electic motors without transom?

[aprayinbear]

What do you think?

Like most of you I enjoy paddlin' my boat, but sometimes it would be great to hook on a little trolling motor and take it easy.

Since I made my boat without a transom I'm tryin' to think of a good way to attach the motor. Maybe, some sort of yoke that saddles the back of the boat, or maybe simply attaching the motor toward the end of the boat on the side and turning the motor so it faces forward.

Here's a pick of my piroque.....

What do you think? Any pics would be great!

Happy Paddlin' :lol:

 

[JEM]

I sell these on my site but I bet you could come up with a make-your-own version:

http://www.jemwatercraft.com/proddetail ... MotorMount

 

[aprayinbear]

thanks for the free advice!

Those look great and shouldn't be to hard to but together.

Thanks for the info and pics...... that's especially nice considering that you sell them yourself.

All The Best,
Duffy

 

[oldsparkey]

That is a simple matter to take care of .... If you know where the information is. :lol:

Chuck.
Here you go , enjoy. From ..... Steve in Wylie Texas and Uncle Johns web site.
************************************************************

I have enclosed some pictures from my vacation trip. I went to East Texas to check out "Big Cypress Bayou" for a trip this fall. Then headed to northwest Ark. and Beaver Lake for some fishing. I just about lived in the Pirogue for three days. Needless to say, I am very happy with it. It is light and easy to handle and most important rugged.

She is 13' long and weighs 46 lbs. I built it per your plans with a couple of small changes. I added plywood gussets to the frames and used 3/8" gunnel strips (attempt to save weight) I also installed a keel strip. The outside is covered with one layer of 6 oz. glass and polyester resin, the inside has two coats of resin. After taking her out fishing several times, my back side needed something more comfortable. I found the seat at Wal Mart, ($6.96 including screws) it is very light, I added two Fir one by two's on either side of the center frame, and four 10-24 studs. Screwed two 1" Alum. angle (1/8" thick) to the seat. Four 10-24 wing nuts hold it down, it worked out great!!!!!. Aside from being fun to paddle, if you really want to have a blast add a motor. I used a 37 lb. thrust trolling motor and 72 amp hr. deep cycle marine battery. (If you weigh over 160 go at least 14' to 15') the battery weighs as much as the boat!. I cut the trolling motor's shaft down to 17.5" then added a 1/4" doubler to the inside and 3/8" to the outside (check photos). On the first time out with the motor, I was amazed how fast it went, so I did some math, (A formula from Douglas Little's book) and she does a little over 5 mph. I have stayed on the water the best part of a day and haven't run down the battery. It has proven to be very reliable. FYI, 37 lbs. of thrust is a little over 1/2 horse power. With a 25 lb thrust motor you will only loose about 1/2 mph but will gain battery time. Anyway with motor, battery and seat she weighs 115 pounds.

The greatest compliment of your design, is the interest it draws, I must have told two dozen people about your web site. You may notice more orders from Arkansas. Anyway, thanks a lot, and have fun"

Steve in Wylie Texas
[email protected]
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6th page on Uncle Johns Web Site http://www.unclejohns.com/ . Here is how he set it up , Steve's link to it. http://www.unclejohns.com/boat/stevehart.htm , a few pictures.

 

[gbinga]

I suspect that a side mount would work better than a square stern anyhow.

If you built the square stern, you'd have to sit all the way back in the boat and sideways in order to work it.

A long extension handle would help, but you'd still have a problem turning left, unless you swapped the tiller from one hand to the other behind your back.

I thought about a square stern on mine in case I wanted to use a motor, but the side mount just seems more practical.

So anyhow, that's my contribution to BS for tonight.

George

 

[tx river rat]

I had a square stern 16 ft fiberglass canoe,and I can tell you it was the most uncomfortable clumsy set up I have ever owned . The side mount is much better.
Ron

 

[Nockatee]

I used a mounting rig like those shown from an old FolBoat on a plastic canoe many years ago. It worked quite well. Enough to get slothful in my ways and reluctant to paddle.

THAT IS A FINE LOOKING BOAT! Excellent job.

Nockatee......planning on paddling some of that SC water soon.

 

[shawnkfl]

i've always liked the clean look of a motor well. cut out a square(ish) hole through the hull, build walls up past the waterline (or however high the motor mount is) and drop the motor right through! i would taper the rear edge to keep the water flowing smoothly though. one drawback is, it takes up cocpit space though.

 

[Wannabe]

Wouldn't the hole also increase drag quite a bit?
Bob

 

[shawnkfl]

most deffinately will create some drag. they're not used for speed boats though. most commonly seen on sailboats. taper the bottom and the drag could be cut down some. i've seen some with just the motor shaft through the hull, but you have to remove the prop to get it in or out. you could make a flush "door" to pop in for use when the motor is not used too.

 

[gbinga]

The thing about using a well in a boat as narrow as a pirogue is that you are getting the moter back toward the center of the boat, which gets you back to sitting sideways and/or holding the tiller behind your back. Side mount would get the moter off the the side and as far forward as you wanted so the tiller is easy to reach.

By the way, that is indeed a pretty boat. I like the stem detail you did. Reminds me of what jdupree did on his. I just chopped mine off flush, because I am lazy and unartistic.

gbb

 

[oldsparkey]

There are trolling motors that can be attached to the boat without the shaft and are retractable into a well ( built into the boat ) they have folding props that when the motor is not running fold back from the forward movement of the boat when paddling.

Give me some time and I will see if I can find the link for them. There are also some that attach to the cavitation plate on the outboard attached to the boat and have a remote control for them.

Chuck.

 

[shawnkfl]

skip the tiller steering. do it right and add an old (looking) steering wheel. the old wood ones would be sweet. something around an 8" diameter off to one side with just enough room to get by it to sit down. or make it quick release and just step over it. think outside the box and make it unique for a unique boat. no point in doing what everyone else does! or...get some throttle controls and make them into steering arms. up for left, down for right and another for throttle. that could work too. imagination is mighty powerful! there was a company (maybe still exists?) that put little inboards in canoes with steering wheels. mainly used on lakes and such, but there is no reason an electric motor wouldn't work. it would just take some rods, cables and imagination :idea: