12' Northwood boat

[soggybottom]

I really liked the 6 horse evinrude. It trolled down really slow, and had decent top speed. It wouldn't plane the boat out if I sat on the rear bench, but I found that if I sat forward a little ways and used a tiller extension that it would plane the boat out. I never clocked it with the gps but I would guess it was close to 15mph with just me in the boat. I wouldn't have sold it if it weren't for the deal I got on the newer motor.

 

[JRyno10]

Thanks for the info, thats good to hear. Do you think you will do any more mods to your tin this summer or you just going to hold off til winter?

 

[soggybottom]

Right now the plan is to fish with the boat the way it is for a while and see how I like the setup. If I am happy with everything I will probably cover the benches with carpet, and do a few other small things like cupholders and lights. That will probably wait till the lakes freeze over though.

 

[soggybottom]

Got out today in the rain and took a few pictures of the whole boat.

So far I am loving the open layout.

 

[soggybottom]

A few days ago I ordered some cheap cupholders off of ebay. I think I paid about 6$ for the pair. They arrived today so I broke out the jig saw and installed them.

I decided to go with these rather than the fold up ones, because I have had bad luck with the fold up ones breaking. Pretty hard to beat these for the price.

 

[soggybottom]

I've been toying with the idea of electric power for a while due to the number of electric only lakes around where I live. I was going to just buy a trolling motor, but that would have been too easy. I decided to try converting a small gas outboard to electric.

The electric motor was the easy part. I get them free where I work ranging from 1/3hp small motors to 1hp commercial motors. I happened to grab a 1/2 horse motor, so that is what I am using. Maybe I will go bigger, it depends how this one performs.

The outboard I got from craigslist for next to nothing. It is a 1947 montgomery ward sea king. First thing I did when I got it home was remove the gas engine.

Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures during the process of mounting the motor. But here is the motor mounted.

I tested it in a tank full of water, and am pretty impressed with the power it has. I plan on taking it out on the water to test it today sometime. I will let you all know how it goes.

 

[Zum]

Pretty cool..can you vary the speed or is it wide open all the time.
How about battery(s)as good as a regular trolling motor?
Be cool to se a video.

 

[soggybottom]

Right now it has no speed control. Eventually I will worry about things like speed control and reverse, but for now I just want to see if I can get the performance I want.

I took it out with the electric motor this evening. Overall I was pretty unimpressed with the performance. It seems about as fast as a trolling motor would be. Maybe a little slower. I was hoping for a little more speed. I will probably try it with a larger motor and higher RPMS. This motor is rated at 1500 RPM. I will try to get a 1 horse 1800 RPM motor from work and give it another go. Back to the drawing board I guess.

 

[Zum]

I imagine the prop,on that old outboard isn't helping your situation out either,to much pitch.

 

[soggybottom]

Finally got the boat out with the gps to see how fast the gas motor pushes it. With just me and my fishing gear in the boat on relatively flat water it tops out at 21mph. The motor also trolls down nicely to 1-2mph. I am more than happy with that.

 

[soggybottom]

I still haven't given up on the electric outboard motor. I got a free 3/4hp continuous duty motor that turns at 1800 rpm. Had to redo the motor mounts because this motor is about twice the size of the last one. Hopefully this one will have the power that I am looking for.


I tested it for about 15 min. in a barrel of water and it looks promising. Should be taking it out tomorrow morning. I will let you all know how it goes.

 

[Zum]

Hope it works fine for you.
I still think reworking that prop or another one might help the situation.

 

[scsdiver]

boat looks good and i really like the E-Motor that is a awesome mod!!! Good luck and deff cant wait to see after you test.

 

[soggybottom]

Well I have thrown in the towel on the electric outboard. It does work, and pushes the boat pretty well, but it drains the battery too fast. I could probably get more battery, but I don't want so much weight in such a small 12' boat. I think I will just cave and buy a trolling motor over the winter. Oh well, it was a fun project.

 

[bikerider]

I have enjoyed reading through your build thread. Are there any updates on the boat?