# water snake electric motors



## vladimir (Jan 2, 2013)

im thinking of buying a watersnake electric motor for my kayak its around $170 im wondering should i buy it or not due to the fact that im hearing from others to stay away from jarvis walker electric motor ,i was told to buy a minicoata i cant afford to spend over $1000 for an electric motor that im going to use against the strong winds when paddling back to my destenation and yes its a saltwater motor .need help please


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## HAWKEYE3 (Jan 8, 2009)

What are you pushing and how long is it?

Regards

Ian


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## vladimir (Jan 2, 2013)

i have a tarpon 120 its around 28kgs ive been fishing and on my way back have been caught in 25 knott winds had to paddle about 1km to 2kms both days was niceand calm until about 1pm i carry very little of fishing gear and eqiupment when i go fishing


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## john316 (Jan 15, 2009)

1) listen to lazybugger

2) the battery you need to carry to power a leccy motor is big, heavy and expensive as it needs to be a deep cycle battery. Although I have used a car battery on a leccy (in a tinny) it is not recommended as they are designed for use in short bursts and are damaged if they are run flat.

3) who are you "hearing" from? some people have a vested interest in promoting a specific brand and most of us have bias based on little more than hearsay... ie: labor/liberal, ford/holden, pepsi/coke... I had a watersnake on my tinny and it worked perfectly well and the only reason I don't have it any more is that I sold the tinny because it was totally superseded by the kayaks.

4) it would be safer to avoid getting caught by strong winds through a better understanding of the forecasts but we all get caught out sometimes and then it is better to have a plan for getting through it. I might get shot down by someone who hates my idea but I have been caught in a heavy and unpredicted squall on my A.I. and had to tack across the wind as I was unable to paddle or pedal into the wind. While it meant I traveled further I was able to keep up a decent speed which gave me steerage and I got home safely. The strength of the wind made the use of the sail dangerous...

cheers

Oh yeah... point 5) listen to lazybugger

John


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## rodrocket (Apr 24, 2012)

I have a watersnake for my dinghy. No problems so far.
Comments re battery are correct, they are way too heavy for a yak.
My suggestion would be....
Buy a good anchor and trolley, that way if you get tired while paddling, you can deploy anchor, and have a rest/break  
Worst case is anchor up till wind drops to an acceptable level if possible.
Cheers.
Rod


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## HAWKEYE3 (Jan 8, 2009)

All of the above is pertinent. Safety at sea is your No 1 Priority.

I have a 54lb watersnake on my Tempo 2. I previously had a Minn Kota 40 lb. My impression is that there is no measurable difference in top speed although I have not measured this with gps.

The watersnake was about half the cost of the original price I paid for the Minn Kota, but the prices now are much closer (based on current Bias Boating Catalogue)

I have a 79 amphour deep cycle battery and I get 2 - 3 hours with 1/4 discharge.

I run the w/s at medium speed, and troll with the lower speeds.

Where I see the advantage of a bigger motor is "increased load capacity" and I guess you could interpret that as wind load as well.
The other consideration is that running the bigger motor at lower revs would be more energy efficient than a smaller motor with higher revs where less energy is lost to heat.

It can be frustrating if you run a motor that is too small. Try and borrow one to see how it performs first before deciding.

Hope this of use,

Regards

Ian


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## vladimir (Jan 2, 2013)

if i buy a 30lb mini kota what size batery would i need to use for around 4 to 6 hrs i want to go as light as possible that i can .thanks all


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## Yakkamat (Nov 13, 2012)

I use a 60ah battery with my 24lb watersnake and can troll 4-6hrs no worries.


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## scater (Nov 24, 2007)

Don't do it. If it craps out (and a kayak is a much tougher place for an electric and battery to live than a boat) then you have a wind to paddle against and a yak that is much heavier, more cumbersome and less balanced than it should be. Improve your paddle fitness and don't go further afield than you can paddle back.

On top of the motor you have an expensive battery (the one that runs my minn kota on the stink boat was ~$350) and a decent multi stage charger will run you $150 at least. That's a lot to spend to make your kayak behave like a pig in the water. If you can't paddle 1-2km in strong winds then your paddle fitness is dangerously inadequate. Don't take this as an attack on you personally mate, it's the opposite. We don't want to be reading a newspaper article about you in the future.

I love the leccy on the boat and if it died I would buy another immediately. My yak, the Viking tempo is designed to take a Minn Kota. Would I get one? No bloody way. Kayaks are no place for a motor and we've seen people lose their lives in finding out why. Don't do it.


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## scorpio (Dec 15, 2009)

I had one on a past kayak and found it great. This kayak was made to carry over 200kilos and leant itself to carrying the motor and a 100 amp hour battery. In saying this, and I do not mean to offend.If you cannot paddle a Tarpon 120 against a strong wind for two ks then your paddle fitness needs to be improved on.


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## vladimir (Jan 2, 2013)

im very fit ,its jut that i thought of lettin the lecy do it for me either in windy conditions or going up stream in rivers


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