Boat trolling motor efficiency

[chvidgov.bc.ca]

Hmmm...i wonder if there is a way of coupling a prop to a hub motor like the Cute with really strong rare earth magnets operating through a waterproof motor enclosure...have to put on my thinking cap for that one...

[EVTodd]

I have been thinking about this quite a bit myself.

I currently have a canoe that I use a trolling motor on all the time for fishing local canals and small rivers. I love the setup and it works great but I've always hated dragging a huge battery around.

My thought was to pick up a cheap trolling motor, gut the motor and mount an outrunner in it's place. Just a simple direct drive.

After doing a bunch of reading about Torqeedo's products I'm pretty much set on picking up one of their props and modifying it to fit. You can get one for around $85 or so. Crazy expensive for a piece of plastic but if they work that good I'll do it.

A couple of lipo packs in a waterproof box... Man, it would be nice to have a lightweight setup like that.

[blisspacket]

Lipo batteries might be fine. I'll stick with the NiMH batteries that are culls from a Prius battery rebuilder in Sanford NC. I currently have 108 of his 6.5 amp 7.2volt Panasonic batteries. I used them on a MinnKota with a Torqeedo prop, and now on a Torqeedo 801. The batteries require a NiMH charger and there aren't that many around that have the capacity to charge them rapidly. I've been impressed that I can leave them in the garage for a month without tending to them and they don't discharge, even when indiscriminatly tied in a 4s3p configuration. Clincher was the $3 per battery, delivered at my doorstep. I have both the three bladed Torq prop and their smaller 2 bladed prop, and it's hard to establish valid comparisons, but I'm a believer. Especially coupled to the brushless Torqeedo motor, it's an efficient propulsion system.