Hi, I've just joined the list. I live next to the River Thames in England and my main project is to be a solar powered river boat. But I have an immediate issue: we live on the other side of the river from the road and use a 15' caddy cabin boat with a 10HP Mariner outboard to get across daily.
The engine is giving out and I've been thinking about replacing it with an electric outboard. I did buy a cheapo on ebay a couple of years back (around £130). Rated "55lb thrust" it was just about usable when the river is as slow as it is at the moment, but no use at all when it's flowing fast, so we never did use it on a regular basis. For one thing only the top speed setting was bearable and that ran down the battery fast.
None of the outboards on the market here seem to deliver much over 80-85 thrust and I'm certainly not going to try another cheapo. It's stopped working and I took it apart this morning. Immediately I withdrew the main restraining bolts, which were stained with rust I knew these things were not made properly.
The Minn Kota Traxxis 80 seems a little more reasonable. It uses 1.34kW max and costs about £650 in the UK. But I'm doubtful it'll give the 4-5mph we need when the river's really running.
Anyone got an opinion on that. Are there other better outboards available?
Chris
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