My buddy's electric paddle...

[knee_deep]

A friend of mine fabricated this mount himself for his electric paddle. Any tips or ideas to improve on it? He's trying to coax me into it. I wanna see how well it works for him, before I take the plunge into one. Any ideas or comments would be more than welcome. This one is on his Tarpon 120.
Thanks in advance.
Sidney

[Paddlefoot]

Nice job! The only down side is that now he has to pay registration on his kayak.

[4x4kayak2112]

Nice job! The only down side is that now he has to pay registration on his kayak.

yea that sux pretty bad!!!!!

[Tyak]

I could not stand the extra weight of the motor and the battery.

[PlasticPirogue]

Does it "kick-up" if you hit a stump?

[Lakemonster]

Talk about pimpin your yak....

Thats clever.

[knee_deep]

Yeah, he registered it, got the TX numbers on. And to answer the question above - yes he has a kick up feature if he hits something. As for the extra weight, to hear him tell it, he doesn't mind the weight since paddling is optional now. We went out Friday morning to do a fish/test run. He got all of tied up to my other buddy, I take off paddling and mistaking say "catch me if you can" a few minutes later I turned to look and see if I'm beating them, and they haven't even started after me yet. I keep paddling, not looking back, thinking I'm gonna beat em down 2 miles to our spot. 5 minutes later I hear voices and turn and look- and they're right there with me. I get hooked up too, so there's him, Adam, and me all in tow. We were going faster than I can paddle for more than a minute or so. I sit there thinking- this is not why I got a Kayak. At any rate, he towed us all down another mile and a half. It took about 19 minutes to get there, we get out and fish. On the return trip we tie up and head right into the wind. Now we took about 25 minutes to get back, but that was into the wind. We get to the the wind surfer area by Bird Island, and this kid looks at us funny. Finally he goes "how are ya'll doing that?" I replied, "gravity" and my buddy up front says, "were going down hill!" The kid smiles and sees the trolling motor, and starts to giggle " I see that motor now."
It was pretty impressive in my eye, but not sure if it's a route I'm gonna take. I can get all set up for about the same price as a Rudder kit, minus the registration of course. I wanted a rudder, now i have thoughts of a motor....probably gonna get the rudder kit though. Take care everyone.

[CavassoCruiser]

Should be fantastic for both of my big Malibus - the Hobie AI doesn't need it, nor can I spare the weight. On the eXtreme and the Xfactor it's another story tho! Looks great - do you know what pound thrust the trolling motor is?

[TittyDeep]

It's a 30 lbs thrust Motorguide. I am in the big debait if I want to build a bigger one yet. The 30 lbs does fine, but most of my buddies don't have one and hate getting left behind. So using my yak as a tow rig would be better with something like a 50 lbs thrust:). Who knows, maybe we just invented kayak drag racing:) lol. At any case, having the trolling motor on there has it's pro's and con's and don't forget costs. The good thing is nothing is hard mounted and the entire system bolts in place of the rudder. I'll see if I can get some more pics posted. The crazy thing is I have 3 friends already asking me to weld and build them a system. Guess I have a lot of days of rigging and not fishing yet to come:)
laters......

[knee_deep]

Tiddy, you've done enough fishing in your life-time for everyone here, and not near nuff welding. It's the nature of the beast called old age. What size jump suit do you want for christmas? Color is obviously blue, with a gold buckle.

[sinkingship]

Titty (I laughed a little as I typed this in a response)...I know what you mean about having to tow your buddies around behind you. I do the same thing almost every time I go out. I just have a quick question for ya...did you rig a towbar/support spot to attach a rope too when towing someone? I built kind of a fieldgoal post setup for towing behind mine and attached it to my crate. Was just wondering what someone else did for theirs.

Oh and I have to say that is by far the best DIY install for a trolling motor I have ever seen. Patent that thing man and do it fast....even if you only make/sell a few a year...it'd pay for some really nice fishing trips. Or hell even sell it to another company that would be willing to do most of the leg work and fabrication for you, and you just sell your design!

[4x4kayak2112]

Whats the speed of the kayak loaded down???

[knee_deep]

I'm not sure of the actual speed, but it is faster tan I can paddle for any great length of time, and that's with two boats and all the gear. If it was just Titty and his gear, no way to keep up at with him, period.

[dano_1944]

Man, I say more power to him...no pun intended..if it gives you more fishing time & it's easier, go for it, being a mule for your buddies would be a small price to pay...us over 60 crowd can see real good potential in going electric, especially if you're on the North side of Christmas Bay & have to paddle against a south wind to your launch point at sundown. In those days, electic paddling would have been...as they say......... priceless.

[FishingSETX]

Awesome mount job!!! just curious if it can be retracted for shallow water? Just put one on mine (side mounted), but I would really like to have it mounted like the one in the pic!!! Problem is most of the places I fish are shallow enough that I am bumping bottom <4". Just need to figure (or copy) a good way to retract the motor. The electric retract ones are nice but way too rich for my blood!!!!

[Thinwater skinner]

Should be fantastic for both of my big Malibus - the Hobie AI doesn't need it, nor can I spare the weight. On the eXtreme and the Xfactor it's another story tho! Looks great - do you know what pound thrust the trolling motor is?

How about on the OP QUAD??? That would be a ride!!!

[Facehook]

That is very sweet!

[SteveK]

Same kayak different set up
It looks like it piviots, but is it locked down so it won't rise and cavitate in reverse??
Very nice metal work

Tightlines
Steve

[SteveK]

Guys here's a video for those of you who are conserned about raising the motor in the shallows
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oaNM4i_87lc" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
This is our first time videoing so it's a little shakey
But running a trolling motor in the shallows is NO problem, on most kayaks the motor can be raised to get above the keel, so of our kayaks can motor in as little as 6 inches of water with a bit of cavitation and splash, but it will get you over the obstacale

Try it you'll like it!!

[FishingSETX]

Thats exactly what I was looking for!!! I really appreciate it!! The problem with running shallow would be the cavitation/splashing. Im talking <4" in the middle of tailing reds so if the motor could be folded up and stored, it would be better!! Great now I have a new project!! The wife will be SO happy!! I also really like the way you commected the cables to the motor. Easy to add or remove when needed!!

[Zen Archery]

very clean job!!! Is the control system foot controlled? I am assuming? How does he modulate the "on/off" switch? How does he/she control the speed variables? Uber nice job!!!

[FishingSETX]

very clean job!!! Is the control system foot controlled? I am assuming? How does he modulate the "on/off" switch? How does he/she control the speed variables? Uber nice job!!!

Dont know why but the video changed. its foot controlled and on the Freedom Yak video it appeared that the speed control was with some kind of remote. I would imagine you could mount the motor head somewhere or just use the electronics and rig your own. The remote is nice, but I would end up dropping it in the water!!!

[rtoler]

Not bad..... But before you know it you'll be getting a small boat with an electric motor. Then the next step would be a gas motor for your little boat. And before you know it you'll have a 32ft Scarabb fishing for reds in the marsh......