Hey Eagle while i agree input power is the main metric to consider, the other consideration is voltage as voltage is directly correlated to motor rpm. Higher volts = more rpm = more speed on the water. So shaft speed is also something consider aswell as weight. Thanks for sharing i wish i saw this video when i was in the market.
100%! Voltage and RPMs are very important, but because there are so many metrics that matter, I think it helps use the one that is a composite of more than one. Another name for kilowatts is "kilo-volt-amps." Kilowatts have volts baked in, so they account for any change in volts. Volts are great, but if we just look at volts, we can miss a change in amps. Amps are great, but if we just look at amps, we can miss a change in volts. Watts and kilowatts are better because they won't miss a change in either volts or amps. RPMs definitely correlate too, but they're hard to measure while the prop is in the water, and performance is wildly different when you take the prop out of the water.
Lie #2 is the thing that's really frustrated me while doing my boat builds - trying to find motors that accept helm steering cables without breaking the bank is next to impossible because of that artificial market segmentation; as a result I've been doing janky jury-rigging like "find a gas motor mount with the transom clamps and hardware to swivel back and forth and then somehow attach a trolling motor to the back of that."
Great point! IMO, every motor should be built with modular parts to switch between tiller and cable steering. It's easy enough to mount a moment arm on most trolling motors because most have standardized around a shaft diameter of 1.125", but as soon as you get into the "outboard" category, you have a different model number for each slight variation. It feels at best like a giant oversight and at worst a slap in the face when they fail to plan for interoperability. It's kinda like back in the early 90s, when Macs and PCs could not transfer files to each other. For instance, Torqeedo Ultralight 1103 AC (the kayak-mount version) versus the Travel 1103 (jon boat version) are obviously identical, but good luck trying to use either for both. There should be a $100 part you can buy to turn one into the other.
Great video man! However, there are 2 things I would like to clarify in the video. The very first one is the mention of "You should not worry about pounds of thrust". To an extent, I agree, but you do have to worry about it in certain situations. As you did in the video, by doing a bit of simple math, if 2 motors are of similar dollar values for their kW rating, then the "pounds of thrust" becomes something valuable to look at as sometimes the prop itself could cost you more to "upgrade" the "cheaper" of the two options or you could get a much better "bang for your buck" with the higher "pounds of thrust" version for merely a few bucks sometimes (taking into considerations the comparison is done between the same manufacturer). The second and last one was about the trolling motors being identical to the electric outboards. I would've loved to hear a mention that they are identical mechanically speaking (control circuitry at the top, power wires in the "leg" and motor at the prop) and that the looks of the motor (be it a trolling motor or an electrical outboard) has almost no impact on its functions (for instance, the much bigger "legs" of the electric outboards, they offer mostly no benefits as there's only a few wires going through it, even if you were to bend the shaft, it would still work perfectly fine). The reason why I mention this is because people might think it is much better because it has a much bigger "leg" or whatever. Subscribed by the way :)
Thanks for the sub! And great notes! I agree lbs. of thrust is definitely correlated with value. It's a fine way to measure if all brands are treating it accurately. Trouble is... it can be gamed pretty easily because, to my knowledge, there's no agreed standard for measuring it. The size/type of hull, weight onboard, and prop pitch/diameter/number of blades will all affect it. The fact that it can be modded after-market says to me I'd prefer a different metric that is wholly the responsibility of the manufacturer. That said, I think most trolling companies have been competing with similar lineups for so long that they've become well-equalized on their consensus of what constitutes a given #s-thrust value. It's just the new no-name trolling brands that pop up who sometimes have very questionable #s-thrust numbers. RE: internal circuitry, I'd love to do more videos in the future dissecting trollers versus outboards. I had a few notes on that, but I was already struggling to keep the length down on this one. I barely got it below 20 minutes by trimming several minutes of excess footage. All great ideas for future content though!
@@eagleray1Totally understandable as far as time limits goes! Also, the #s-thrust, as I had mentioned, should mostly only be taken into consideration from the same manufacturer... so, if you're comparing a Minn Kota Endura with a Minn Kota Terrova, for example... Also, I haven't dug much into it, but I ASSUME (and ASSUME is a keyword here) that when they mention #s-thrust, they mean it at the motor, a.k.a. torque, but everyone takes it for granted that its after the prop. I know for sure that I do take it for granted that it is with the factory prop, but mechanically speaking, it wouldn't make much sense. Maybe something to test for in the future?
@@PunkR0ckz09 Yeah, I assume they probably put the motor in a tank on a hinge and latch a scale to it, but I'd very much like for each brand to publish footage of their test results for each model. I may build a ghetto version of that on my test bench one day. I've seen guys do that in the hobby RC market for planes. Would be a fun project.
