Anyone running an all electric boat?

[gnappi]

There are no (AFAIK) and all electric waterways here in Florida, but I know other States do. I've had a number of gas powered boats, but my option in my advancing years to minimize my problems in life was to get a full size pickup truck, downsize my boat, go all electric and hand launch from the truck bed. The benefits (for me) outweigh the option of needing a larger boat and trailer.

I can get places I only dream of needing a ramp filled with traffic, newbies, and dolts, I generally have zero competition on the water with other vessels (other than the odd yak and shore fisherman), there are more fish, the fish are uneducated towards lures, and it's deadly quiet... almost prehistorically so. And when I get home, I unload and I'm done. No engine flush, no gas tank filling, no engine problems.

The only real drawback is the lack of speed and maybe size. But I liken an all electric boat to owning a sailboat instead of a stinkpotter, you're not getting anywhere fast, but when you get there you're so much more relaxed. It's also like owning a small condo, you keep and store things you REALLY need, not everything you want

[J Francho]

Get one of these, if you can afford it:

https://www.torqeedo.com/us/en-us/products/outboards/deep-blue/deep-blue-80-r/M-3201-00.html

[Choporoz]

@139Kg, it would be staying in the truck bed...:)

24 minutes ago, J Francho said:

Get one of these, if you can afford it:

https://www.torqeedo.com/us/en-us/products/outboards/deep-blue/deep-blue-80-r/M-3201-00.html

 

[gnappi]

At that weight it would tip my tinny over backwards.

[Tennessee Boy]

37 minutes ago, J Francho said:

Get one of these, if you can afford it:

https://www.torqeedo.com/us/en-us/products/outboards/deep-blue/deep-blue-80-r/M-3201-00.html

I would love to show up with one of those at one of the electric only lakes around here.

[JustALineWetter]

21 minutes ago, gnappi said:

At that weight it would tip my tinny over backwards.

That thing weighs more than my rigged canoe with all my equipment in it.

[WRB]

Batteries are heavy so most all electric powered bass boats are trailered.

Check out Butch Brown's all elecrtic bass boat he uses at the Castiac lagoon. 5 hp 28V transum motor and your standard 24V bow mounted Motor Guide TM, requires 4 group 31 marine batteries a

@ 260 lbs,you need a trailer.

Tom

[ItsHardwick]

I have a 14 foot aluminum vhull that I run all electric. I built a deck in it and seats and storage. It’s been really awesome so far. I have 5 batteries in it tho so it’s trailered. 2 for the trolling motor. 2 for the transom motor, it’s a 12 volt but running out of juice half way across the lake is no fun. And then the other battery powers all my electronics, I have a sonar unit at the drivers seat and one on the casting deck as well as an outlet to plug in your phone or whatever you might need. 

 

I take it out on kentucky lake all all the time and it’s just fine. It’s also great taking it to the all electric lakes around here too, those guys look at me like I’m crazy. 

 

Ive has a couple different motors on the transom but the latest one I’ve gotten I can get to 4.5 mph on slick calm water. So I can get where I want to go it might just take me a minute to get there. But it’s much better than the snails pace of 2mph my first motor got me. 

[crypt]

twin troller bass boat.........check out the website

 

[J Francho]

1 hour ago, Choporoz said:

@139Kg, it would be staying in the truck bed...:)

 

 

1 hour ago, JustALineWetter said:

That thing weighs more than my rigged canoe with all my equipment in it.

 

1 hour ago, gnappi said:

At that weight it would tip my tinny over backwards.

 

A gas powered Merc 75 weighs 150 lbs. MORE, and offers less power.  Your weight arguments are a little silly.  Obviously, this is meant for a larger vessel.  The point is that there are electrics out there that far more powerful and offer more than putting around at 2-3 mph.  Also, Torqeedo has smaller motors.  There's some impressive footage on YouTube of what their 4 hp equivalent motor can do.

 

1 hour ago, Tennessee Boy said:

I would love to show up with one of those at one of the electric only lakes around here.

That would be awesome.  My girlfriend works at an RD lithium battery start up.  The batts are getting MUCH safer, and prices will come down, eventually.

[OCdockskipper]

I have an all electric boat, but it is a 10 ft. Pond Prowler...

[Choporoz]

1 hour ago, J Francho said:

Your weight arguments are a little silly.  .

The op wants to carry a boat in his pickup bed

[J Francho]

What he's asking is if anyone else is using all electric.  I was pointing out there were others.  And they going a lot faster than walking speeds.

[JustALineWetter]

5 minutes ago, J Francho said:

What he's asking is if anyone else is using all electric.  I was pointing out there were others.  And they going a lot faster than walking speeds.

That may be, but the price of even their trolling motors is more than my canoe, trailer, Minn-Kota, battery and the mods I made (comfy seat, etc) put together.

 

Some of us don't have near the budget for something like that.

[Bolar]

Here you go.  Roll this out of the truck to the shore and your ready to go.  It should pack away at the condo just fine. 

 

https://www.ultraskiff.com/

[J Francho]

13 minutes ago, JustALineWetter said:

That may be, but the price of even their trolling motors is more than my canoe, trailer, Minn-Kota, battery and the mods I made (comfy seat, etc) put together.

