"assisted" Kayak Propulsion

[VH_man]

I bought a Kayak a few years back, and i got SUPER bored with just paddling it. i built sails, and even super long paddles to try to go faster. neither were satsifactory. then came the day i layed eyes on trolling motors.........

HOWEVER i have come to realize sticking a trolling motor in a kayak would be a pain, and the motor would have to be modified, and messing up a 100 dollar trolling motor would not make my day at all. so, i was wondering, could i use a high-flow submersible bilge pump? Im wondering if a flow rate of 2000 GPM would give me a good enough amount of thrust to actually get moving. otherwise, ill just try my luck at modifying a trolling motor......

[iPaintball]

The bilge pump idea seems pretty good, but it'll be a major power hog...
One easy way to modify a trolling motor would be to wrap the prop in some pvc pipe with a reducer on the end to create a poor man's jet pump and use two car batteries instead of just one. Buy the motor off of eBay, get the batteries from a scrap yard, and I'm hoping you know where to get the pvc...

[VH_man]

Lol. thats a good idea. EBAY! ill defiently try that. You just gave me a great idea.............. and it wont cost too much too! im thinking ill mount the motor inside PVC like you said, slap the batteries in the front and back of the kayak (even weight) and just use my homade foot-pedal rudder for steering..... ill make some kind of speed control later, like a throttle

EDIT: I found this....... Should work. Plus, its in Crappy condition so i wont be sad if it breaks into a million peices
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/MINN-KOT ... 5429QQrdZ1

[Scope]

GO GO GO only 6 mins!!!

wait ill just out bid you and then sell it back to you at a higher price
SUPPLY AND DEMAND
haha just playing

what does VH stand for anyway

[iPaintball]

Sweet. I jus recently did the same thing for an old paddle boat I found in the woods... Suprisingly, it was actually in pretty good condition, except for the fact that there was no rudder. I housed the prop of a cheapo trolling motor in a 6" section of 6" diameter pvc, and I put a 6" to 4" reducer on the end, and a 4" to 2" reducer on top of that. It increased the thrust REALLY well, and It still runs as well as ever!

[VH_man]

VH stands for Van Halen, the best band EVER.

Yeah, im definetly doing the housed trolling motor thing........ i wanna see the look on my parents faces when i slip the paddle away and swish off into the distance doing NO work............... while they paddle as hard as possible to keep up. i think ill look around for trolling motors, i know my physics teacher is BIg into boating and is kindof a "new gadget" lover and always gets the best on the market, never selling anything. i bet i could get one off him pretty cheap. he will like me doing something other than shooting things..........

[iPaintball]

HAHAHA! When I picture that in my head, it gets funnier and funnier...
good luck

[Orpackrat]

It might be better to use some deep cycle batteries instead of car batteries.

[hi]

i dont know anything about pumps, but they make special kite/ parachute sortathings for kayaks. its faster than paddling (if there is wind) and it just ties onto the front of the kayak.

[Orpackrat]

i dont know anything about pumps, but they make special kite/ parachute sortathings for kayaks. its faster than paddling (if there is wind) and it just ties onto the front of the kayak.

Like kite surfing.

You could put on of these on it, they are very inexpensive compared to bought in a store.

http://cgi.ebay.com/3-0-M-Power-Foil-St ... dZViewItem

[Modderxtrordanare]

Put a jet engine on it.

That'd be pretty funny to see, a jet propelled kayak.

[hi]

Put a jet engine on it.

That'd be pretty funny to see, a jet propelled kayak.

yes, a JPK.

[VH_man]

haha. im working on a pulsejet...... i might try that........... THAT would be cool. also, a pulsejet would be cheaper than any trolling motor/battery setup...............

[From_Hamsterdam]

What will happen if you tip over and the motor get submerged when it is on?

[Orpackrat]

What will happen if you tip over and the motor get submerged when it is on?

A pulse jet should be fine if dumped in water except for the instant cooling. Valve-less engines are basically a length of pipe that varies in diameter and sometimes bends (depending on the type of engine) with 2 open areas on for exhaust and the other for fuel-air mixture. If filled with water (in theory) you could tip the motor, drain the water, and restart the engine.

Here is an article about a small boat with pulsejet.

http://aardvark.co.nz/pjet/pjetboat.shtml