hi, r.c.<br>sorry for the long delay in
responding (if it's not already too late) but i just
recently came upon this club and saw your query.<br>one
reason there's little info to be found is that your
question poses too many variables. specifically, there's
no way to answer "how much speed would you get from
such-and-such a motor" even knowing you have a 16-foot canoe.
How much weight is in the canoe? what does it weigh?
<br>the other way to answer is that your canoe won't go
faster than about 4.5 to 5 knots no matter how big the
engine is, so to some extent the upper end doesn't
matter--the only question is, how much (minimum) power do i
need, and what kind of range will i get.<br>i could do
a bunch of calculations to give you an answer, but
it would be razzle-dazzle. the really short answer
is, any electric trolling motor of 35 lbs. or more
will do just fine. nobody can give you a range
estimate--the only way to tell will be to determine what load
the canoe will carry, then test it--by going until
the battery conks out. this is almost purely a
function of speed--if you run at top speed, the battery
will give you maybe 90 minutes to 2 hours or so--call
it 8 to 10 miles. but this is a foolish answer
because it would be foolish to run this (or any kind of)
motor at flank speed. you are much better off running
at a comfortable cruising speed (or else getting a
much stronger motor and running it at 3/4 speed). this
being so, your battery (if you are using only one)
might last 5-8 hours, who knows. (which battery would
you use? they are all as different as motors. it's
like asking when your car will run out of gas. well,
how big is your gas tank? 10 gallon? 20 gallon?).
once again, how much weight in the boat? what speed?
until you can supply all the parts to the equation,
nobody can tote up the answer. hence, "it all depends,"
frustrating as that might be.<br>the other way to do it would
be just to take it on faith. will an electric motor
do the job? hell, yes. what size? biggest you can
afford (on the theory that it's better to run a bigger
motor at 1/2 speed--and have some reserve) than to run
a small motor at 3/4 or 7/8 speed--and have very
little "extra" oomph going against wind or tide). <br>i
don't know how you're going to load the canoe, but all
else being equal, i'd prefer two batteries instead of
one, if loading allows it. get so-called "marine"
deepcycle batteries; never, ever use regular car starting
batteries for trolling motors.<br>if you are going anywhere
near salt or even brackish water, i'd seriously
consider one of the stainless steel/saltwater model
trolling motors. they are--naturally--more expensive, but
worth the extra in saltwater corrosion
resistance.<br>minn kota and motorguide are both good brand names and
are readily available at lots of places.<br>no matter
which brand or model you buy, make sure ity has an
"optimizer" pulse system in the controller--this is basically
a "chopper" that converts the d.c. current flow
into 20,000 to 30,000 pulses--and appreciably extends
the range and battery life--read the propaganda that
comes with the motor. minn kota's usually come with it;
some models and manufacturers sell the optimizer as an
extra; if so, get one.<br>you asked if there is a
smaller motor than a 30-pounder. there may well be, but i
think you're headed down the wrong road if you are
thinking minimum instead of maximum--and if you are trying
to save 10 bucks here and there, you're also heading
in the wrong direction. did you buy the least
expensive canoe? the least expensive, thinnest, k-mart
brand hiking boots? instead of a good quality tent, are
you packing a bedsheet? if you've already bought good
quality stuff, don't suddenly start scrimping on your
motor and batteries. buy up, not down.
