Dinghy Motor

[Bmarler]

another torqueedo owner here. i love it. i love how it breaks down into pieces so it can easily stow. has pretty good range too. has a gps built in so you can gauge your distance to empty. i have a spare battery i take on longer excursions if i feel like i'm going to need more range. no gas can on board.
it's light enough for my wife to hand it to me after the dink is in the water. safety line attached now, after losing it once...

 

[firstbase]

another torqueedo owner here. i love it. i love how it breaks down into pieces so it can easily stow. has pretty good range too. has a gps built in so you can gauge your distance to empty. i have a spare battery i take on longer excursions if i feel like i'm going to need more range. no gas can on board.
it's light enough for my wife to hand it to me after the dink is in the water. safety line attached now, after losing it once...

What size dinghy do you have it pushing? Top speed?

 

[rgano]

I lived aboard at a mooring for a few years with a Nissan 2.5 2-stroke as the dink motor. Never rinsed it. Moved boat from Pacific to GOMEX and self went ashore. Continued to abuse the Nissan until one day a few years later I felt guilty and decided to put its lower end in a bucket of freshwater and run a rinse through it. KAPOW, a quarter of the single cylinder engine head blew off, and the darned thing kept running. Looking at the removed head, I saw the exposed water passages 100% clogged with salt. A few bucks for a new head, and I was back in bidness, and I started to run freshwater through it after every use - easier since that was seldom. I could store it upside down if needed, no issues with leaks. Ran the carb "dry" since oil was mixed with gas, I figured it had enough oil in there. My brother has my old 9.8 Nissan 2-stroke, and now keeps a spare carb aboard when cruising because it is so simple to change - can rebuild at some more convenient time. I am NOT a fan of electricity to drive a dink.

 

[Bmarler]

What size dinghy do you have it pushing? Top speed?

honestly i never really noted the top speed, but i could almost get my 9 foot inflatable on plane. i'm using a 10 foot plastic west marine dink now. it's slower but still plenty fast for shore duty. closest comparison i can give is it acts about the same as a 4 horse gas motor.
wide open runs the battery down pretty quick, but if you putt around at 4 knots or so it lasts quite a while.

 

[kthoennes]

...decided to put its lower end in a bucket of freshwater and run a rinse through it. KAPOW, a quarter of the single cylinder engine head blew off...

The story of my life. Boating life anyway.

 

[hmason]

I had a 4hp Suzuki 2 stroke sitting in my garage for 25 or so years. I bought it used in the early 80s. Decided to see if it would start. It still had the old gas sitting in the carb and that must have dried out years ago. I had to pull the cord 3 whole times before it roared to life.

 

[Nomad Willy]

Here’s my 12’ w my 2 cyl. 2 stroke 4hp engine.
Shown at 1/3 - 1/2 power having as many power strokes per min. as a 4cyl 4 stroke. I think it weighs 33lbs.
Only picture on this thread .. haha

 

[OldDan1943]

Hey, how about a Neptune outboard.
I think it is/was 1/2 hp

 

[Lepke]

I use a Newport Vessels 55# thrust electric on a 9' Livingston that must weigh 250+ lbs. Motors with more thrust are available.
It will do about 8-9 knots. Heavily loaded about 5-6 knots. I find the battery much simpler than dealing with mixed gas. I don't go long distances, but use for several days around my dock before I recharge. I never had to stop what I was doing to recharge the battery. It's about 5 years old and so is the battery. Cost about $190 on Amazon. https://www.amazon.com/Newport-Vess...uPWNsaWNrUmVkaXJlY3QmZG9Ob3RMb2dDbGljaz10cnVl

Now that I've had an electric, I'd never go back to gas. No more trips to town for gas, no pulling the starter cord for a half hour before a $300 trip to the repair shop, etc. I just put the battery in the boat, connect the cables and go. You can make a connection so your main recharges the battery when it's aboard.

 

[gunho1]

Zar

We couldn't bring ourselves to buy a Highfield since they moved production to China. I understand that is not a factor in the decision making process for others.

We ended up with an Italian made Zar. https://www.zar-formenti.us

Preference would have been Caribe but were not able to purchase in a reasonable time frame due to supply chain issues.

