Cut down that trolling motor

[Tylerdurden]

Needed a motor for the dingy and last season I drove Stevens with his as an ape hanger.

I decided to find one at a yard sale and cut it down. With the shaft being composite its not to hard to do except to be careful not to damage any wires in the process. If you can use a pipe cutter for the shaft to avoid this.

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c350/mudhutwarrior/SP_A0053.jpg

As you can see I took about a foot of shaft out.

And finished

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c350/mudhutwarrior/SP_A0054.jpg

[Bill R]

Thanks Mark. I need to do just that for my skiff.

[Yeadon]

How long will one of those run, if used on a dinghy to give you a bit of a push?

[Tylerdurden]

Depending on thrust a good long while. In a Vactioneer with 55# of thrust an two six volt golf car batteries I could cruise a whole afternoon. Not at full speed mind you but 8 to 10 miles at a reasonable speed. With a group 31 and a pirouge I would figure just as long if not more.

[Tylerdurden]

Thanks Mark. I need to do just that for my skiff.

Got it together and the phone rang, I dropped it and broke a magnet loose in the motor. Getting ready to glue it back now.

Not the call your thinking of Bill;)

[Tylerdurden]

I glued up the magnets in the housing last night using some Aralite 2021 epoxy.
Stuff is really trick and I use it to bond aluminum and stainless when welding isn't an option. It does get as strong as a weld in most circumstances.
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c350/mudhutwarrior/SP_A0058.jpg

Use a clamp like a quick clamp with a good rubber base so you do not crack the magnets.
Because of polarity issues you may need to do one at a time.

After holding the brushes in place I put the armature back in place.
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c350/mudhutwarrior/SP_A0057.jpg

[Tylerdurden]

There are "O" rings on the housing and one was torn up.
I recommend you pick up a "O" ring kit and make your own like here.
Its easy to do and the kits can be had for 50 to 75 bucks metric and standard. You cruising guys need this.

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c350/mudhutwarrior/SP_A0059.jpg

After I cut and glued up the "O" ring I slapped it back together and gave it a test

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c350/mudhutwarrior/SP_A0061.jpg

So don't chuck out that old trolling motor as a lot of the time they can be repaired after you drop it.http://www.woodenboat.com/forum/images/icons/icon10.gif

[Tylerdurden]

I am scrounging up Golf cart motors thanks to a good friend so that will be my next project in EV world. If I have time I will go through converting a outboard to electric. Mark

[Thorne]

If you get a bow-mount motor, many can be cut down to 1' or so -- the head has no real controls, all of which are in the remote unit.

As above, you need to keep all the wires uncut and intact. Haven't done it yet but have seen what others have posted on the internet, and plan to sometime soon...

http://www.woodenboat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=19160&highlight=trolling+motor

http://www.stevproj.com/FrlcMtr2.jpeg

[Tylerdurden]

I get what you are saying but these motors can be had dirt cheap at yard sales and such. I can remote these too pretty easily as the wiring is very simple. The bow mounts are hard to come by this way.

[Tylerdurden]

I am not to fond of the wiring there. Sure hope its fused:eek:

[MiddleAgesMan]

This guy stuck an electric motor on top of an outboard, probably about what you intend doing. He ran it on two Bolger designs he built, a Diablo and a Sneakeasy.

http://www.psnw.com/%7Ejmrudholm/etekoutboard.html

[Kaa]

This guy stuck an electric motor on top of an outboard, probably about what you intend doing. He ran it on two Bolger designs he built, a Diablo and a Sneakeasy.

http://www.psnw.com/%7Ejmrudholm/etekoutboard.html

Interesting. Good for quick runs, but I doubt his setup has much endurance. Battery power has horribly low energy density.

Kaa

[Tylerdurden]

Interesting. Good for quick runs, but I doubt his setup has much endurance. Battery power has horribly low energy density.

Kaa


He is running an Etek motor. They are pretty efficient but as he is not using a controller so he cannot dial it in.
Trace makes an E meter that can be plugged into a laptop.
With some testing and adjustments you would be amazed at how much can be tweaked out of such a setup.
Battery power has its place, most detractors try to compare apples to oranges and that just isn't going to work.

[MiddleAgesMan]

His initial test was without a controller but if you continue through his follow-up posts you'll see a controller was added as the project evolved. He started with a 36 volt set-up then went to 48 volts. On the Sneakeasy he eventually reached a top speed a little over 10mph. At full throttle he projected about two hours on a full charge but at a more sedate 4mph he projected about 12 hours.

[Tylerdurden]

His initial test was without a controller but if you continue through his follow-up posts you'll see a controller was added as the project evolved. He started with a 36 volt set-up then went to 48 volts. On the Sneakeasy he eventually reached a top speed a little over 10mph. At full throttle he projected about two hours on a full charge but at a more sedate 4mph he projected about 12 hours.


Thanks, just about perfect for limited use on a small sailing vessel.

[BrianW]

Thanks for the great thread with pictures!

I've been thinking about using an electric trolling motor on our inflatable for the past few months. There's not much chance of finding one in a garage sale around these parts, but now the search is on!

[Kaa]

On the Sneakeasy he eventually reached a top speed a little over 10mph. At full throttle he projected about two hours on a full charge but at a more sedate 4mph he projected about 12 hours.

Yes, with 500 lbs of batteries :rolleyes:

Kaa