Where to put the battery?

[wrip109]

I have one of those cheap "fishing" kayaks off E-bay. The 54lb electric motor I have is far too big so I am going to change it to a 28lb motor.

I have a 100AH battery which weighs about 25KG. I put it on the back of the kayak which sunk it within 100 meters. No damage the back of the yak was only a few inches under water when I realised and I made it back to the bank.

I now put the battery between my legs and all is well except it is very uncomfortable and leaves me not a lot of room when landing fish.

I was thinking of cutting a hole in the top of the yak and dropping the battery into it.

Any other ideas before I grab my saw? The battery is new and cost me over $200 so I can't change it)

[Charlie]

I did this to my sit on, the only problem is your adding 35 kg of weight and making it very easy for your kayak to flood and sink so I stuffed the hull with as much Styrofoam as possible, your pretty much killing any resale value but my yak is a 15 this year so it doesn't really matter with a cheapie.

[Nicko_Cairns]

I bought a 7a/h battery off fleabay, 100 is wayyy to big sorry mate so keep it for camping and pick up a 7a/h for under $30, weighs bugger all and enough to power lights and sounder for a couple trips.

[GreekBoi]

Yea that's crazy.. 100ah.. Max you would need is 10. I've only seen 1 person that had a car battery on his kayak which powered everything but he had a adventure island which can easy take the weight.
When kayaking its about putting gear that's light.. You don't want to overload a kayak with stuff that is going to make the performance drop. Even with a motor it would go slow.
Say your total weight for the yak is 130kg which is around average.. Put your weight on that + any tackle + equipment + the battery + the motor I am very sure you would be going over the
max weight needed for the kayak which is dangerous and will make the yak perform like crap.

If your planning to run everything on the single battery then Just get a 20ah one that weight like 6kg.

[wrip109]

Thanks guys

[wrip109]

I just ordered a 33 AH AGM battery and a 28 LB electric motor. This battery only weighs 11 kilo so I figure it should be OK...

[wrip109]

I now have the new battery which turned out to weigh only 10 Kilos. I am stuck with the 54 lbs thrust electric as I could not get it changed over.

I have the motor side-mounted, so I have bolted on a piece of wood which is sticking out the opposite side to the motor and mounted the battery on the end of it as counter-weight.

Taking it out tomorrow to test it in Lake Wivenhoe. Be interesting to see how long the battery lasts in trolling mode. I figure I will get just over 4 hours (maybe)

I know the 54 lbs thrust is too big for my 9 foot fishing kayak but it should be OK so long as I don't go hooning.

Never know I might find somebody with a tinny and only a small 35 pounder who wants to upgrade.

[GreekBoi]

Should of just got a hobie kayak.. I still don't understand the need for motors on kayaks..

[wrip109]

Should of just got a hobie kayak.. I still don't understand the need for motors on kayaks..

You are quite right of course. You don't need an electric motor at all. I also don't need 20 fishing rods and five hundred lures. Really I only need one reel too...

My wife would agree with you 100%

[scottar]

You are quite right of course. You don't need an electric motor at all. I also don't need 20 fishing rods and five hundred lures. Really I only need one reel too...

My wife would agree with you 100%

Wash your mouth out. I never want to hear that sort of language again.

[wrip109]

Not getting out so much in this cold weather but yesterday I tested my new 30 lb Minn Kota on Lake Wivenhoe.

Speed 1 is about 1 knot compared to 2 knots on the 54 pounder. That is much better and I can easily go to speeds 2 and 3 if I want to troll a bit faster.

Top speed is a fast walking pace compared to the 54 which filled the yak with water as it surged through the waves.

The AGM battery I used is 35 AH and lasted 4 hours at various speeds while the 54 lb flattened the battery after about 2 hours just trolling on speed 1.

The battery fits on a board that I have mounted behind my seat and balances the motor very nicely. Still had plenty left to get back to the ramp at speed 5.

The photo shows how I balanced the 54 lb motor with the battery. It now does not need to fit past the edge of the yak.

[scottar]

Sound like she's all sorted then. Good stuff