An Outboard for an inflatable.....

[Sumner]

We would like to get some opinions on outboard combinations for our 26S and for an inflatable. We are purchasing a used Zodiac Zoom 285 that will take up to an 8 HP motor. We have an 8 HP Honda that came with the 26S, but it isn't that light to move back and forth between the 26S and the Zodiac.

We are thinking of getting a 4 HP Tohatsu/Nissan and do the carb swap to take it to 6 HP or possibly buying a 5 or 6 HP used Tohatsu/Nissan in the first place if the price is right. I would like to get a long shaft model so that if we were out and had a problem with the 8 HP Honda we could then put the 6 HP Tohatsu on the 26S to get us home if needed.

1. Would a long shaft model work OK on the Zodiac, knowing that a short shaft would be better. We are not looking to make the Zodiac as fast as possible, just something to get us back into the side canyons at Lake Powell and to use other places also for exploring.

2. If we got a short shaft Tohatsu would it work on the 26S in an emergency?

Thanks for any advice,

Sum and Ruth

[Terry]

Scrap the idea of moving an engine from the Mac to the inflatable, you may end up dropping it in the drink during transfer. I have a 5hp Honda on my inflatable and at 60 lbs, it is a bear to mount and un-mount. I would not want to be moving that beast from boat to boat all the time and in fact I leave it mounted on the dinghy transom and tow the dinghy with the engine attached just to avoid lifting it. Buy a seperate little engine with a short shaft for your dinghy and it will perform better. If you want to explore in shorter time periods by travelling faster get a lighter 6hp or 2-stroke 8hp for the dinghy but keep the weight at or below 60 lbs because that is a lot to lug around. The 8hp Honda is the same weight as the 9.9 and must be in the range of 100 lbs which I would not want to ever consider lifting off the boat except when I had to replace it with a new one.

[Sumner]

Scrap the idea of moving an engine from the Mac to the inflatable, you may end up dropping it in the drink during transfer. I have a 5hp Honda on my inflatable and at 60 lbs, it is a bear to mount and un-mount. I would not want to be moving that beast from boat to boat all the time and in fact I leave it mounted on the dinghy transom and tow the dinghy with the engine attached just to avoid lifting it. Buy a seperate little engine with a short shaft for your dinghy and it will perform better. If you want to explore in shorter time periods by travelling faster get a lighter 6hp or 2-stroke 8hp for the dinghy but keep the weight at or below 60 lbs because that is a lot to lug around. The 8hp Honda is the same weight as the 9.9 and must be in the range of 100 lbs which I would not want to ever consider lifting off the boat except when I had to replace it with a new one.

Thanks Terry, but maybe I didn't make my post clear enough. I don't want to use the Honda on the inflatable, but want to get a smaller lighter motor like you suggested and is the reason I'm looking at the Tohatsu as it is a little under 60 lbs. (I do want a 4 stroke).

I'm trying to figure out if a long shaft version of the Tohatsu would work at all on the inflatable, so I could use it as a backup for the 26S or if a short shaft Tohatsu would work on the 26S if the motor (Honda) quit on it while we were out.

Hope this is a little clearer and thanks for the reply,

Sum

[Trouts Dream]

I always thought of the sails as the backup to the motor.

There have been some mods done so that the dinghy motor is mounted on a adjustable mount at the rear but it would be best to search for that mod as I don't recall who did it and it's not something I am interested in at this time.

[markh1f]

Sum,

Get whatever works best for the dingy, if you need to Dink motor in an emergency just tow the mothership with the dingy. Won't be particularly fast but it will get you where your going. I used to have a 285 Zodiac with a Nissan 8HP 2 stroke that I once towed a 32' catamaran with no problem (the catamaran had transmission problems but the dingy & outboard worked fine as a tow boat). Also the 8HP was just barely enough power to get 2 people with groceries up on a plane and moving.

Mark

[Sumner]

......... in an emergency just tow the mothership with the dingy. Won't be particularly fast but it will get you where your going..........Mark

Thanks Mark, I never thought of that .

Our concern is that we will be doing a lot of our sailing on Lake Powell and it is very long and very narrow. It is my understanding that we might be using the motor quite a bit due to the nature of the lake and the winds on it. If we were say 60 miles down the lake and had major motor problems it would be an expensive tow to get towed back to the marina. Now if we could put the 6 hp dingy motor on we might not be as fast as with the 8 HP Honda, but we could get back.

So I'm still wondering if anyone has used a long shaft motor on a dingy or a short shaft motor on their 26S?

Thanks,

Ruth and Sum

[Tahoe Jack]

Hey Sum.....spent a couple weeks over your way on Powell a couple seasons ago. You may want to check out my mod for use of a small kicker for both dinghy and emergency get-back. Haven't had a good chance to be certain about how fast it will move my 26x....against wind or current, I doubt many light enough to handle will push hard. On the other hand, hull if it saves a tow once you've paid for the motor and mount. You seem handy with your welder and may be able to build a mount yourself. Seems like my mount cost about $100. Jack http://macgregorsailors.com/modt/index.php?view=1001 I have another minor mod of a hand truck for off season motor storage.