 

Some of us don't have near the budget for something like that.

Somebody does.  I don't have a budget for it either, and I don't have a budget for a brand new gas powered boat, but the prices are coming down on all electric.  I find the technology fascinating.  Not sure what all the negativity is about. 

[JustALineWetter]

Just now, Bolar said:

Here you go.  Roll this out of the truck to the shore and your ready to go.  It should pack away at the condo just fine. 

 

https://www.ultraskiff.com/

It's a high-tech coracle - cool.

[J Francho]

I still don't understand those goofy things.  I'll take my Hobie over it, though.

[Chris at Tech]

Yes, a G3 1652

[flyfisher]

There is a guy at a lake I fish that is electric only with one public launch get from the laugh to the far reaches you are looking at 3-4 miles an he has two torqueedos on a pretty large semi v style boat and he throws a wake with that thing.  It is pretty crazy to see really given al the other boats out there are kayaks like mine or trolling motor deals.  

 

[CroakHunter]

We fish a lot of our pits with no gas motor, there are 25hp motors on all of the 4 or 5 boats we have stashed in the pits, but only use them if a storm blows in or any other kind of emergency. All of the boats ar 16-18 ft big john flat bottom john boats with 50lb thrust transom trolling motors. The other boat I fish out of is a 21 ft stratos with a brand new mercury 225 on the back. Its a lot of fun, but much more expensive. 

[Arcs&sparks]

Do you plan of fishing with a partner?  Even a tiny boat is a pain by yourself,  take this for what it’s worth;

 

I have an all electric boat and love it. 12’ shallow V Sears.  It started as a ladder rack boat, it graduated to being modified and more “fishable”(and quiet) which I carried in the truckbed. I built the flat floor from carved foam board to fit the radius’s and topped it with corrugated plastic with carpet over it to save weight.(zero wood) It got even more modified to then getting a trailer and way more upgrades, and later- With it having 3 batteries and lots of accessories, it now stays on the trailer.  But since all the motors are quick disconnect, and the batteries are pretty easy to take out,  I can still hand carry it with a buddy or dolly it down trails and whatnot if I choose to.  My buddy’s little jonboat is easier though.  

 

We don’t have many electric only lakes up here,  but most of the bass ponds in my immediate area have no ramps.  Even with it on the trailer I’ve found ways to launch.. some requiring the use of my own 4x4 plus a buddies ?.... and some brute strength...

 

Here are some old pics before all the trailer mods and upgraded motors, seats..blah blah,  feel free to ask about mods if you wish.

 

Batteries are under the seats

[gnappi]

 

I started out looking for something like a Gheenoe or a fishing yak which I may still get at some point but right now the Lowe is perfect and I'm hard pressed to change.

 

This is my second 10' aluminum boat. My first was a 1032 topper which was way too narrow and unstable with two fishermen. The Lowe 1040 is far better.

 

I stuck with the 10' because the 1236 Lowe is over 30 pounds heavier (and narrower) than the Lowe 1040. All of the other brand 12' boats are in general MUCH heavier still.  I researched all of the available brands with weight, beam, and length as primary needs and made a spreadsheet for comparative purposes.

 

I've kept my 87 pound 10' Lowe weight way down to make it easy to handle. I did not install seats, I ditched the group 27 battery for 3 smaller U1 AGM batteries which I can remove at launch time and reinsert after it's in the water as with all of my other gear. This is my third season hand launching and it's actually quite easy to handle. My trailer is used only to drag it out of my yard to slide into my truck bed. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[WRB]

Fold up wheels that attach to the stern of a aluminum boat assist in launching with pick up truck bed boats. You still need to lift the bow when luanching and lift the stern up to load back into the truck. Small trailer is a lot easier IMO.

Tom

[gnappi]

I've looked at wheels, but still use it as is. At 67 and not a big guy I'm not having any problems handling half of a ~90 pound boat.

 

" My trailer is used only to drag it out of my yard to slide into my truck bed. "

 

Actually, my previous statement is not entirely correct, since I store the boat on it the trailer also raises the boat above the ground so I can put the cover on it. ?

 

There's very little to zero use for a trailer where I fish and until you have a small boat hand launched into quiet, pristine, mostly unfished waters there's very little positive I can think of about using a trailer.

 

Especially on long hauls hand launch is a very positive direction... worry about flats/blowouts? Replacing said tires? No... bearing, axle failures? Nope. Trailer lights? No siree.. trailer electrical problems? All definitely no. Been there done that all too many times and at my age those are things that I won't tolerate any more. 

 

I've had boats that would comfortably be able to fish far enough offshore that you need a passport to gas up, nevermore. In all my years of fishing I've never had more fun than I do now.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On 12/6/2018 at 12:50 PM, J Francho said:

What he's asking is if anyone else is using all electric.  I was pointing out there were others.  And they going a lot faster than walking speeds.

Your point about speed is useless if you can't get a boat with a motor into a body of water inaccesible to a boat with a motor and trailer, no?

 

See me on a remote lake with my boat in the water, and another on a trailer and show me how a boat with a 200hp motor on a trailer not moving at all is better than a 4mph electric boat :-)