We are very happy with the dinghy and think is is close to Caribe in quality.

 

[Sonchaser]

We have been using our E-propulsion Spirit on a 9'6" AB Hypalon dinghy and we love it. I weigh about 185 and my wife...who knows, but let's just say the dinghy makes her look thin. It won't plane but we love using the E-prop. So quiet it reminds of more of kayaking. I seldom have range anxiety because the range in hours is right on the little "dash" at the throttle. I love the no gas feature. I actually keep mine stashed in a cabinet door, pull it out, clamp it on and go. No worry about whether it will start. I tend to charge it up when in marinas, but I now have the option of solar or I plug it in and let it charge when running the genny.
We like ours after a year. It is not as fast as a gasser though, so just know that it might be electric, but it is not a Tesla.

 

[Sofa King Fishy]

Mercury has a new 5hp Propane motor that looks very tempting- I’ve got LPG onboard anyway for the galley stove- anyone have experience with this?

 

[Lollygag1]

We have a Mercury 9’ 8” rib with a Yamaha 2.5. Have moved 4 adults and dog to shore and back. Have even towed another couple and their ding. Does the trick. We had a 5hp but wanted something lighter.

 

[firstbase]

We have a Mercury 9’ 8” rib with a Yamaha 2.5. Have moved 4 adults and dog to shore and back. Have even towed another couple and their ding. Does the trick. We had a 5hp but wanted something lighter.

Thanks for the info. Do you have a FG or aluminum hull on it? Curious on the weight...

 

[Lollygag1]

FG. Weight of motor is 33lbs which was the driving force to buy it as I can get it on and off easy. It is pretty quiet too compared to the similar Honda

 

[O C Diver]

Bought an Epropulsion last fall and used it extensively this summer. The boat is a Trinka 10 which is strictly a displacement hull. 3.5 knots is cruise and anything over 4 knots has the bow pointing towards the sky. 3.5 knots gives me a range of over 20 miles. At 3 knots all you hear is water sliding by the hull. Other than rinsing the salt off and periodically recharging the battery, there is zero maintenance. It's perfect for my Trinka and my skinny water explorations.

Ted

 

[Birdman]

To the OP,
I have a Torqeedo Travel 1003 with the 920ah battery. I have never used more than 50% of the battery capacity. I use it as a tender to get to the docks when anchored/moored out for a few days, I use it to get explore a bit..., regular dingy use. It is not a rocket ship, but it get you there and back. It does have alot of torq, so it makes little difference if you have 1 or 6 people on the dingy, it goes the same speed. You need ZERO gas, ZERO oil, ZERO pulls to start it, no messy funnel to fill it up on the back of the boat, and it is easy as pie to setup out of the water onto the dingy since the heaviest single part is 18lb's. There are 3 parts, it takes 5 minutes to mount on dingy and snap together and off you go, same for break down and storage. Store it anywhere, no gas/oil to worry about!


I write to Torqeedo every year and tell them if they would make it a bit faster, like a 4 or 5hp, they would sell these things like hotcakes.

For the carb issues, I've found a method that's been working so far on my small lawn equipment 4 strokes to avoid the cheap, crappy carbs gumming up. The same should apply to small outboards.

All fuel is stabilized immediately at purchase. Never, ever run the carb dry, that way it doesn't accumulate a thin film of evaporated fuel gunk or get condensation directly against metal in as many places. And if it's going to sit for more than a few weeks, run fogging oil through the intake at shutdown so the inside of the carb is good and oily, further preventing corrosion and gunk issues.

I've got an even better idea I've been following for all my little two strokers for about 5 years and since, have yet (knock knock knock on wood!) to have ANY issues with any of them. Prior, I had more problems then I have time to explain!! I may have lost a few years of my life cleaning out carbs! BUY and use NON-ETHANOL FUEL ONLY for the little motors!! Dingy, chainsaw, weed wacker, trimmer.... ALL only get non-E gas. You can get non-e fuel for $50+ a gallon at your local hardware store, but screw that!! Just buy it and stock up on it, from a local farm area gas station. It is sold to farmers in rural area for use in tractors which can not run the regular e fuel (5 or 10% ethanol). I can't get it in NY/Long Island, but I can get it in Vermont. So every winter when I go skiing, I bring up 5, 5 gallon gas cans and on the way home stop and fill em up in the back of my truck.