[Sumner]

Hey Sum.....spent a couple weeks over your way on Powell a couple seasons ago. You may want to check out my mod for use of a small kicker for both dinghy and emergency get-back. Haven't had a good chance to be certain about how fast it will move my 26x....against wind or current, I doubt many light enough to handle will push hard. On the other hand, hull if it saves a tow once you've paid for the motor and mount. You seem handy with your welder and may be able to build a mount yourself. Seems like my mount cost about $100. Jack http://macgregorsailors.com/modt/index.php?view=1001 I have another minor mod of a hand truck for off season motor storage.

The more I think of this another mount on the starboard side would sure solve a lot of problems with this situation of maybe having to use the dinghy motor to get home. The problem in our case is that is where our ladder is. I'm going to look into a removable mount that might go on the ladder itself and if it seems feasible I'll try it and post the results.

Thanks for your pictures and I just converted a hand cart yesterday to hold the motor and will have some pictures on my site soon. If you get back over this way stop and visit.

c ya,

Sum

[Tahoe Jack]

The hand-truck mod sure works well....and, when motor is on the boat, the cart can still be used. Thanks for the invite Sum, same to you if you get out Reno way....did Powell in late Sep last time...may try spring next time (before school is out and crowded). Have fun with the motor mount. Jack

[Sumner]

The hand-truck mod sure works well....and, when motor is on the boat, the cart can still be used. Thanks for the invite Sum, same to you if you get out Reno way....did Powell in late Sep last time...may try spring next time (before school is out and crowded). Have fun with the motor mount. Jack

We hope there are some nice days the end of Feb. or the beginning of March so we can go out for our first "experience". Our really big wind time of the year is in the spring, like 50-70 mph winds at times. Be sure you aren't here during spring break for the kids. March and April can be beautiful, but also bad at times. The most dependable month weather wise is probably the first part of May before it gets too hot. Fall is magical here though.

c ya,

Sum

[Kelly Hanson East]

I did this exact thing on my

Nissan 4HP 4stroke on a mount on the starboard side of the boat, can be used to move Catigale or used on the tender on anchor.

It is not easy to move back and forth, but once you have a system (and a safety tether at all times) it isnt too bad.

One secret I will tell about how to do this - use one of the wonderful properties of your boat and beach it in shallow water, then just transfer the tender motor while standing in the shallow water

[bastonjock]

i copied tahoe jacks idea for a kicker mount,i keep the dinghy motor on that as i ususlly leave my dinghy at a mooring and dont want to return to a stolen motor,as catgail says,make sure that you have a safety lanyard atached to the motor,mines is long enough so that i clip it on to the rail on my and still have the motor on the dinghy,when i take the motor off, the lanyard stops me from loosing it if i were to drop the motor.I use a 3.5 HP mercury,i chose that model fo weight reasons as the 4hp was a lot heavier (i think)

btw the sails are a lot cheaper way of moving the boat if the main motor packs in

[Bobby T.-26X #4767]

i like my 2.5hp Suzuki.
it's a water cooled 4-stroke that's quiet, lite weight @ 30#, and really pushes my inflatable.
i prefer it over the Honda 2hp (which is air cooled and a bit noisy, @ 27#).



Bob T.
"DāBob"
'02X w/ '04 90-TLDI (14" x 11 pitch)
Dinghy Motor: '06 2.5-Suzuki

[bluehawk]

Has anyone tried the new Torqeedo self contained electric motor?

http://www.torqeedo.com

The 801 model is approximately 2 HP and msrp is $1,699, but only weighs 25 lbs including battery, and no cables or gas tanks to mess with. I believe it will last 1-3 hours, depending on how hard it is run, and you can carry a spare battery, albeit a little pricey at $599.
Anyway, it looks very convenient to store and use, and may be an option to consider. I do not own a dinghy, but likely to purchase a small one, and this motor looks like it has some advantages over traditional ones. If anyone has first hand experience with this motor, and in particular in comparison to traditional motors, I would love to hear.
Thanks,
Dean

[David Mellon]

Wow! That is Expensive for a motor!! Gas ones weigh a Ton!! I use a Minn Kota marine model and a gel motorcycle battery, together they weigh 35 pounds and the total cost was under $350. They can be stowed below, have no smell, spillage, maintenance, plenty of power, nearly silent and no vibration. I can charge the battery with my house system and it lasts for many hours. I use my dink for a shore boat, not touring, so I have never run low on power. When coming ashore the engine can be raised vertically so you get good traction with just the bottom half of the prop in the water. I will never go back to a smelly, noisy, heavy, expensive gas motor with a potential for fire hazard. I don't even need to carry a fire extinguisher on my dink.