today I tried an new variable speed electric trolling motor on a M17, on still lake, with no air, one person. I got the gauge to reach almost two knots, its a hang over the side wand type. The meter said it was pulling 47 amps and at full open it lasted almost two hours. It was very sensitive to position of the helmsman. approximately 745 watts per one HP, that comes to only 0.86 HP, two knots seem too high for so small a motor. A ready to sail M17 I think weighs in at 2200 lbs plus one person.
MC, I have been thinking about an electric for our M-15. We will probably only be using her on lakes and most of them aren't all that big. I would think if I could get a range of five miles or so, out of it, that should be plenty. I might need two batteries to do this, but I don't have a problem with that as they (their weight) would reside pretty much in the middle of the boat. What was the thrust rating of the motor you were testing?? The motor I am looking at is rated, 55 lbs thrust. I have a 4 hp 2 stroke to use if I need better range or for a situation with current. But the silence of the electric is appealing for use on the lakes we would normally be sailing on. Rik On Fri, Apr 16 2004 07:02 pm, MC wrote:
today I tried an new variable speed electric trolling motor on a M17, on still lake, with no air, one person. I got the gauge to reach almost two knots, its a hang over the side wand type. The meter said it was pulling 47 amps and at full open it lasted almost two hours. It was very sensitive to position of the helmsman. approximately 745 watts per one HP, that comes to only 0.86 HP, two knots seem too high for so small a motor. A ready to sail M17 I think weighs in at 2200 lbs plus one person.
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I'm no electrician, but I thought I'd weigh in because I've used a 55 lbs thrust Minn Kota on my M17. I believe you might get your 5 miles out of one standard-sized deep-cycle, because 5 miles was more or less my range with the heavier 17'. I don't have a knotmeter, nor GPS (I mostly daysail, and I'm poor), so I can't tell you how fast the electric pushed me. I can give you the "nephew" index, though. I moved fast enough that my nephews enjoyed being dragged behind the boat under silent power. I'm obviously not talkin' planing inner-tubes here, but kids in lifejackets with ropes around their waists, enjoying the novelty and finding out, to their surprise, that the boat was moving faster than they could swim. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Rik Sandberg" <sanderico@earthlink.net> To: "MC" <southisland2@earthlink.net>; "For and about Montgomery Sailboats" <montgomery_boats@mailman.xmission.com> Sent: Saturday, April 17, 2004 9:14 AM Subject: more on electric drive on M17 MC, I have been thinking about an electric for our M-15. We will probably only be using her on lakes and most of them aren't all that big. I would think if I could get a range of five miles or so, out of it, that should be plenty. I might need two batteries to do this, but I don't have a problem with that as they (their weight) would reside pretty much in the middle of the boat. What was the thrust rating of the motor you were testing?? The motor I am looking at is rated, 55 lbs thrust. I have a 4 hp 2 stroke to use if I need better range or for a situation with current. But the silence of the electric is appealing for use on the lakes we would normally be sailing on. Rik On Fri, Apr 16 2004 07:02 pm, MC wrote: today I tried an new variable speed electric trolling motor on a M17, on still lake, with no air, one person. I got the gauge to reach almost two knots, its a hang over the side wand type. The meter said it was pulling 47 amps and at full open it lasted almost two hours. It was very sensitive to position of the helmsman. approximately 745 watts per one HP, that comes to only 0.86 HP, two knots seem too high for so small a motor. A ready to sail M17 I think weighs in at 2200 lbs plus one person.
