W
WIZARDOFOZONE
Guest
This is WAAAY off topic for me because I must be honest and say I have little experience in this area but know enough to say I have never seen any electric motor I felt IMO delivered the power nor long range freedom of an internal combustion engine for practical bicycle use .... I'd sure like to hear opinions from people who have experimented with electric power and get input from anybody who might have tried the following :
I outfitted my boat with a new Minnkota 80 pound Auto Pilot trolling motor and the older 40 pound thrust motor has been sitting unused. Fooling with it yesterday has really convinced me that converting a 40 pound thrust trolling motor to a bike engine has worlds of possibilities for reasons I have always taken for granted in using them on my boat, but never considered the same features that make them work so well for pullling craft would surely be the same on land with such a light load as a bicycle.
None of the points following are anything new to serious trolling motor fishermen but others might not be familier with how strong a trolling motor actually is ....
1. A BASIC 40 pound thrust trolling motor costs about $250,used ones are on Ebay a lot too.
2. 40 pound thrust (AS AN EXAMPLE) can move my 20 foot bowrider from dead stop with enough thrust to make you lurch back a bit if your not prepared,just to give you an idea of the load pulling capability.Were talking about 2500 lbs of mass in this case.
3. Most interesting however, is run time from a 12 volt battery .... Any average 40 pound thrust troller will let you pull at full power (another plus,power is infinitely adjustable ) for AT MINIMUM in my 20 years of troller experience, about 4 hours and that's in the WORST possible scenerio ie,headwinds, fast water, lots of speed changing.
In normal scenerios, with the battery saver circuitry that all the big trolling motor companys tout, 8 full hours from a full sized marine battery is not unheard of. 6 is absolutely common I do it all the time.
4. Motors are already rigged to reverse (just for giggles)
5.Propeller removes in 4 seconds,welding on a standard chain sprocket is a no brainer
6.Fully waterproof of course
7.sleek bullet housing would accept a variety of mounting tecniques,and the shape readily suggests mounting directly behind the seat over the hub with the battery occupying the normal place we put our chinese motor.
8. Biggest problem is of course the size of a marine trolling motor battery or any large sized auto battery. Enen low on the frame we are talking a lot of weight. Anyway, has anyone ever messed around with a trolling motor for this purpose ?
I outfitted my boat with a new Minnkota 80 pound Auto Pilot trolling motor and the older 40 pound thrust motor has been sitting unused. Fooling with it yesterday has really convinced me that converting a 40 pound thrust trolling motor to a bike engine has worlds of possibilities for reasons I have always taken for granted in using them on my boat, but never considered the same features that make them work so well for pullling craft would surely be the same on land with such a light load as a bicycle.
None of the points following are anything new to serious trolling motor fishermen but others might not be familier with how strong a trolling motor actually is ....
1. A BASIC 40 pound thrust trolling motor costs about $250,used ones are on Ebay a lot too.
2. 40 pound thrust (AS AN EXAMPLE) can move my 20 foot bowrider from dead stop with enough thrust to make you lurch back a bit if your not prepared,just to give you an idea of the load pulling capability.Were talking about 2500 lbs of mass in this case.
3. Most interesting however, is run time from a 12 volt battery .... Any average 40 pound thrust troller will let you pull at full power (another plus,power is infinitely adjustable ) for AT MINIMUM in my 20 years of troller experience, about 4 hours and that's in the WORST possible scenerio ie,headwinds, fast water, lots of speed changing.
In normal scenerios, with the battery saver circuitry that all the big trolling motor companys tout, 8 full hours from a full sized marine battery is not unheard of. 6 is absolutely common I do it all the time.
4. Motors are already rigged to reverse (just for giggles)
5.Propeller removes in 4 seconds,welding on a standard chain sprocket is a no brainer
6.Fully waterproof of course
7.sleek bullet housing would accept a variety of mounting tecniques,and the shape readily suggests mounting directly behind the seat over the hub with the battery occupying the normal place we put our chinese motor.
8. Biggest problem is of course the size of a marine trolling motor battery or any large sized auto battery. Enen low on the frame we are talking a lot of weight. Anyway, has anyone ever messed around with a trolling motor for this purpose ?
