Electric trolling motor vs Petrol outboard

MagicalArmchair

MagicalArmchair

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Hello all,

I have just purchased a 2.7 meter inflatable dinghy for Triola, our 30 foot Albin Ballad, as her tender. I now come to the thorny issue of whether to go for a petrol outboard or an electric motor - being a young family we don't have Torqueedo money to spend, so were going to look at a trolling motor (such as http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/321111252880). We will only be using the motor for trips from Triola back to the shore to roam about, and then back again to the boat.

The idea of having a silent electric motor is rather compelling to me, I dislike the tranquility of an anchorage being shattered by a delightful, smelly and noisy outboard chugging towards the local watering hole. My worry is that a 55 lb trolling motor (which I understand equates to less that 1 hp (you motor boffins will now pelt me with muffins and tell me you can't convert lbs to hp in any meaningful way)) will not push my little tender, wife and baby son against a spring tide. I am not in any desperate rush to get anywhere, so as long as it will trump any tide (within reason), then I will be delighted.

Thanks for your help,

Mark
www.albinballad.co.uk
 
I looked at similar style electric outboards - the main thing that put me off with the type you linked is that you need to supply a 12v battery (presumably something like a car battery). That meant carrying a third battery on the boat (which might not be a bad thing as an emergency backup) but I had worries about lifting something of that weight in and out of the tender to re-charge it. Figured the sea-floor would quickly be taking possession of my battery.

There are, of course, electric outboards with built-in battery packs - but they're much more expensive - or I guess you could run a long lead...
 
The advert is not very clear really, is it? The title talks about 55lbs while the body of the description talks about the thrust being 1650kg and power output of 630W.

However you look at it, it really is a bit underpowered for that load, but the biggest problem tends to be range. You'll have to supply a separate battery pack which is going to be heavy to get in and out of the dinghy. The range on a charge tends to be very short - at 600W power consumption, you will be drawing 50 amps off the battery pack - you'll run your battery down pretty quickly at that rate, especially if you are avoiding letting it cycle too low in the interests of maximising service life. Once you have discharged it, are you going to be able to recharge it adequately before you next need it? If you have drawn 50 Ah off a traction battery, no solar panels or wind generator is going to get it recharged for the next day - OK if you are going to be on shorepower every night, but if you have to fire up a little Honda generator in the cockpit to recharge them, you may as well put a little Honda outboard on the dinghy and have the speed and range!
 
Don't waste your money. Nowhere near powerful enough and needs a big heavy battery to give any range. Designed for use on fishing punts in the US where a powerful outboard is used to get to the fishing grounds and the trolling motor to move slowly or hold station. Such boats usually have a big battery for the main engine and run the trolling motor off that.

The only electric outboard that works is the Torqueedo and even that, leaving aside the costs, has limitations.

So, petrol or oars are the only viable means of propulsion.
 
I have to use an electric outboard on Rutland for pushing my 20' Medina around. Petrol outboards are not allowed on private craft (although they are allowed on the fleet of 60 fishing boats and all the safety craft) and while my 56lb thrust motor does the job, it's not as good as a petrol motor. There's also the ruddy great battery that needs to be lugged around too.
Get yourself a small petrol outboard with built in fuel tank for the tender.
 
I have used an 'Excursion' electric outboard for 2 years now with a golf buggy battery which is easy to carry. It gets me to and from the pontoon to the boat with ease and hardly any battery consumption, even against the tide. I don't know how far it would go but it does what I wanted it to do.

£150 new via Germany on Ebay. The battery was about £30.
 
+1 I used a trolling motor for many years, then upgraded to a torqeedo. The torqeedo will run for a couple of hours at reasonable speeds (3kts according to its natty gps). The trolling motor was much slower (24lb, needed help from the oars above an F5) and had a 90Ah leisure battery to lug around for a 3-4 hour duration. You won't need to draw 50A unless you are running around with the throttle wide open all the time, whoever said that was not thinking, or is not someone I'd care to share an anchorage with if that is how they drive their tender with a petrol motor on it ;) 50A needs a pretty hefty cable, if you do get one then think carefully about which plug to use to connect them (they often come with only a pair of croc clips).

If you don't mind the weight of the battery and the speed, two hours is as long as you spend away from the boat and you want to avoid having petrol on the boat (and in the boot of the car) then go electric. It's quiet, doesn't smell and usually starts first pull :) If not, if you need the power or the ability to refuel, then go petrol.
 
The figures in the advertisement make no sense. There is no way that motor will give 1,650 kg thrust. That is one and a half tons and the it certainly does not appear to be engineered for that sort of load. We must assume that 55 lbs is the correct figure. I have a Minn Kota which gives 35 lbs thrust and it draws about 15 amps at full power. If the one advertised really needs 636 watts or about 50 amps then it is very inefficient. In view of the low quality of the advertisement I would look elsewhere.

For what its worth, my Minn Kota pushes a various dinghies at about 3 knots in calm conditions and I run if off a 38 Ahr battery. This gives me a reasonable range and is light enough to lift with one hand.
 
Thanks for the advice, it would appear my ideal of silently motoring up the Swale to The Shiprights Arms in the early evening is not yet achievable on my budget. I don't savor the idea of having to lug a battery home from my swinging mooring every time I go sailing either, nor the potentially short range if I am out cruising for a week or so.

So, on your fine and learned recommendations, I have bought a spares or repairs 3.5 hp 2 stroke outboard as an engineering project (the "1st mate" will love that running in the garden) - so it looks like it will be me shattering the the tranquility of the anchorages I visit after all!

Ta,

Mark
www.albinballad.co.uk
 
If you're an MYC member, talk to Steve the Bosun - he seems to have almost magical skills at taking a heap of junk and turning it into an outboard that starts on the first pull and purrs along the Medway. He didn't charge me much the last time he did it for me either!
 
A friend bought an electric outboard, and took me out to his boat using it. There he discovered he had left his keys on shore, so went back. Halfway there the battery went pop and he left me on his boat for over an hour while he rowed back to shore and organised alternative transport! I had a pleasant time lazing in the sun.
 
Electric outboards look mostly like an alternative to rowing, rather than a serious alternative to a petrol outboard.
I'd get a petrol outboard, and maybe look at longer oars for the dinghy.
Rowing works well for me a lot of the time, and there is no grief with battery charging.
When it's too far or too windy/rough to row, I don't want to be worrying about whether the battery is charged.

Electric is great for fishing on a lake, hands free for the rod and nearly as quiet as rowing. I can see it being nice for pottering in quiet places or inland, but if you are on an exposed mooring in Salcombe or somewhere, will it have the power and range to do enough trips having been used every day of a cruise?
It's easy to spend an extra tenner here and there on water taxis, and more to the point spend too much time waiting for them.
 
nigelmercier said:
Got a link?

Later: just found this 62lb Bison, interesting.
Click to expand...

I see there are loads of the type that I have on ebay and cheaper too. The Bison may be a bargain if you get it. I find it very useful in getting me to and from the mooring without using the oars. It just makes the whole beginning and end of the journey very relaxing.
 
dylan said:
Torqeedo, YES. Just charge everyday via an inverter.
Click to expand...

Where does your inverter get its power from?
Do you just end up trading outboard noise for 5 minutes for an hour of diesel running?

I guess it depends how we use the tender, everyone is a little different.
I'm trying to talk the owner of a boat I sail on into getting a sailing tender!
 
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