Motor mounted electric kickers? Tried one?

[Andrew P]

I’m considering trying out an electric kicker set up, namely the Minn Kota Riptide EM 160lb thrust (24V). It mounts right on the main engine leg and is supposedly should perform in the 6-9.9hp equivalent range. When on plane it is out of water. Retails around $1800 plus batteries, charger and solar panel. I’m thinking it will be in the $3k range depending on batteries and solar panel which is pretty close to gas equivalent.

Pros that I see:
-Super quiet in the water
-no gas required
-super fine tuned trolling speed
-little maintenance
-no steering linkages required
-no lowering/raising


Cons:
-potentially not enough power
-may not last a big day
-a couple expensive batteries required

A couple things to note:

We are not opposed to getting a battery bank and solar panel to trickle charge. We do a lot of camping on the boat and use an electric cooler for food storage, play music, etc. The boat is a 18.5’ plus pod, Liquid Metal aluminum weighing 3800lb fully loaded before passengers. The boat is on trailer at home most days of the year except camping trips so we can easily plug in at night to charge. The boat already has 2 batteries and a Merc 150 4 stroke and would be adding additional batteries.

I’m ideally looking for an opinion from someone who has actually used one or knows someone who has one...as I am completely aware that gas is what 99% of people are familiar with and there may be some bias based on that. I’m fine with hearing that it’s a stupid idea if there is subsance to back it too!

Thanks in advance!

 

[Andrew P]

https://minnkotamotors.johnsonoutdoors.com/saltwater-trolling-motors/riptide-engine-mount?id=13636

 

[noluck]

going to be a massive battery bank, to run electric troller, downriggers and electronics

 

[Andrew P]

@StormTrooper like you say...totally possible today. Your positive attitude is great too.

I recently went out on a small boat with a guy who had converted a 9.9 gas motor to electric. He had gutted it but used the drive train and threw in an electric motor...it blew my mind how well it worked. He was running it off 2x12v boat batteries.

@StormTrooper Any tips on good places to buy components from? You seem dialed in on this stuff.

 

[walleyes]

Not saying it can't be done but I wouldn't totally depend on it and you have to look at the cost and weight of getting all this set up. We use all sorts of electric trolling motors lake fishing, 12, 24 & 36 volt systems on the tournament trails out here. Spent a few years on the northern Walleye trail circuit and have seen just about all the units in use. There are a few guys that run the units your speaking of and they work but have their issues. One issue is and this is on fresh water lakes keep in mind with no tides to fight. The rear engine mounted units are poor at maneuvering larger boats in the 18-20' range. Doesn't take much wind and it will toss a boat around enough it can't be directed properly. Most guys that run them still have a bow mount and use the rear unit for propulsion and the bow mount for direction. This is the reason bow mounted trollers are more popular, electric trolling motors lack the torque required but being it's mounted on the bow it directs the boat easily you lose this ability with the prop on the main leg. Again this is in fresh water applications. Personally I can't see them being very effective battling tides and winds at the same time. You would have to be running the unit at full capacity most of the time and your battery life would be shortened greatly. I would strongly advise against it you would not be happy with the performance.

 

[Andrew P]

Not saying it can't be done but I wouldn't totally depend on it and you have to look at the cost and weight of getting all this set up.

Thanks for your input walleyes. Do you know of anyone that uses the double motor unit that I am looking at? Each motor is 80lb thrust, whereas most of the older units were a single 55lb....which located directly behind the leg would likely have bad performance like you are talking about. This one has the two motor separated a bit which would have better water flow and should have better control.

 

[ryanb]

There's some videos online showing 40-60A draw from the motor, at 24V to get 5kmh. I don't think it's a viable choice unless you only want to troll for an hour or two a day.

These electric motors work great on light boats on flat calm lakes, trolling maybe 1.5mph for trout. Not so much a heavy ocean boat in wind and waves at 2.5-3mph.

If you give it a go, and prove me wrong, let me know. I'd love to replace my 9.9 with one.

 

[Canso]

I think you would need something like this
https://www.torqeedo.com/us/en-us/products/outboards/cruise

And more like the $6k range with batteries etc.

Minnkota is way behind in this technology.

 

[walleyes]

I have to admit I have not seen these new units in use only the single propped units. I would still be leery of their capabilities fighting wind and current conditions in salt water applications. Its a lot of mony to spend if it doesn't work. I snapped a pic of expected run times at certain amp draws and my experience with this stuff is these are very over exaggerated. But you never know one might be surprised.

 

[Canso]

I have to admit I have not seen these new units in use only the single propped units. I would still be leery of their capabilities fighting wind and current conditions in salt water applications. Its a lot of mony to spend if it doesn't work. I snapped a pic of expected run times at certain amp draws and my experience with this stuff is these are very over exaggerated. But you never know one might be surprised.

And also you shouldn’t drain a conventional battery past 50%, or it will greatly reduce its life.

So a 100ah battery will only be good at 1 hour medium speed

you will need 2 group 8D batteries 255ah each, to get any usable time.
Oh, ya they weigh 135lbs each.

 

[Lucky Streak]

Another issue would be sun light for charging batteries, this may be more feasible in warmer climates where charging is not an issue......something to consider.

 

[Sentinel]

While it may be technically possible I am not sure you could afford or find room for the battery bank it would take to troll for more than just a few hours. Only one way to find out though and somebody has to be the guinea pig!

 

[Sentinel]

Lol. I work with this stuff every night as a hobbyist ebike builder. I am pretty positive that I know the capabilities and the applications that are possible. One of my bikes travels 70km per day averaging 25kmh. I have an offroad ebike that does 80kmh. I am building a trike that will travel 120km in a single charge. Converting a gas 9.9 to electric is simple. My heaviest battery pack wieghs just 32 pounds.

So you have run an electric setup on a boat?

 

[Seagirt]

The conversion to electric motors is becoming more and more common on sailboats and other true inboards since it is a relatively simple and direct connection to the shaft/propeller, the electric motor provides high thrust required, and those boats can accommodate a large battery bank. I'm interested to hear how this pans out, good discussion.

 

[Fisherman Rob]

Looks like a pretty cool setup, but the props look tiny (hard to tell as the photo doesn't show it mounted to the leg). How big a boat are you trying to push?

 

[profisher]

My concern would be thrust and helm control in the JDF environment, not battery life. There is a reason why high thrust gas outboards are popular. Compare the gear cases...that is where your electric is out matched.

 

[profisher]

I'm talking about Andrews setup not the conversion.

 

[Sentinel]

Lol. I'll let you educate yourself. I know what I can accomplish. It's really very easy. No need to over think this.

Lol, I”ll let you prove me wrong and corner the market as you seem to have the background to make it happen.

 

[chris73]

Great idea, Andrew! Once you have installed and tried, please send me a note. I need to come by and see if that is my next big boat upgrade. Love the concept and the idea of moving away from burning gas.

 

[GLG]

Not sure if this is in the budget but if you are looking at other battery ideas have a look at some of these.
https://www.altestore.com/store/deep-cycle-batteries/lithium-batteries-c4441/
There are other brands out there that may cost even less.
Now if we had a whole lot of ev's on the road there would be a supply of batteries at the local wreckers that could be configured to suit your needs and at low cost.