DONE! No more carb problems with anything! Got this tip from arborist sites who do this with their chainsaws. GREAT IDEA that solves all these issues.

 

[OldDan1943]

We have been using our E-propulsion Spirit on a 9'6" AB Hypalon dinghy and we love it. I weigh about 185 and my wife...who knows, but let's just say the dinghy makes her look thin. It won't plane but we love using the E-prop. So quiet it reminds of more of kayaking. I seldom have range anxiety because the range in hours is right on the little "dash" at the throttle. I love the no gas feature. I actually keep mine stashed in a cabinet door, pull it out, clamp it on and go. No worry about whether it will start. I tend to charge it up when in marinas, but I now have the option of solar or I plug it in and let it charge when running the genny.
We like ours after a year. It is not as fast as a gasser though, so just know that it might be electric, but it is not a Tesla.

Sonchaser, tell us more about your E-propulsion unit. How do you recharge the removable battery? Do you have a need or desire for a spare battery?
What else is needed besides the motor and battery?

 

[Bryant]

Dinghy outboard.

I am replacing our old dinghy with, I believe but not yet purchased, a new Highfield 290 CL RIB. Aluminum hull, Hypalon, 9'6", 126 lbs. DInghy use is ship to shore, no long excursions. I need to find a motor for it that I can take off the transom when we are done and store it either laying down in the dinghy or on some sort of bracket nearby. Day in day out use is for me, my wife, and a 70lb dog. Max load, on rare occasions would be 4 adults for a short trip to shore. Don't really care about being able to get up on a plane.

I have looked at the electric motors, E-Propulsion and Torqeedo, and they do look inviting for all the well-known reasons but....I don't know. I don't need to go fast but need to go 5 mph at least.

I think I am more sold on a small outboard, preferably with an internal gas tank, an oil/fuel containment system so I can lay it down, and light enough to be able to take on and off either in the water or on deck after lifting it up. Lifting 100lbs in my garage is one thing. Doing it in the back of a dinghy is another.

Does anyone here have a motor of this type? Any suggestions, thoughts?

My dinghy weighs 80 lbs. Myself and my wife weigh 300 lbs. My Suzuki 2.5 pushes us at 5 kts at half power. It’s a four stroke engine that only weighs 27 lbs so it’s easy to put on and take off. It’s stored on a custom made stainless rack attached to the stainless railing already on the cabin top. You can get one for $789 from Online Outboards. Free shipping, no tax. I’m very happy with mine.

 

[SteveK]

Mercury has a new 5hp Propane motor that looks very tempting- I’ve got LPG onboard anyway for the galley stove- anyone have experience with this?

Yes, have had one for a year, like it for my 270 inflatable

 

[firstbase]

FG. Weight of motor is 33lbs which was the driving force to buy it as I can get it on and off easy. It is pretty quiet too compared to the similar Honda

Thanks. What is the weight of the dinghy?

 

[psneeld]

Nice tip rslifkin! I’m gonna try that…makes sense.

I believe just the opposite, every time I didn't run the carb dry, the 4 stroke, 8hp Yamaha with ethanol fuel needed cleaning before it would start.

My circle of friends have reported the same..

Stabilizer is a must too.

 

[Thermo]

Propane/electric are great options.

Love my Lehr … my home generator is propane also. No more stale fuel.

I understand that Lehr is not a new purchase option any longer but Merc has one as has been pointed out, and there are several companies that make propane conversion kits for 4 cycle engines. Still, my primary dink motor is a $75, used 12v trolling motor and a group 27 deep cycle. Works great for 90% of trips. The Lehr with a couple of refillable 1 pound tanks works well for trips over 30 min.

On 2 cycle pollution- just run one in a bucket for 3-4 min. Don’t plan on reusing the bucket for anything requiring clean water.

 

[HuffinandPuffin]

I have a 2.5 meter Zodiac RIB with a 6hp Tohatsu. It will (eventually) plane me alone (94kg). the motor weighs 25kg (55lb). I can get it off the boat and onto the pulpit without too much trouble. I tie a safety line and have someone belay it just in case.

