[PSUBS-MAILIST] trolling motor props

[Alec Smyth <Asmyth@changepoint.com>]

> Trolling motor props have a very short pitch, so you could hang 10
> trolling motors on a streamlined PSUB and you still won't go faster than 4
> knots -- like putting a big truck engine on a go-kart but only with 1st
> gear. The boat I'm building is super-small, streamlined, and will have 148
> lbs of thrust. Applying basic speed formulas (per Busby) I get an expected
> speed of 6-7 knots.
> 
> I recently bought a small gasoline outboard prop of smaller diameter and
> greater pitch, adapted it to one of the trolling motors, then ran it
> bolted to a dock. The results were not good, because the difference in the
> hub diameters forced me to machine a rather klutzy adapter which tended to
> vibrate. I've seen bow thruster props in catalogs that look more
> promising.
> 
> Has anyone out there found a prop well matched to a 74 lb trolling motor?
> I have spoken to manufacturers of trolling motor props without any luck.
> 
> 
> thanks,
> 
> -Alec Smyth
> 
>