Hello all, I believe this is my first e-mail question I have. I bought an M-15 in December and can't wait to get it out on the MN lakes this summer. I live in Minneapolis and have a strong desire to sail the boat on the lakes right in the city, one hang up is you an only use electric motors on the lakes. I am a good sailor, but not good enough to not need a motor. My question is, what is a good electric motor that I could buy that will not be that expensive (I would only use on these few lakes). Thanks in advance for your insight! -Ted
Ted I put an electric motor on my first M-17 for a summer 20 years ago. I bought the biggest MinnKota motor that would still use one 12 volt battery. Worked fine, powered through weeds, and I used the boats house battery as a spare. I used it on Lake Pepin and on the StCroix between Minnesota and Wisconsin, did not have shore power where I moored it so I had to remember to take it home for charging. Randy Sommerfeld M17 No Worries. -----Original Message----- From: montgomery_boats-bounces@mailman.xmission.com [mailto:montgomery_boats-bounces@mailman.xmission.com] On Behalf Of Ted Weidenbach Sent: Tuesday, March 29, 2011 12:05 AM To: montgomery_boats@mailman.xmission.com Subject: M_Boats: Electric Motor Hello all, I believe this is my first e-mail question I have. I bought an M-15 in December and can't wait to get it out on the MN lakes this summer. I live in Minneapolis and have a strong desire to sail the boat on the lakes right in the city, one hang up is you an only use electric motors on the lakes. I am a good sailor, but not good enough to not need a motor. My question is, what is a good electric motor that I could buy that will not be that expensive (I would only use on these few lakes). Thanks in advance for your insight! -Ted _______________________________________________ http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/montgomery_boats When posting, remember that there is no privacy on the Internet!
Ted: I have a Motorguide 52lb. thrust I use on another boat. I used it on the M17 one summer when my gas motor was in the shop. On a fully charged battery, it would get me up to about 3 knots plus. Quiet, and has plenty enough power and speed to get me off the dock or to snuggle up to a raftup. The rest of the time my sails are up. I can get one knot out of almost any wind at all. One knot with wind or 3 knots with a motor? Wind it is. I was considering switching over full time until late in the season when I was trying to get back to the dock motoring into the teeth of 25 knot winds on a dying battery. (A dead beat into 25 knots and short tacking inside 100' between docks and shore was more than I could handle by myself). A bit disconcerting to glance sideways at the shore and realize you are going backwards. So I toss out an anchor to maintain position, then switch from the motor battery to the house battery, which still had enough charge to make something happen, sheltered myself from as much wind as I could by hugging the docks and got her home. Such a motor would do fine on an M15 (surprised more people don't use them), but make sure your battery is good and fully charged. Monitor your use cause when it's dead, it's dead. Weight savings isn't as big an issue as you might think. The motor weigh almost nothing, but the battery does. At least as much as a small motor. Howard On Mar 29, 2011, at 12:05 AM, Ted Weidenbach wrote:
Hello all,
I believe this is my first e-mail question I have.
I bought an M-15 in December and can't wait to get it out on the MN lakes this summer.
I live in Minneapolis and have a strong desire to sail the boat on the lakes right in the city, one hang up is you an only use electric motors on the lakes. I am a good sailor, but not good enough to not need a motor.
My question is, what is a good electric motor that I could buy that will not be that expensive (I would only use on these few lakes).
Thanks in advance for your insight!
-Ted _______________________________________________ http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/montgomery_boats
When posting, remember that there is no privacy on the Internet!
Hello Ted and other electric folks, M-17 Robbin now has 2400 watt-hours of AGM battery and a MinnKota 80# thrust Riptide outboard. This is a little different from the carry-on battery and small trolling motor approach, but I'll share my experience. For our inland lake this arrangement is perfect--quiet, minimally polluting, and way more controllable than my old Honda 2 HP gasoline outboard. On the Bay however, tidal currents can be more than a match for motor power and system energy. If you are far from port and the currents are unfavorable, gasoline will be a better choice. I don't have experience with adverse winds, but I suspect the same issue could arise. Max motoring speed has been a little over 4 mph by GPS. Two important accessories are a good ammeter and voltmeter. They will help you monitor both system performance and available energy. Also, at these higher amperage levels, you need to be very careful and use proper wiring, circuit breakers and fusing. This system may be more intensive than some sailors will need, especially if getting in and out of the dock are the only motoring events. But I'm looking forward to even more efficient products that will someday give me power and energy to rival gasoline engines. Good winds to all, Bill -----Original Message----- From: montgomery_boats-bounces@mailman.xmission.com [mailto:montgomery_boats-bounces@mailman.xmission.com] On Behalf Of Ted Weidenbach Sent: Monday, March 28, 2011 10:05 PM To: montgomery_boats@mailman.xmission.com Subject: M_Boats: Electric Motor Hello all, I believe this is my first e-mail question I have. I bought an M-15 in December and can't wait to get it out on the MN lakes this summer. I live in Minneapolis and have a strong desire to sail the boat on the lakes right in the city, one hang up is you an only use electric motors on the lakes. I am a good sailor, but not good enough to not need a motor. My question is, what is a good electric motor that I could buy that will not be that expensive (I would only use on these few lakes). Thanks in advance for your insight! -Ted _______________________________________________ http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/montgomery_boats When posting, remember that there is no privacy on the Internet!
Ted, I've gotten by for 12 years on Lake Calhoun with an old 28 ft-lb Minnkota on my M-17. It's fine when the wind dies. Not so fine heading into a breeze more than about 10 mph, but then I can sail anyway. Rich Makela M-17 #233 - Harmony -----Original Message----- From: montgomery_boats-bounces@mailman.xmission.com [mailto:montgomery_boats-bounces@mailman.xmission.com] On Behalf Of Ted Weidenbach Sent: Tuesday, March 29, 2011 12:05 AM To: montgomery_boats@mailman.xmission.com Subject: M_Boats: Electric Motor Hello all, I believe this is my first e-mail question I have. I bought an M-15 in December and can't wait to get it out on the MN lakes this summer. I live in Minneapolis and have a strong desire to sail the boat on the lakes right in the city, one hang up is you an only use electric motors on the lakes. I am a good sailor, but not good enough to not need a motor. My question is, what is a good electric motor that I could buy that will not be that expensive (I would only use on these few lakes). Thanks in advance for your insight! -Ted _______________________________________________ http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/montgomery_boats When posting, remember that there is no privacy on the Internet!
participants (5)
-
Bill Dixon -
Howard Audsley -
Randy and Kay Sommerfeld -
Rich Makela -
Ted Weidenbach