Will a Sevylor Electric Trolling Motor (18 lbs thrust) be enough to power my 1976 Widgeon in a salt water harbor?
Size matters
- Thread starter beachkoma
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Some of the guys in our YC use Minn kota Trolling Motors on their dinghies to get out to their boats on the Taunton River. They seem to move along pretty fast on the water even in strong current. I don't see why they wouldn't work on a Widgeon.
BeachKoma, I once used a very small (maybe 6# thrust) electric motor on my WIDGEON, it moved her very slowly on a windless day.... However, an 18# thrust motor should be more than enough for a little WIDGEON, although you might want to watch out trying to buck the current on an outgoing tide in Wareham Harbor...... the motor should still push the boat, but you may slow down quite a bit.
I usually used a 2hp outboard on my Widgeon, but if I had had an electric it might have worked better (well, except that 24# gas outboard was easier to carry than a 50# deep-cycle battery).
Is your Widgeon a 1976? I thought you said 1978 before..... maybe that was why I never saw you out this summer. Your's isn't the WIDGEON that I saw beached near the Swifts Beach boatramp last week is it?
I usually used a 2hp outboard on my Widgeon, but if I had had an electric it might have worked better (well, except that 24# gas outboard was easier to carry than a 50# deep-cycle battery).
Is your Widgeon a 1976? I thought you said 1978 before..... maybe that was why I never saw you out this summer. Your's isn't the WIDGEON that I saw beached near the Swifts Beach boatramp last week is it?
i tried a 40 lb trust electric trolling motor on my 14 aluminum row boat in less than a one foot chop with maybe 10 mph wind. it moved the boat very slowly unless it was on high. since i want to get out to sail in heavier winds, i took it back as it didn't feel like it would be able to push the boat in 2ft+ waves and i would end up down the lake someplace. i would say alot depends on how protected your site is as to whether or not it would work well.
Beachkoma, sorry but the 2hp outboard that I used on my Widgeon is long gone.... sold to another O'Day owner (he had a 28 at the time, now has a 40) to power his dinghy. But, used ones are still available at times at pretty reasonable prices on e-Bay and locally. What I had was a 1984 Johnson 2hp, this motor was built from about 1972-90 and was a great small boat outboard! I used mine on my Widgeon from 1989 to 1992, when I replaced it with a 1992 2.3hp Johnson after I overheated the 2hp (waterpump failed I guess?) I later rebuilt the 2hp and my Dad used it for several years to power the dinghy for our family sailboat. The 2.3hp was a good motor (27.5#) but did not fit the Widgeon as well as the 2hp had. I sold the 2hp in 2002 I think, and the 2.3 in 2007 (I had used that on my DS II from 1996 to 2000 when I bought the 4hp Johnson that I still have).
Yamaha, Suzuki, Spirit, and Mariner also made pretty good 2hp outboards (22#) none is still made. The newer Mercury, Johnson, Evinrude, Nissan, Mariner, Tohatsu 2.0/2.2/2.3/2.5 motors were all the same as my old Johnson 2.3, good motors but don't really fit the Widgeon.
If not for the frightening price ($1,600+) the TORQUEDO electric outboards look like a great little outboard, all self-contained including the rechargeable battery! Weight is like 26.5#.
Yamaha, Suzuki, Spirit, and Mariner also made pretty good 2hp outboards (22#) none is still made. The newer Mercury, Johnson, Evinrude, Nissan, Mariner, Tohatsu 2.0/2.2/2.3/2.5 motors were all the same as my old Johnson 2.3, good motors but don't really fit the Widgeon.
If not for the frightening price ($1,600+) the TORQUEDO electric outboards look like a great little outboard, all self-contained including the rechargeable battery! Weight is like 26.5#.
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