I have a 55 lb thrust Motorguide I used for a brief period while my regular motor was in the shop. It pushed the boat along at what I'd estimate to be 2 to 3 knots. It even pushed it against a really strong headwind (whitecaps), and was making decent progress until the trolling motor battery gave out. Not that much of a drain, it simply wasn't charged up in the first place. There was a brief fire drill while I went below to get the primary battery out and get it hooked up. You drift downwind pretty fast in whitecaps. I wasn't really sailing that day....only moving the boat from point A to point B, but in anticipation that something could go wrong, I had taken the sail cover off and had double reefed the main and had it ready to hoist. I knew if the motor didn't have enough power or for any reason didn't work, I was going to have to get busy playing sailor! On a small lake for day sailing, I think it would work fine. Just be sure the battery is fully charged before you set out. A fully charged deep cycle battery should push the boat along at 2 to 3 knots for several hours. With any hint of a breeze, your sails would help you out as well. Howard M17, #278 Audasea
Just an fyi regarding the electric motors like our Minnkota, which we also use for other boats too (Wife's old aluminum Fisher). Our local Battery Shop ('Batteries Plus') also sell a Solar Charger for Marine usage - 'Solargizer'. We have one on our old Stink Pot boat to keep it topped off (Runabout Bayliner) and one for the electric motor battery. The charger usually sits on top of the battery case (Velcro) and leaves the battery fully charged so we are ready 'whenever'. Even when we're 'drowning worms' or beached & not going anywhere, the battery is recharging in the Sun, right?? The charger has two interesting features. 1) it pulses the battery so that it won't develop 'memory' and 2) it also has an AC adapter plug so it can be charged without Sun (in the garage?). btw - I use an equivalent charger on the 'Antique' Jeep as well, which gets morning Sun everyday (it's Velcro'd to the top of the Winch Case) so it 'never' has a dead battery (for quite a few years now). I've seen similar chargers for sale at Radio Shack and at very competitive prices which is great for the budget. I can visualize a small solar electric panel on the transom of an M17 that keeps an electric motor 'ready when needed'. Just my .02 cents Gordon ----- Original Message ----- From: "Howard Audsley" <haudsley@tranquility.net> To: "For and about Montgomery Sailboats" <montgomery_boats@mailman.xmission.com> Sent: Saturday, April 17, 2004 3:06 PM Subject: Re: M_Boats: more on electric drive on M17
I have a 55 lb thrust Motorguide I used for a brief period while my regular motor was in the shop. It pushed the boat along at what I'd estimate to be 2 to 3 knots. It even pushed it against a really strong headwind (whitecaps), and was making decent progress until the trolling motor battery gave out. Not that much of a drain, it simply wasn't charged up in the first place.
There was a brief fire drill while I went below to get the primary battery out and get it hooked up. You drift downwind pretty fast in whitecaps. I wasn't really sailing that day....only moving the boat from point A to point B, but in anticipation that something could go wrong, I had taken the sail cover off and had double reefed the main and had it ready to hoist. I knew if the motor didn't have enough power or for any reason didn't work, I was going to have to get busy playing sailor!
On a small lake for day sailing, I think it would work fine. Just be sure the battery is fully charged before you set out. A fully charged deep cycle battery should push the boat along at 2 to 3 knots for several hours. With any hint of a breeze, your sails would help you out as well.
Howard M17, #278 Audasea
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I was out over the weekend, and was only using my Motorguide 55# thrust trolling motor. In calms, it would push the boat to a max of 2.7 knots on the GPS (inland lake with no tide or current). A 15 knot headwind....an occasional whitecap.....would stop it dead. For safety reasons, I'm going to stick with the 4 HP outboard. Howard M17, #278 "Audasea" On 4/17/04 3:10 PM, "Honshells" <chonshell@ia4u.net> wrote:
I'm no electrician, but I thought I'd weigh in because I've used a 55 lbs thrust Minn Kota on my M17. I believe you might get your 5 miles out of one standard-sized deep-cycle, because 5 miles was more or less my range with the heavier 17'. I don't have a knotmeter, nor GPS (I mostly daysail, and I'm poor), so I can't tell you how fast the electric pushed me. I can give you the "nephew" index, though. I moved fast enough that my nephews enjoyed being dragged behind the boat under silent power. I'm obviously not talkin' planing inner-tubes here, but kids in lifejackets with ropes around their waists, enjoying the novelty and finding out, to their surprise, that the boat was moving faster than they could swim.
----- Original Message ----- From: "Rik Sandberg" <sanderico@earthlink.net> To: "MC" <southisland2@earthlink.net>; "For and about Montgomery Sailboats" <montgomery_boats@mailman.xmission.com> Sent: Saturday, April 17, 2004 9:14 AM Subject: more on electric drive on M17
MC,
I have been thinking about an electric for our M-15. We will probably only be using her on lakes and most of them aren't all that big. I would think if I could get a range of five miles or so, out of it, that should be plenty. I might need two batteries to do this, but I don't have a problem with that as they (their weight) would reside pretty much in the middle of the boat.
What was the thrust rating of the motor you were testing?? The motor I am looking at is rated, 55 lbs thrust.
I have a 4 hp 2 stroke to use if I need better range or for a situation with current. But the silence of the electric is appealing for use on the lakes we would normally be sailing on.
Rik
On Fri, Apr 16 2004 07:02 pm, MC wrote:
today I tried an new variable speed electric trolling motor on a M17, on still lake, with no air, one person. I got the gauge to reach almost two knots, its a hang over the side wand type. The meter said it was pulling 47 amps and at full open it lasted almost two hours. It was very sensitive to position of the helmsman. approximately 745 watts per one HP, that comes to only 0.86 HP, two knots seem too high for so small a motor. A ready to sail M17 I think weighs in at 2200 lbs plus one person.
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participants (5)
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Gordon Allgrove -
Honshells -
Howard Audsley -
MC -
Rik Sandberg