 

[Slowmo]

A small 2cycle or 4 cycle are both reasonable options. I would never use an electric mainly due to the limited power and range, this can be a life and death difference in the wrong conditions. To me electric is for the person who thinks nothing will ever go wrong. 2T engines are simpler than 4T and have a higher power to weight ratio. Its true that 4T engines have lower emissions, though the difference is not nearly what some seem to think. Modern 2T are relatively clean. Advantages of the 4T is no premixing. Advantages of the 2T is lower maintenance (no oil changes), lighter weight, and the engine can be placed in any position (you can't with a 4T due to the oil in the sump).

 

[Peter B]

...Dinghy use is ship to shore, no long excursions. I need to find a motor for it that I can take off the transom when we are done and store it either laying down in the dinghy or on some sort of bracket nearby. Day in day out use is for me, my wife, and a 70lb dog. Max load, on rare occasions would be 4 adults for a short trip to shore. Don't really care about being able to get up on a plane.

Your needs mirror our when we had a mother ship, and we found the Honda 2.3hp 4 stroke ideal. It is light, easily lifted off, and stores beautifully upright on a small swing out bracket on the transom rail support. Being air-cooled you can start it on this mount to check it out, and then be confident it will start easily on the water, and there is no need to flush after use. High octane gasoline lasts well in it for months, and yes - starts virtually first pull every time, even after non-use for quite a while. You can use unused gas in your 4 stroke motor mower at home. I love that motor so much, like Flyright Al, I've kept it. You just never know...

The pic shows the bracket we used to mount it on when not on the dink.

 

[Greatlaker221]

Taking the motor on and off is a PIA. Give thought to an easy to use Davit system. A GB 42 has a nice crane but a chore to use daily. I cringed and invested in an Olssen 12v davitt on the stern. 60 seconds for my wife to launch.

 

[OldDan1943]

Okay, here are 2 questions I thought I would never ask.
What is the difference between the Torqeedo and the Spirit 1.0?
What is the down side of each electric motor?

 

[diver dave]

If you are close to me, I have a Honda 9.9 manual start outboard for sale. Has about 3 hours on it. It is difficult for me to start because my upper body strength has long since departed this earth and it is a bit too fast, for me, on my 15ft RIB.
You come get it. The price is $800 below retail

Shoot. I just took off and sold all the electric start stuff on my new 9.9 4s merc. Made it near 10lbs lighter.

 

[firstbase]

Okay, here are 2 questions I thought I would never ask.
What is the difference between the Torqeedo and the Spirit 1.0?
What is the down side of each electric motor?

Dan, I don't own either. I'm only a prospective buyer. What I found out so far is based on the latest/greatest model from each brand. The Torqueedo Travel 1103C and the ePropulsion Spirit 1.0 Plus.

Spirit Plus price is $1,999. ePropulsion Travel 1103c is $2,699. Torqueedo made in Germany, ePropulsion in China.

The Spirit 1.0 Plus has a 1276wh battery, Travel 1103c has 976wh. Spirit claims 50% more run time at full throttle 75 minutes vs. 50 minutes. Spirit has a quicker recharge using the standard charger for each, 8.5 hours vs. 10.5 hrs. Spirit battery floats, the ePropulsion does not. Travel 1103c standard solar charger is 50w, Spirit Plus is 180w.

Spirit has an external battery connection and runs at 48v, easy to wire your own batteries. ePropulsion is not wired for external battery and runs at 29.6v, more difficult to use an external set up.

The Spirit tiller is integrated, Travel 1103c is separate. Spirit only tilts up 38 degrees which can interfere with tilting the motor all the way is there is a backbench on the transom. The Travel 1103c tilts up 70+- degrees.

Spirit Plus lower unit is smaller, less drag.

Torqueedo has a mobile app and also shows GPS for range purposes. Spirit Plus does not have GPS or a mobile app.

There are a couple of other smaller differences but those are the main ones I can find. The only advantage, beyond the included GPS and mobile app, I can find to the Torqueedo are that they have been in business longer and are more proven in the marketplace.

Again, I don't own either and have no association with either. If anyone knows of Torqueedo's advantages I would really like to hear them.