What size electric for canoe

[dowdy]

I have just purchased a secondhand 'Kingfisher' canoe and don't know what size electric motor to buy for it.

The canoe is 3.6 metres long and weighs 39 kg.

I have been told that a 30 pound Minn Kota electric motor should be fine.

When I had a look at the canoe last weekend, we had it on the brisbane River for about 1 hour and the battery nearly lost all power. the motor was a Minn Kota 40 pound thrust and the battery (100AH) was fully charged. The motor was more than 10 years old though?

Would the Endura range of Minn Kota be OK as I don't think I can justify the extra cash for a Maxxum.

Any advice or information on what pushes your canoe along would be great.

Cheers

Scott

[GBC]

Scott

I use a 50lb minn on my 15 ft rosco with a 70 a.h. battery. Gets more than a couple of hours.

I don't think the 50 would go much faster than a 30 because there isn't much to push with a canoe and these motors are more about thrust not speed.

I'd go the smallest motor possible for the least power draw.

[Davey]

I have a 40lb minn kota on my roscoe bass catcher coupled with a 70 amp battery.
The battery will last all day if you just go slow - speed control two or three. If you run around flat out you will only get a couple of hours out of a fully charded battery.
Dave

[Big bosco 1]

hi dowdy i fish from a viking fisherman 2 yak it has a minkota classic 28lb thrust on it i use a super charge allrounder 120ah deepcycle battery , the leccy has more than enough thrust to propell the yak faster than a person can run along beside it on the shore the yak is 4.3mtrs long 86cm wide and weigh,s 38kg, the battery has never been fully discharged (or ran out) on any trip even on our camping trips where we may cover up to 15k of river often running on no5 top speed in between spots for some distance. This outfit was bought new in may 2007 including battery and has never failed and i have seen the minkota classic at bcf ipswich for $299 and the battery at the time was $240 i would highly recomend this combination of leccy and battery for your outfit

Cheers Bosco

[dowdy]

Thanks for the feedback!!

Dave, is your 40 lb electric a Maxxum?? Does it have the maximiser system. Some feedback on the lower priced electrics, like the endura model, say that the amps drawn from the battery are the same regardless of what speed you have it on?? Speed setting 1 or 5 will draw the same amps??

Bosco, the weight of your Viking is similar to the Canoe. The 28 pound motor seems to do the job quite well. Have you also fished with two people in the Viking for similar motor performance / battery life?? I'm concerned that if I take an extra person and load the canoe up abit with gear the weight might be to much for the 28 pound electric. What are your thoughts?

Cheers

Scott

[Jeremy87]

I have a 15'6" pelican canoe on which i run an old 28lb mercury thruster. Does about 7-8km/h on flat stick. The battery lasts all day. How old is the battery? To me it sounds like your battery is wrecked. If you take it to a battery store they can hook it up to a known load and watch the voltage drop and let you know what sought of condition it's in

[rayken1938]

-As Jeremy says i reckon your battery is on last legs. I have a 16ft canoe and rum a 28 lb minnkota coupled with a 40ah battery. I was out trolling for 4 hours yesterday with 2 persons on board and battery still had plenty of charge at the end. I was trolling on 1 speed for most of time and on 2 for around an hour when wind came up.
My top speed with 2 up is 6kph by the gps.When i use a 46lb motordrive it is too fast for trolling on mininium speed.( 3.5 kph )
Cheers
Ray

[Big bosco 1]

Thanks for the feedback!!

Dave, is your 40 lb electric a Maxxum?? Does it have the maximiser system. Some feedback on the lower priced electrics, like the endura model, say that the amps drawn from the battery are the same regardless of what speed you have it on?? Speed setting 1 or 5 will draw the same amps??

Bosco, the weight of your Viking is similar to the Canoe. The 28 pound motor seems to do the job quite well. Have you also fished with two people in the Viking for similar motor performance / battery life?? I'm concerned that if I take an extra person and load the canoe up abit with gear the weight might be to much for the 28 pound electric. What are your thoughts?

Cheers

Scott

it seems to use no more battery loaded with two and camping and fishing gear as it does when i fish on my own and dont worry about it being to much load i have been trying to upload a pic of my yak loaded up on a recent trip but have had no luck yet so i will try again