Time for a new tender, many questions.

[Mac2]

Just bought a takacat and put the epropulsion on it. The takacat weighs about 70 lbs (wanted to be able to carry it above the tide line). The epropulsion pushes this boat to about 5 knots with me and my wife (around 350 lbs). One of the main reasons I chose the epropulsion over others, was the floating battery-I assume this means it will hold up better out in the rain as well. When you remove the battery, the only considerations you have for the lower unit sitting out in the elements, is the electric cable end/opening, which is easily covered for protection. I would highly recommend the storage bag for the battery. It is a padded backpack with a pocket. When I get to my destination, I put the battery (which is several hundred dollars) in the backpack and take it with me. You can secure/lock the motor mount bolts like any other outboard.

Oh my god! It would appear that the weight quoted above is referring to my wife's weight! Not at all! That's a total for both of us. If she asks, she's 120 lbs. Tops. If she doesn't, then 140-150.

 

[SteveInOz]

As far as your Teak goes, use Oak and put Teak stain on it and it will look the same. I did this in many parts of my Mariner 3400 and nobody can tell the difference, it came up perfectly.

 

[Mac2]

Just bought a takacat and put the epropulsion on it. The takacat weighs about 70 lbs (wanted to be able to carry it above the tide line). The epropulsion pushes this boat to about 5 knots with me and my wife (around 350 lbs). One of the main reasons I chose the epropulsion over others, was the floating battery-I assume this means it will hold up better out in the rain as well. When you remove the battery, the only considerations you have for the lower unit sitting out in the elements, is the electric cable end/opening, which is easily covered for protection. I would highly recommend the storage bag for the battery. It is a padded backpack with a pocket. When I get to my destination, I put the battery (which is several hundred dollars) in the backpack and take it with me. You can secure/lock the motor mount bolts like any other outboard.

Update: The epropulsion is working great. Takacat-not so much. Just sold it. Ended up being to wet a ride. Fine with one person, or no waves, otherwise to much water comes aboard the bow. No big deal in the summer, but I could see issues in the winter, or when carrying supplies on the bottom of the boat.

 

[FWT]

Update: The epropulsion is working great. Takacat-not so much. Just sold it. Ended up being to wet a ride. Fine with one person, or no waves, otherwise to much water comes aboard the bow. No big deal in the summer, but I could see issues in the winter, or when carrying supplies on the bottom of the boat.

So what's the replacement to be?

 

[Mac2]

So what's the replacement to be?

Achilles LSI-290E. Same idea. Only 77 lbs. Hypalon instead of PVC and a little more room. With my Epropulsion, I will be at 100 lbs. I will probably still get wheels mounted to it (not sure which ones yet), so I can get it above the tide line by myself.

 

[Pat T]

FYI, I did end up purchasing the AB Lammina 9 AL and ePropulsion. I did not yet have 4 people in the tender but it will be a tight fit. It comes with a removable bench and better to leave that out for 3 or 4 people. It would be beneficial for rowing I guess. I like the electric OB. It is fast enough for me and range will not be an issue for my use in harbors and up/down rivers near the mothership. It can be locked as with other OB"s with a padlock. I do remove the battery and store it inside. My use so far has been with 3 good sized people on board. I leave the ePropulsion attached to the tender while it is stored/launched/retrived. I have a cover for the tender that covers the top of the ePropulsion too.
Most difficult task was building the chocks to fit the tender. I decided on using pine wood. One of my winter projects will be to paint the chocks white. Since they are out of the elements for the most part under the tender they should look good for a long time.
All in all I feel I have accomplished my goal to reduce the weight of the tender when launching/retrieving. The electric OB reduces complexity. A 9.5 ft. tender would be ideal but I'll live with the 9 ft.

 

[mvweebles]

Most difficult task was building the chocks to fit the tender. I decided on using pine wood. One of my winter projects will be to paint the chocks white. Since they are out of the elements for the most part under the tender they should look good for a long time.

Did you build them from the CAD drawings off AB's website, or go with a different design?

Peter

 

[Mac2]

Pat T: Have you considered the removable Weaver davits? Hard to tell from your pic, but that is a lot of wasted space you could use when the dinghy is launched.

 

[Pat T]

Did you build them from the CAD drawings off AB's website, or go with a different design?

Peter

I wanted to keep the current chock spacing already on my Grand Banks so I had to build them to fit the attached stainless steel fixture. So believe it or not I made a kind of reverse mold out of the expandable foam you use for insulation. Then a sawzall to rough it out and a 3 inch belt sander for finishing touches. Not a scientific method but it worked out ok. Luckily , I'll only have to do this one time and I had the tender in my garage so all work was done there and not at the dock.

 

[kthoennes]

Update: The epropulsion is working great. Takacat-not so much. Just sold it. Ended up being to wet a ride. Fine with one person, or no waves, otherwise to much water comes aboard the bow. No big deal in the summer, but I could see issues in the winter, or when carrying supplies on the bottom of the boat.

Thanks very much for that follow up. I saw some reviews and comments elsewhere that they were wet, and it sure looked to me like they would be, but I was hoping to get an opinion from forum members here. Our relatively cheap 9'-6" inflatable can be pretty wet too in cold or choppy weather, but it's tolerable anyway.

 

[Pat T]

Pat T: Have you considered the removable Weaver davits? Hard to tell from your pic, but that is a lot of wasted space you could use when the dinghy is launched.

Hey thanks! I did not know such a product existed. It is something to consider as I would like to take bicycles along. I could put them where the tender is. Then again maybe someone will come up with a way to hang your bikes over the transom and above the swim platform.

 

[Mac2]

Hey thanks! I did not know such a product existed. It is something to consider as I would like to take bicycles along. I could put them where the tender is. Then again maybe someone will come up with a way to hang your bikes over the transom and above the swim platform.

Maybe a trailer hitch on the back?