motors / advice

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pweisansal

New Member
Has anyone ever seen a small motor rig either a small 10 hp motor or a troling motor set-up on a sunfish?

I saw one while out at a local club, but never got to talk tot eh guy.

Jsut wondering becuase I tend to ahve problems getting out past the break wall, or a pennisula where the wind is blocked inside the cove and makes it tough to get out onto the lake because i hate paddling all the way out.

Anyone have any setups of advice on thsi situation?
 
personally i have never seen that- and 10 hp is a little much, in fact, 2hp would be overkill.
i was considering putting removable oarlocks on mine so i could get it out of the canal easier.
-when i was younger, i put a 2.5hp on a canoe, it did about 30mph... :eek: before it flipped:eek:
 
Yeahh it does get a little tough getting out onto open water, or open water where you can pick up some gusts.

I used to have a shorter oar with me that used to fit nicley into the cock pit but I ended up stepping on it after getting onto the beach.
 
THAT'S IT! Thankkkkkk youuuu!

Hahah this may work. I wont know for about, three months. But i'll se sure to let you know how it all works out if I get a day inbetween where I can test it out
 
pweisansal said:
Yeahh it does get a little tough getting out onto open water, or open water where you can pick up some gusts.

I used to have a shorter oar with me that used to fit nicley into the cock pit but I ended up stepping on it after getting onto the beach.
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I just use the daggerboard as a paddle. :D
 
Dan, any idea where to get that "drill prop"? I have use for it (not on a Sunfish) for another application. Obviously the demonstrator was not speaking English.

Clyde
 
I love it! You could use it to mix a Dacari while you were out. but seriously, it looks like a trolling motor prop on a metal dowel. They make little "mixers" for paint and plaster that might work too. Although, me thinks it would be a bit much to have in the boat while sailing...
 
Clyde - Dan, any idea where to get that "drill prop"?

Sorry, haven't a clue. The topic got me wondering what small motors were out there. I just stumbled on that while looking around U-Tube. Found a whole bunch of blenders powered by weedeater motors. I didn't expect that twist either. Something else I ran across that might be a go was super-sized RC models of boats. There's a video of a 12' long battleship motoring on a lake. That makes me wonder if there's a hobby propeller for such vessels - that might work.
 
Clyde said:
"...any idea where to get that "drill prop"...?
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I suspect that the drill was turning relatively low RPMs, so they had to "swing" a prop that appears too large—but really isn't.

(I'd guess it's off a 4-6 HP outboard. Parts for the older 2-strokes are cheap—especially for a dinged prop you'd only occasionally be using).

You could (and I very-well might) cut a 6" piece of ¾" PVC pipe to make a bracket for the rudder cheek. Cut out a 2" from the middle of it to make a relatively flat attachment point for the cheek. Slice it along its length so there's no middle support, but so that the shaft is supported by half of the pipe at the rear and half of the pipe at the front. (Insert the shaft vertically at the "flat" area).

This means the shaft could be inserted at right angles to it, then the shaft lowered so that it was loosely gripped to hold the turning shaft in place. It would need to be bolted/popriveted so the PVC pipe had no up/down movement with respect to the cheek.

I can't think of any equivalent device around, so I guess I'll have to make a prototype to show the concept. :(

idea.gif
Maybe the shaft could be made from the base of a discarded shore-casting fishing rod!
 
Here's your solution. And the seller only wanted about $200 for the boat, motor, etc. Just the thing for any sailor who is becalmed or is tired of losing races. Environmentally sound too since it is electric. See the attachment

Judkei
Reno, NV
 

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Personally, I would retrofit a weedwhacker with a fitting to the rudder bracket and just use that. It wouldn't be pretty, but you could make do with it.
By the way...
I wouldn't try anything to heavy. Seems like you could rip the rudder bracket off real easy if you put a bug motor on it...
 
Seem to me the best answer would be mounting a jet drive that fits inside the hull. Here is a interesting link to one make from a off the shelf pump.

http://www.belljar.net/boats/small_jet_drive_devel.pdf

Trouble is it looks like it takes about 5 hp to get 30 lbs of thrust. The trick is getting everything mounted inside the hull as the equipment is going to have to survive the boat being flipped over. That pretty much means going to a electric trolling motor and battery mounted in the hull. A trolling motor could be used inside the hull if a prop shaft extended out through the transom. This would mean finding a packing box and drive shaft along with a folding prop and deck hatch big enough to get everything into the hull. To balance the boat the battery would have to be forward of the cockpit tub. Then again, maybe it would be easier just of get an old antique Evinrude Elto outboard that had a swing down rudder mounted on it.
 
Webfoot said:
Seem to me the best answer would be mounting a jet drive that fits inside the hull. Here is a interesting link to one make from a off the shelf pump.
Click to expand...

By Jove, you've invented the - - the - - (what shall we call it) - - the, JetFish.


Trouble is it looks like it takes about 5 hp to get 30 lbs of thrust. The trick is getting everything mounted inside the hull as the equipment is going to have to survive the boat being flipped over.
Click to expand...

- - - or, install a Caterpillar drive (Holy Red October, Bat Man) :eek:


Then again, maybe it would be easier just of get an old antique Evinrude Elto outboard that had a swing down rudder mounted on it.
Click to expand...


Would this be Class Legal?

motor2.jpg

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I'm sorry if I don't appreciate all the above solutions, (I thought at times this was a put on!) but what the heck do you do with the "motor" when you're sailing!!??
Get a nice paddle that folds or breaks down to two pieces and paddle out. There are plenty of efficient manual paddle solutions.

Fred
 
Well that's the problem. Hanging the motor and prop in the water will cause drag. If the prop is windmilling you have drag equal to a flat disk the size of prop.

From what I understand, that guy said he has to get the boat beyond a breakwater. Sounds like he has farther to go than one would want to paddle. There are not going to be any neat solutions to a trolling motor on a sunfish hull. Yes I was throwing some things out half in jest, however, If I had a had a detached trolling motor/prop in hand, I 'm sure I could figure out some sort of mount and put the battery in the cockpit tub. Off hand, I'd remove the bow handle and use the screw holes for a mount. The trolling motor would be at the front of the boat on a mount that swings down into the water. When you wanted to sail you would flip the motor up so it rested on the front of the deck. With the goal of making no modifications to the hull, the hardest part would be figuring out how to secure a watertight battery box in the tub. The electronic motor controller would have to be inside the waterproof tub as the hole thing would have to survive being flipped on a regular basis.

That as simple as I can think of, other that mounting the trolling motor on the end of a paddle. Is the paddle idea in jest?, sort of. . .:D
 
You'll burn out a portable drill with that type of constant use. Drills are really made for short bursts of use. Running them constantly for ten minutes or so and you'll soon be smelling that familiar electrical burning smell. IMHO.
 
>:cool::D:eek:Would this be Class Legal?

While I am not the Class Measurer, it might be considered so long as all the gear was left in place while racing and the motor not turned on or engaged!! 8)
 
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