Alternative to gas engine on Dinghy

E

Eastside3

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 29, 2019
Messages
56
Fluid Motion Model
C-30 CB
Vessel Name
Chill Awhile
I’m curious who out there has a current electric or propane engine/motor on their dinghy. I understand there’s been some improvements over the years, which is why I thought it would be good to revisit the topic and hear from those who have a relatively current model in the electric and propane realm.
I’m looking to get a motor that would be between the 2.5 - 6 range. I do like the ability to stow an electric without having gas as a concern. The distance one can get from it and the time it takes to recharge has me pondering it. As a family of 3, along with my wife’s photography gear, I know we are likely to ferry back and forth a couple/few times if we are on the hook. Even though extra batteries are speedy I’d consider it if it means I can keep the motor in the hatch below without having to mount it on the swim step railing. Propane seems appealing because .... well.... because it’s one less fuel source to worry about. Outside of researching on the google machine I thought I’d see what others have experienced. Thanks all.
 
We started with a 2 hp air-cooled Honda and a heavy fiber glass dinghy. We quickly gave up on the noisy beast, and gasoline, and bought a Toqeedo and RIB. It served us well, given our use case. We quietly explored our moorage. We quickly got to shore to stern tie. We easily took the dinghy out of a cove in Desolation Sound to get a cell signal in the channel to check the weather reports.

The battery, usually charged when we were on shore power and occasionally on the inverter while cruising, was always enough. Slow to charge, but long lasting. Especially given the monitor built in to the tiller providing speed v. distance feedback. That said, we never used it for long range exploring, and we never put ourselves in the position of having to work against current to get back to the boat. And it certainly doesn't get up on plane, but it's easy to deploy and stow.

We're moving on to a larger tender and more powerful outboard. We'll have a davit and the tender will be mounted on the boat deck (hard top). We're looking forward to the next phase of utility and opportunity, but we'll always be happy to have experienced our battery powered ride. As an aside, harbor seals were always quite curious about the sound of the Torqeedo. They'd follow us around Liberty Bay, popping up to check us out.

Cheers,

Bruce
 
All of the points Bruce made are spot on. The Torqeedo is light, easy to store and pretty easy to mount on the dingy. The biggest limitation is the cost of the battery. Retail it is about $600.00. If it were more affordable having a charged spare would be the greatest if you want to do longer rides and feel that you have a reserve if you need it. I have never really had a low power charge issue to get back. I did have to replace the battery after 5 years. Over time they do deteriorate ( they don't like heat) and will not hold the charge. I bit the bullet and bought a new battery. It is nice not to have to worry about carrying gas and no oil or real service to have to do. The extra bonus is the quiet ride. I made up a charging line that I can plug directly into a 12V outlet and plug it in to top it off. As Bruce said you can plug in the charger and use the inverter as well. I believe they also make a high capacity charger that will charge faster then 12V or the standard charger.
The other thing is service. They have been increasing coverage, but in most cases, depending on where you live, you will have to ship the unit to them. Torqeedo is very easy to work with and responsive.
 
On our NT, we had a 9' achilles and 6 hp tohatsu. Nice setup, but heavy.

We find the West Marine 275 HP and Torquedo 1003 CS are perfect for the C-28. We like to explore, and while not fast, the Torquedo is quiet and light. We limit outbound leg to ~35% of charge, leaving margin to get back.

For rigging and unrigging, not only is the Torquedo much lighter, but it is several pieces. We have a small mount on the stern for the motor piece to dry upright before being stored. Since it is only the motor piece, not the handle or battery, it is unobtrusive. While traveling, we may leave it mounted between stops.

When dry, the Torquedo stores in bag in the cave, totally out of the way and off the stern.

Torquedo price seems to be pretty well controlled, but we managed to find a combination of WM triple points weekend and free Torquedo travel bag offer.

No gas, no oil, lightweight, easy to store, quiet. Not fast, range limited, takes time to recharge.
 
The Torqeedo electric motor is not zero Db when it's running. In my shared photo album given here there are tow videos that give you some idea of the noise level the motor will emit. The faster you go the more noise it will make. Careful use of the throttle setting is needed as the thrust can propel you in an unwanted way.

https://www.icloud.com/sharedalbum/#B1AJ058xyJ6XyhY

Note: Many people misspell the name for this electric powered motor. Many times they drop the "r" and include a "u" after the "q". :lol:


I agree with all of the posts here based on my 7 years using the Torqeedo motor. There was one time I left the battery for 6 months between using it. I left it at 100% charged and after the 6 months it had fallen to 80%.

