[Rhodes22-list] Electric Motor

[jfn302 at yahoo.com]

David,

I haven't used the Torqeedo, but I used a the big Minn Kota motor that Walmart sells.  I think it is equivalent to 4.5 HP.

On 2 of the 100 AH deep cell batteries that Walmart also sells, I could putt all the way across the lake to the restaurant and back on the trolling motor alone.  Which is a 10 mile round trip.  And the boat would do 3-5 knots depending on the wind.

The only time I ever struggled with that little horsepower equivalent was when the wind was blowing 25-30 and I was putting my boat in from the dock and moving it to my slip.  Took about 10 minutes with the boat barely moving against the wind, but it still got me from the dock to the slip.  

I would say that going with the 2.0 would work, unless you want the extra that the 4.0 would give you in high wind conditions.

Oh, and all m trolling motor mis-adventures were on a Santana 22, my Rhodes is still a work in progress 😊

James

-----Original Message-----
From: Rhodes22-list <rhodes22-list-bounces at rhodes22.org> On Behalf Of David Keyes
Sent: Wednesday, June 3, 2020 7:21 PM
To: The Rhodes 22 Email List <rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org>
Subject: Re: [Rhodes22-list] Electric Motor

Jose, I read that you are using the Torqeedo Cruise 4.0 R.  I am thinking of getting the 2.0 R or 4.0 R, although the cost becomes somewhat staggering with the Torqeedo lithium batteries.  Currently I am still using my 2001 Yamaha 9.9 with Stan’s remote linkage to the sailboat tiller, and with his newer electric lift.  If I continue with the 9.9, I have to replace the cables (not easy, since Yamaha doesn’t list the cables that originally came with the 2001 setup.

One of my hesitations with the Torqeedo arises from user posts on the internet about lack of service for repairs.  Unless a replacement part can be shipped, apparently the whole motor has to be shipped back to Hong Kong.  Aside from service and cost, the idea of electric instead of gas is appealing, and the Torqeedo motors seem very nifty.

I would like to drop down to the smaller  2.0 (5 hp equivalent), since all we usually do is motor out of the marina and switch immediately to sail.  But there have been a few times on Lake Travis near Austin, Texas (where my boat sits in the water 12 months a year—I have never owned a trailer), when the weather picks up fairly suddenly, and the 4.0 would produce almost as much power as my Yamaha 9.9.

Now that you have been using your 4.0 for several years, are you still happy with your switch from the Yamaha 9.9?  Are you using the Torqeedo Power 48-5000 battery that weighs about 80 pounds and costs about 5 grand?  Arrggh.   What kind of mount did you acquire or build for the battery?  Does the Torqeedo remote cable and control unit install satisfactorily onto the sailboat tiller?

I will appreciate your views and experience on this.

I have a 2011 R22, and when I bought it new, I transferred my Yamaha 9.9 to it from my earlier 2001 R22.  The motor still runs well—or will run again if I can replace the control cables—but is very temperamental when leaving and returning through the marina to my slip at the end closest to a limestone cliff.  It gets pretty exciting with a trailing wind having to make a hard turn to port into the last slip, with larger boats than mine all around me and the Yamaha that, as usual, has decided at that point to quit.  Once I am out in the lake with no obstacles around, it will run all day as if it never stalls or misses as long as it has gas.  But of course that is when I am sailing instead of motoring, weather permitting.

David Keyes