Love my new Torqueedo electric engine for my inflatable.

M

merlin

Member
Jun 17, 2010
86
san francisco,ca/Marina del Ray, Ca
Boat Info
"Volare", a 2003 Sundancer 410, with original Raymarine electronics.
Engines
2, 350 hp, Cat 3126's
I've just bought it and used it twice this week. It's quiet, it doesn't smell of gas or exhaust. It's a delight pushing my 11 foot westmarine inflatable at about 3-3.5 miles an hour. I have a range of about 3-7 miles at this speed, which is more than enough for me.
 
merlin I considered the torqueedo before getting a suzuki 4 stroke 2.5. The main reason I decided against it was for the noise. Maybe the you tube video I saw was embellished, but it made a high pitched and loud sound when running 3/4 throttle. Do you find that not to be so?
 
Hey merlin :0) We are liking ours so far as well. Posted the following on 'why not an electric trolling motor'. "We got a Torqeedo Travel new this year. More expensive, and slower, than a standard gas outboard. But, no extra gas to store on board, or worry about keeping fresh. No maintenance other than wash down, charge, and keep clean. Breaks down easily to three manageable pieces. Submergible to 4ft. Quiet enough. The first mate can use it on her own! At top speed it just misses being able to plane our 9.5ft RIB, and you have about an hour run time. Took me 2-Days playing around in our marina to get it down to 20% charge. That included several faster and slower test runs, and a trip out to the #4 Channel Marker and back. I am not sure of the combined time, but it was about 3-Hours. We used it to ferry to and from our friends boats (and the shore) while on the moorings at Angel Island March 22-23. Mostly just putting around slowly. Charged for about 3-hours while our generator was on Saturday evening, and got home with about 75% charge. Down side is that it takes about 16 hours to fully charge (from 20% charge) using the 110Volt adapter/charger. Thinking of longer trips, an extra battery, or solar charger, is probably in our future. For this year we will harbor hop to Half Moon Bay, and Monterey, and spend a couple of weekends at Angel Island. We will be more than fine with what came in the box. We will see how the battery holds up as it gets some age, but right now I am a Torqeedo fan."
 
SWF340 : I think the sound at 3/4 throttle could be compared to a car's starter motor free-wheeling. Since the motor part is under-water (in the bulb at the propeller), the noise is pretty minimal. Mostly we use our dingy to ferry to and from the boat when at anchor or on a mooring. The Lions share of this is pretty slow through the anchorage. At low speeds the Torqueedo is almost silent, and sips battery power. For us it is an elegant solution. Down sides are re-charge time, limited range, and speed.
 
Thanks '380. Perhaps I should have researched the motor more. Our primary use is the same as yours it seems. I'm happy with the Suzuki, it pushes our WM dinghy very well and is pretty quiet at anchorage and mooring rpm's. I really haven't had the opportunity to use it many times, but at 34 pounds wet and fully fueled, it's easy to use and store. Staying away from carrying gas was an objective and a real plus with the Torqueedo...but I caved.

Thanks again, '380.
 
JimFromMD said:
Has anyone tried the small outboards that run off one of the green "grill" propane tanks?
Click to expand...

I looked into the Leher propane engines when we bought our outboard this past Dec. Kind of thought they were over priced, and we got a killer deal on the Suzuki 4hp 4 stroke so we went with it instead. the equivelant propane motor was well over a thousand dollors.
 
Felt the same about the propane. I like the idea too, but the price not so much. I also felt it would be easier to carry a small plastic gas can I can fill at the dock versus the propane canisters.

I must have watched an anti Torqueedo video because the one I saw was really loud and high pitched...like a jet boat. However it was at full throttle and the number of times I would use it like that are few.
 
1990-270-da-lover said:
I looked into the Leher propane engines when we bought our outboard this past Dec. Kind of thought they were over priced, and we got a killer deal on the Suzuki 4hp 4 stroke so we went with it instead. the equivelant propane motor was well over a thousand dollors.
Click to expand...

I would buy a Lehr engine - if 1. we had the US size small cannisters here - 2. we had small 12 lbs propane refill tanks. But nope - not available here. Minimum propane refill tank size is 50 lbs... That plus me is to much for a dinghy... But the Lehrs are nice - and no carb - so never a carb rebuild...
 
I have a Torqeedo for my dinghy and love it. I was looking for a dinghy/motor combination that fits on a small boat (240DA). The torqeedo is stored in the engine compartment and fits together/attaches to my inflatable dinghy very easily. I typically ferry 2 people with some gear and it works fine for that. Not looking to run on plane or break any speed records. It's been reliable so far.
 
Which version torqueedo does everyone have and how did you decide?
 
The 1003 appears to be the top of the line option but there are mixed reviews all over the internet. Sounds like it may need another iteration before it is truly ready for prime time, but I am intrigued. Any updates from owners will be appreciated.
 
So being a person with known fault of having zero patience, and wanting to replace my current outboard, I purchased a torqeedo. Ran it around the harbor today for about 45 minutes. First run seemed to work well. I'm headed over to Catalina for the weekend in 2 weeks. I'll update after the trip on how it works.
 
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