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electric boat motors

I've asked a couple of you already about not understanding how the electric boat motor's power is changed into thrust or horsepower. I have 12 foot fiberglass boat and want to buy an electric trolling motor. But I haven't found any place that would explain what size, which is the best suited for lake fishing.
Jun 10
To determine thrust and horsepower, a dynamometer is used along with a set of equations that convert the readings to thrust and horsepower. You don't really need all that to determine how much thrust you need for your boat. 12 volt trolling motor will do just fine - you can get power ratings from 30 to 55 lbs at 12 volts which would be good for a half day or so fishing on a fully charged batters. For more battery life, use two batteries wired parallel which, under most circumstances, will last you most of the day. Remeber the higher the thrust, the more energy drain on the battery.

I push around a 14 foot Princecraft with a 40 lb thrust motor loaded with gear and me (boat, 25 Johnson, battery, gear and small cooler) for a good 5 hours on smaller lakes. That size motor will do fine for your boat.

Short
Jun 10
It takes 746 watts of electrical power to produce 1 hp. Watts = volts x amps: 12.6 volts x 30 amps = 378 watts = 1/2 hp, assuming 100% efficiency.

Thrust depends on props and other variables but all things being equal, 1/2 hp should produce somewhere in the range of 15 to 30 pounds. That is enough for a 12 ft boat in calm conditions.

Wayne.B
Jun 10
Motors really struggle to get 70-80% of that. Look at the nameplate of various motors around your house. Compare "HP" to "FLA" gfretwell
Jun 10
Will not get 100% efficiency. But to choose a motor http://www.minnkotamotors.com/products/motors/index.asp?lp=gb and choose the "select-a-motor" tab. Calif
Jun 10
http://www.basspro.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/CFPage?mode=article&objectID=29748&storeId=10151&catalogId=10001&langId=-1
Jun 10
   

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