Great video
Hey Eagle while i agree input power is the main metric to consider, the other consideration is voltage as voltage is directly correlated to motor rpm. Higher volts = more rpm = more speed on the water. So shaft speed is also something consider aswell as weight. Thanks for sharing i wish i saw this video when i was in the market.
100%! Voltage and RPMs are very important, but because there are so many metrics that matter, I think it helps use the one that is a composite of more than one. Another name for kilowatts is "kilo-volt-amps." Kilowatts have volts baked in, so they account for any change in volts. Volts are great, but if we just look at volts, we can miss a change in amps. Amps are great, but if we just look at amps, we can miss a change in volts. Watts and kilowatts are better because they won't miss a change in either volts or amps. RPMs definitely correlate too, but they're hard to measure while the prop is in the water, and performance is wildly different when you take the prop out of the water.
Thank you!
Lie #2 is the thing that's really frustrated me while doing my boat builds - trying to find motors that accept helm steering cables without breaking the bank is next to impossible because of that artificial market segmentation; as a result I've been doing janky jury-rigging like "find a gas motor mount with the transom clamps and hardware to swivel back and forth and then somehow attach a trolling motor to the back of that."
Great point! IMO, every motor should be built with modular parts to switch between tiller and cable steering. It's easy enough to mount a moment arm on most trolling motors because most have standardized around a shaft diameter of 1.125", but as soon as you get into the "outboard" category, you have a different model number for each slight variation. It feels at best like a giant oversight and at worst a slap in the face when they fail to plan for interoperability. It's kinda like back in the early 90s, when Macs and PCs could not transfer files to each other. For instance, Torqeedo Ultralight 1103 AC (the kayak-mount version) versus the Travel 1103 (jon boat version) are obviously identical, but good luck trying to use either for both. There should be a $100 part you can buy to turn one into the other.
Great video man! However, there are 2 things I would like to clarify in the video. The very first one is the mention of "You should not worry about pounds of thrust". To an extent, I agree, but you do have to worry about it in certain situations. As you did in the video, by doing a bit of simple math, if 2 motors are of similar dollar values for their kW rating, then the "pounds of thrust" becomes something valuable to look at as sometimes the prop itself could cost you more to "upgrade" the "cheaper" of the two options or you could get a much better "bang for your buck" with the higher "pounds of thrust" version for merely a few bucks sometimes (taking into considerations the comparison is done between the same manufacturer). The second and last one was about the trolling motors being identical to the electric outboards. I would've loved to hear a mention that they are identical mechanically speaking (control circuitry at the top, power wires in the "leg" and motor at the prop) and that the looks of the motor (be it a trolling motor or an electrical outboard) has almost no impact on its functions (for instance, the much bigger "legs" of the electric outboards, they offer mostly no benefits as there's only a few wires going through it, even if you were to bend the shaft, it would still work perfectly fine). The reason why I mention this is because people might think it is much better because it has a much bigger "leg" or whatever. Subscribed by the way :)
Thanks for the sub! And great notes! I agree lbs. of thrust is definitely correlated with value. It's a fine way to measure if all brands are treating it accurately. Trouble is... it can be gamed pretty easily because, to my knowledge, there's no agreed standard for measuring it. The size/type of hull, weight onboard, and prop pitch/diameter/number of blades will all affect it. The fact that it can be modded after-market says to me I'd prefer a different metric that is wholly the responsibility of the manufacturer. That said, I think most trolling companies have been competing with similar lineups for so long that they've become well-equalized on their consensus of what constitutes a given #s-thrust value. It's just the new no-name trolling brands that pop up who sometimes have very questionable #s-thrust numbers. RE: internal circuitry, I'd love to do more videos in the future dissecting trollers versus outboards. I had a few notes on that, but I was already struggling to keep the length down on this one. I barely got it below 20 minutes by trimming several minutes of excess footage. All great ideas for future content though!
@@eagleray1Totally understandable as far as time limits goes! Also, the #s-thrust, as I had mentioned, should mostly only be taken into consideration from the same manufacturer... so, if you're comparing a Minn Kota Endura with a Minn Kota Terrova, for example... Also, I haven't dug much into it, but I ASSUME (and ASSUME is a keyword here) that when they mention #s-thrust, they mean it at the motor, a.k.a. torque, but everyone takes it for granted that its after the prop. I know for sure that I do take it for granted that it is with the factory prop, but mechanically speaking, it wouldn't make much sense. Maybe something to test for in the future?
@@PunkR0ckz09 Yeah, I assume they probably put the motor in a tank on a hinge and latch a scale to it, but I'd very much like for each brand to publish footage of their test results for each model. I may build a ghetto version of that on my test bench one day. I've seen guys do that in the hobby RC market for planes. Would be a fun project.