Hi All.

I have a sevylor canyon kayak which I have had for a few years now, I love the freedom of being able to put it in the car boot and take it to my favourite spots. I have taken it to the seaside for some fun with my mates and I was thinking it would be good to have a electric motor on it to propel us a bit quicker. I have had a look on the internet to see what other people have done and they seem to buy them electric outboards of ebay and strap a plank to the back of the kayak I thought that was a bit crude.

I design and make thing for a living and thought the best way to attack this was to make a replacement skeg that has a built in motor and prop, then it is all compact and tidy it is designed like a jet ski setup so it has a fair amount of power. I have already started making it and it is looking promising once you get it all water tight which isn't to much of an issue. it runs of a lipo battery so weight isn't going to be a issue.

my question is, is this something that people would be interested in and what do you think people would pay for something like this.

Regards Rob

Thanks Gordon

I was thinking keep is simple and use the paddle.Regarding thrust I was thinking of making a wirless transmitter to fit on to the paddle handle to give you throttle control.

Rob

I'm not familiar with Lipo batteries, but given that a 110AH Leisure battery would give about 4 hours running for an electric outboard, what would you expect from your version?

Interesting project. I am currently looking at connecting my electric outboard to 2 solar panels and a controller. (Via a Leisure battery).

there are some high Ah lithium batteries. Obviously it depends on the amount of throttle you give it but the batteries I have been looking at I worked out I would roughly get around 4.5-hours running time but again you could decrease or increase it's economy.
I will be doing a test with it soon so I will give you solid numbers.

I can imagine that will give you a lot longer run times. What solar panels are you going for I bought a interesting one I use for camping which might interest you it rolls up and gives of some good current and is water proof.
http://www.powerfilmsolar.com/products/ ... =6578,6580

Rob

robhho123 wrote:there are some high Ah lithium batteries. Obviously it depends on the amount of throttle you give it but the batteries I have been looking at I worked out I would roughly get around 4.5-hours running time but again you could decrease or increase it's economy.
I will be doing a test with it soon so I will give you solid numbers.

I can imagine that will give you a lot longer run times. What solar panels are you going for I bought a interesting one I use for camping which might interest you it rolls up and gives of some good current and is water proof.
http://www.powerfilmsolar.com/products/ ... =6578,6580

Rob

I have 2 x 100w Flexible panels (not bought a charge controller yet) which should put plenty of oomph into the battery. Hopefully going to test it over the Winter and monitor the charge levels in low sunlight conditions which will make me more optimistic for the summer.

I look forward to your figures and hope the project goes well.

Austrian inflatables manufacturer has a couple of (expensive) options. They're here if you want to look at them http://www.grabner-sports.at/MOTOR-BRAC ... .html?&L=2

I've looked at the Torqueedo range before, and discounted them due to their cost and relatively short battery power at any sort of speed. But I think there is a lot of development coming through with this type of motor, which is why this thread interests me.

The Electric Paddle by Propele is 8 pounds for the motor and 8 lbs for the Nickel Hydride battery. It is like having another paddler with you that never gets tired, complains, etc. One can paddle right along with the motor, and it is dead quiet, but a bit pricey.

It is brilliant for me, day-paddling performance canoes. I wrote a review with links to pictures, if you are interested, on paddling.net, under Reviews/Boat accessories-boat outfitting/Propele Electric Boat Motor Electric Paddle.

I have no affiliation, just a very satisfied customer, and it seems there is little information otherwise available out there on the web about this newly applied technology. Cheers from the States, Dave

Dave111 wrote:The Electric Paddle by Propele is 8 pounds for the motor and 8 lbs for the Nickel Hydride battery. It is like having another paddler with you that never gets tired, complains, etc. One can paddle right along with the motor, and it is dead quiet, but a bit pricey.

It is brilliant for me, day-paddling performance canoes. I wrote a review with links to pictures, if you are interested, on paddling.net, under Reviews/Boat accessories-boat outfitting/Propele Electric Boat Motor Electric Paddle.

I have no affiliation, just a very satisfied customer, and it seems there is little information otherwise available out there on the web about this newly applied technology. Cheers from the States, Dave

And a great review it is too. Thanks!

Very interesting to see the capabilities of Nimh batteries.

Glad you found the review interesting. I am new posting to the forum, but have lurked from time to time. Great forum!