

[Gludy]

I use a lot of electric outboards in freshwater lakes etc. Easily the best engines are Minkota, there is no real competition. The most popular ones have about 50lbs thrust - I think they are not too suited to places with fast currents and therefore not for general purpose tender use.

Paul

 

[jfm]

Not suitable for inflatable tender. They're not powerful enuf, they are rated in pounds of thrust but that's all smoke and mirrors to disguise the fact they're sub one horsepower. The laws of fizzics tell you that horsepower is what matters not pounds thrust. For your usual inflatable you want say 5hp. That's say 3.5kw. At 12v that's 300amps. As you will readily guess, you need several tonnes of batteries to run that for even half an hour and then the weight advantage rather disappears. If you are trying to store energy, good ole petrol has a x100 adavantage over lead acid batteries.

So anyway you need a small petrol outboard. 6hp mercury 4 stroke is very recommended, about 900 quid

JFM

 

[Gludy]

I agree with what you say about power and the shortfall of any electric outboard. I have just purchased a 6hp Four stroke Mercury new and paid less than £800 for it, so they are a little cheaper than you stated.
Kind regards

Paul

 

[jfm]

Re: Gludy which shop?

Gludy thanks. I couldn't remeber the exact price, I need to check. Maybe £840, not sure. Was about 6 weeks ago. Which shop do you use, just interested to compare price. People say Barnet and Ron Hale are cheapest, but you may know better.

Have you run it yet? What did you think?

JFM

 

[Gludy]

Re: Gludy which shop?

I paid £795 for it - collecting it this weekend along with rib. I think the fact I was spending a total of nearly three times that amount helped the price.
I got it from Dale Sailing - South Wales.

Paul

 

[jfm]

Re:

Good stuff. I think the internet etc is making sure we can get good prices on this kind of stuff wherever you buy, which is excellent. Let us know how it goes.

JFM

 

[kimhollamby]

Re: Missing posts

Those noticing that a section of this thread is now missing are kindly requested to take a refresher on our terms and conditions, with particular reference to racial issues and abuse of other users.

 

[KevL]

Re: Missing posts

Damn! I always miss all the fun (Hruuumph!)

Kev

 

[pongo]

Hi barry as discussed on sat petrol driven far better

 

[DepSol]

See recent PBO test