How big of a motor do I need?

[jeepjeepwhat]

Ok so I have a 16 foot coleman scanoe. I would like to buy an electric motor for it, but I know I don't need a huge motor. The only thing that I know is that coleman recommends a 5 hp maximum for the boat. I mostly need something that will travel at a moderate speed for trolling and small lake travel. I've started looking at some electric trollers and most of them talk about thrust in ft*lb.

My questions are:
How does ft*lb compare to HP?
What range of motor would be sufficient for this size boat?

Any help, advice, or anticdotes about experiences would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Also if you want to throw in some info about marine batteries that would help, I imagine that will be my next endeavor.

 

[jeepjeepwhat]

Ok so I have a 16 foot coleman scanoe. I would like to buy an electric motor for it, but I know I don't need a huge motor. The only thing that I know is that coleman recommends a 5 hp maximum for the boat. I mostly need something that will travel at a moderate speed for trolling and small lake travel. I've started looking at some electric trollers and most of them talk about thrust in ft*lb.

My questions are:
How does ft*lb compare to HP?
What range of motor would be sufficient for this size boat?

Any help, advice, or anticdotes about experiences would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Also if you want to throw in some info about marine batteries that would help, I imagine that will be my next endeavor.

 

[Farmer17]

I'm no expert on trolling motors or canoes but I cannot imagine any electric trolling motor that would be TOO big or powerful. You're not going to have to worry about going too fast or be out of control with any trolling motor and you might be lucky to get 10mph, so I would buy the biggest one I could afford or otherwise paddling would be about as fast.

 

[shooboy]

You need a 454 Chevy big-block....Shoo

 

[BarbC]

We have a 55-pound Minnekota on our little boat. When you need power, you need it. When the wind is right, we can get up to 6 mph!

 

[zercool]

Originally posted by shooboy:

You need a 454 Chevy big-block....Shoo

With pictures!

I'd call the place you bought the canoe from and see what they recommend.

I know Dad has a little 2.2hp 2-stroke outboard that he uses for puttering the sailboat in and out of the marina.

 

[s&wchad]

Some good reading. With engines and motors, more is always better (unless it rips the transom off).

http://www.minnkotamotors.com/...terms=what+is+thrust

http://www.minnkotamotors.com/...terms=what+is+thrust

http://www.minnkotamotors.com/...om_mount/endura.aspx

 

[5Wire]

550 foot pounds per second = 1 horsepower = 745.69987 watts

 

[tomf52]

I have a MinnKota electric that has a label on it claiming to be three horsepower and believe me it's not too much on my Old Towne 13' canoe. Going against the wind to get back to port you need all the push you can get. Even with a very mild wind.

 

[Clayton]

We used a 27lb. thrust MinnKota on one of those a few years ago. Plenty of juice on a calm day, but I would have liked a little bigger when it got windy later in the week.
Get a 55lb like Barb's and you could pull that skiing squirrel you see on TV.

 

[sar4937]

How many batteries do you want to haul along? With a transom you'll use a tiller steer motor and all the weight will be in the back (you/the motor/maybe the batteries).

 

[creedekid]

We sell 30 to 55 thrust electric MinnKota trolling motors on our boats. They move our boats from 3-7 mph with two adults on board. With your scanoe you should be able to get away with a 44 thrust fresh water motor and skim through the water with no problems.
http://www.craigcat.com/models-electric.html

 

[sar4937]

Please note the difference in the layout between the Craigcat and the Scanoe.

 

[BarbC]

Please note the difference in the layout between the Craigcat and the Scanoe.

Good point. We have a very heavy 12V deep cycle marine battery. We have to balance it on the opposite side of where Charlie sits. Please note in the photo above the beer cooler is also on the battery side of the boat.

 

[sar4937]

In my state adding an electric motor requires licensing and registration, with oars not. A good kayak paddle will give you nice arms.

 

[oldRoger]

I have a lot of canoeing experience, little with motors, my current canoe requires an outrigger for a motor, a small gas engine i.e. 2 hp is a great plenty.
The problem as I see it is the bow rising, if the bow is up in the wind you are screwed. That is why you see single paddlers in long canoes paddling from the front. I have a 40# rock in the bow, its not enough.
I have experimented with electric and no way do you want the battery in the stern or even midships. Get it as close to the bow as possible (long cables). As mentioned, getting port-starboard balance is necessary and the damm thing (battery) wants to shift.

 

[reddogge]

The reservoir fishermen around here use 16' jonboats with golf course cart motors adapted to outboard configuration. They can fish all day and run surprisingly long distances but the downside is they have a dozen batteries in the boat.

My Ranger bass boat has a 76# thrust Minn-Kota bow mount 24volt motor on the front and I can fish all day with it to move around cover.

 

[glypnir]

My 1 minute of web surfing has told me that the standard propellers on trolling motors are designed to move big boats slowly, rather than little boats faster. Makes sense.

 

[cass]

I use a 28 lb thrust MinnKota on a 16 ft Grumman. It has the power to get me downriver against the wind with no problem at all. With a fresh charge on the battery, it's good for two days or about 20 miles of river. We refer to the trolling motor as "super paddle". In Texas, registration is required.

 

[ParadiseRoad]

Originally posted by shooboy:

You need a 454 Chevy big-block....Shoo

...naw...he needs a Packard 4M-2500 PT Boat engine...V-12...2500 cubic inches...supercharged...

.