Trolling Motors for model boat propulsion?

[Kmot]

I just made a trade with a club mate. I traded an Esky heli with CNC upgrades and an extra lipo battery. I got a small vintage trolling motor in the trade. The idea was to use it to power my 3X Springer. Sort of like an 'azipod'. I asked if it really had enough power, and was told by him that he used it on an 8' sailboat with him in it and it pushed it along fine.

I was skeptical. Anyway, afterwards I connected it to a small 12V 4.5A gell cell and placed the motor in the pool and flicked the power switch on.

GEEZUS!! :eek:

It's a good thing I was hanging on to it tightly! I was amazed by the amount of grunt coming from a two blade 5" prop.

Has anyone used one of these trolling motors in a model boat?

[heavyhauler]

I saw a BIG tug model at the Port Huron regatta a few years ago that had one molded into the hull. I will see if I can find a picture of it.

[andyzib]

I don't see why it wouldn't work on a large model. A trolling motor is made for a full scale boat, so you're going to have power to spare. Careful of what you run into. :p

My grandfather had an electric trolling motor on his pontoon boat. It had a hand sized rocker panel that he mounted next to the boat's helm. The pushing on the left or right side of the rocker panel would spin the trolling motor in that direction. It really was a trolling azipod. Everything ran off a car battery. The prop blades were also flexible so minor encounters with the lake bed didn't damage anything. A motor like this would be a good fit for a large scale RC boat...

[arrow5]

A lot of the manned models use trolling motors. Seems they come in various "thrust" ratings, up to 80lbs which is a fair bit of grunt. A lot of brands I`ve never heard of on the market as well as the more famous.

[Prins Willem]

You mean like this? It belongs to a member in our club. He kept blowing out U joints until he made one from a Craftsman 3/8" drive universal.

[SD rc boater]

Kmot,

Your trolling motor is designed to be submerged in the water and will stay nice and cool. Your azipod idea is perfect, and may I say an ingenious use for the motor.

I am starting to think there might be something to these springers. :cool:

[JOHN SCALE BOAT]

I can not find the artical in Boat Modeler Mag, but back in the late 80's or early 90's they did an artical of a tug that used a trolling motor. The one thing I remember about it was the motor and prop were kept in tact and mounted in the keel. This type of mounting kept the motor in the water so no additional cooling was needed. The tube that runs up to the controls was cut just inside the hull and all orginal wires were used.

[Umi_Ryuzuki]

One of the old locals here built a 12 foot long fletcher class destroyer and
ran a trolling motor under the hull for power. It ran and handled beautifully.

:)

[SD rc boater]

Having the motor under the hull in the water will also make your 3X springer have a very low center of gravity. It will free up room inside for things like an oversized and overpowered of course water pump to feed the fire monitors, extra batteries, etc. :D

[Tugboat Andy]

I was skeptical. Anyway, afterwards I connected it to a small 12V 4.5A gell cell and placed the motor in the pool and flicked the power switch on.

GEEZUS!! :eek:

It's a good thing I was hanging on to it tightly! I was amazed by the amount of grunt coming from a two blade 5" prop.



LOL - I have this mental image of you at the edge of your pool. Hee hee...I needed a chuckle. :D

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SrA_kGB007U

[Kmot]

Hahaha, that's about right. :p

[fooman2008]

Tom,
A pair of trolling motors is sort of what I have/had in mind when I started working on and laying out my Idaho. Nice to know they have that kind of power maybe I'll just mount one of them on the centerline (in the rudder position perhaps) like an azipod and use that, not sure if one would give me enough OOmph though....
Foo

[norgale]

Geez! I wish you guys wouldn't use such big words like "AZIPOD". I have gone through 67 years of life and can't remember ever encountering this word. I gather from this thread that it refers to the motor being suspended beneath the hull with steering capabilities inside the hull allowing the motor to be turned 360 degrees or close to it. Sounds good to me. How many RPM's do these trolling motors work at and what size prop will you use on the Springer? Pete

[arrow5]

Yeah , what news on the X3 Springer Kmot ?

[Kmot]

No real news arrow. Just was talking about a motor for it and the trolling motor came up and so I arranged a trade for it thinking I might use it on the 3X.

Pete, I do not know how many rpm the motor turns. It's fairly fast looking though. But not a screamer. Maybe 5000? I will try to measure the rpm with my airlpane engine tach. If I use it on the Springer I will not change props. That might be a way to damage the motor.

For anyone who may be curious, this particular trolling motor I got is called the "Hunter" by Silvertrol. It is a very simple unit, with a forward and reverse toggle switch. No throttle or selectable voltage like some others have. I did some searching after obtaining it and cannot find any info on the Hunter, only on other, much more sophisticated looking Silvertrol models.

[BigDutch]

I used a trolling motor years ago for quite some time. They are low rpm and high torqu

[Kmot]

I tested the rpm today. The battery was not fully charged, but anyway I measured 2000 rpm.

Here are pics of this old thing:

[Umi_Ryuzuki]

If you can get a fitting for the shaft up through the hull, it will make a
grand steerable drive unit. Probably have to use some sort of belt drive
to connect it with a heavy duty servo. Looks like great fun. :D

[green-boat]

That is an oldie.

For the sake of discussion lets say that it has a 10 Lb. thrust rating. Imagine pulling your boat thru the water using a fish scale. Now imagine pulling it and keeping the scale at 10 Lbs. :eek: :eek:

[Boatfox]

Any updates Tom? Did you strip it down yet??

[Kmot]

No news, sorry.

[Prop'er]

I tested the rpm today. The battery was not fully charged, but anyway I measured 2000 rpm.

Here are pics of this old thing:

Good idea Kmot! I'm gonna have to see this motor upclose to my boat to size it up. I may be in the market for one of those... ;)

[Kmot]

I'll bring it next Thursday. Perhaps we can work something out. ;)

[Prop'er]

Yeah! I'll bring the boat and have a look at it. The Bill Dance video, now that was funny..... :p