Care needs to be taken when installing the battery once the prop section has been installed on the dinghy. The battery is quite heavy and if you slip or do something that causes you to lose grip on the battery handle it could go plop into the water. 😱

If you mount this Torqeedo on a Portland Pudgy the transom heavy duty plate is IMO insufficient to avoid bending the transom dangerously. I had to engineer a special metal angle on the transom to make myself comfortable with this aspect. Also, IMO the C-bracket needs to be larger allowing the screw pads to be further down on the transom's inside surface. I talk to Torqeedo tech person about this and they were kind enough to send me a larger C-bracket. The Tech support were very accommodating. 😀

Overall, the Torqeedo motor is a very good investment and for my use it met all of my requirements. The only issue I had, that really was not the fault of the Torqeedo was when leaving a dock one time the dock hand person left a trailing line in the water which I did not notice. The person should have thrown the line into the dinghy for me. After moving off a few hundred feet the motor seized up. What had happed was the trailing line in the water got snagged into the Torqeedo's prop. Since the line ran from the bow of the dinghy and was completely taunt I could not raise the motor to untangle the line from the prop. My arm wasn't long enough to get to the prop from my position in the dinghy, so was stuck and had to use oars to paddle back to land. 😉 Make sure you have paddles/oars in your dinghy, right ? :lol:
 
I use a Minn Kota 55/T saltwater version. See "R23 Dinghy Setup" topic for details. Total cost was less than $700 including batteries, holders, charger and motor. Light weight and I can easily lift into and out of our dinghy.
 
OlygirlNav":f6odhvfq said:
I use a Minn Kota 55/T saltwater version. See "R23 Dinghy Setup" topic for details. Total cost was less than $700 including batteries, holders, charger and motor. Light weight and I can easily lift into and out of our dinghy.
Click to expand...

I think this is a good and inexpensive solution for using an electric motor. It's not speedy, but who wants to fly around in a dinghy if being used for short distances.
 
Having an unobstructed swim step gives all you inboard boat owners so many options for dinghy and motor choices (I'm jealous). I love our R27-OB for so many reasons, but satisfying our dinghy requirement had its challenges. Based on a strong recommendation from our friend Barry, we went with the Sea Eagle 385FT inflatable kayak with their Watersnake 24T electric trolling motor. We bought a Water Blade 60 AH lithium polymer battery that tucks neatly into the transom area. The motor / battery configuration should give us 2+ hours of operation, more at its slowest speed. Can't wait to put it to the test!

Bob & Kim
The Doghouse 2
 
Bob: Even though I've switch from the OB to the IB engine configuration I still intend on keeping my Sea Eagle as my dinghy option. I simply love to look astern without an obstructed view. The transom flip over seat of the R29 greatly benefits from this unobstructed view more so than with the OB configuration as well. I have the choice of having the inflated Sea Eagle slung alongside the Command Bridge's port-side rails or bagged up and stowed in aft area of the Command Bridge. If needed, inflating the Sea Eagle is easy-peasy in the cockpit's 10' foot beam area using my 12v electric pump with built in battery. 😀

About the running time for the Watersnake motor.... see below... for my Watersnake motor

http://www.tugnuts.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=12061&p=81784&hilit=Watersnake#p81784

A snippet....
Here is my photo album showing the WaterSnake test setup - https://www.icloud.com/sharedalbum/#B1AJu8EH6JHnC1h
The short 10 sec video is with the motor running at speed setting #5 and voltage at 9.6v (items 10 & 11 below).

Testing results...

1. Speed neutral (no load) - Voltage at 12.3v
2. Time 0 hrs - Speed set to #2 - Voltage at 11.9v
3. Time 1 hrs - Voltage 11.4v
4. Time 2 hrs - Voltage 11.2v
5. Time 3 hrs - Voltage 10.7v
6. Time 3 hrs - Speed changed to #3 - Voltage 10.4v
7. Time 3.5 hrs - Voltage 10.4v
8. Time 3.5 hrs - Speed changed to #4 - Voltage 10.2v
9. Time 4 hrs - Voltage 9.9v
10. Time 4 hrs - Speed changed to #5 - Voltage 9.6v
11. Time 4 hrs and 10 mins - Voltage 9.6v
12. Time 4 hrs and 10 mins - Speed changed to #2 - Voltage 10.1v
13. Time 5 hrs - Voltage 9.7v
14. Time 5 hrs - Speed changed to Neutral - Voltage 9.9v
15. Time to recharge the 50 Ah Lithium ion battery to 100% and 12.4v was just under 4 hrs.

During the complete test period the motor was running solidly at each speed setting and with no apparent slowing down.

Note: I post this before the testing completes because the test covers some 5+ hrs and I don't want to find my post somehow goes poof before I post it. I will update the test results after the battery full charge has completed.

At this time I feel comfortable this battery will keep my WaterSnake motor running for 5 to 10 hrs, especially if operated at low to medium speed settings.... and even with the odd burst of speed with settings 4 & 5. 😀
 
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