DIY Scooter Idea?

[Sh@rkW@tcher]

Twin is 30.5# + 25# for the battery for a <56# total.

My big twin with 84# of thrust is 55# with another 50# for the batteries for roughly 105#. I'm rebuilding it now so it will be a bit heavier when it's done. Maybe another 5# is all.

If I remember right the single was only about 5# lighter or around 50#. The motors don't weigh that much it's the rest and the batteries that do.

Commercial units run in the same basic ranges.

Gary D.

105#? Did ya have to trailer it or enlist help dragging it to the beach? How did ya launch it from a boat? With a davit perhaps?

 

[Gary D.]

105#? Did ya have to trailer it or enlist help dragging it to the beach? How did ya launch it from a boat? With a davit perhaps?

Quite A few of the larger more powerful units are in the hundred pound range so mine isn&#8217;t that heavy. At full power it has around a 50 minute run time but there is no way to hold on for that long opened up.

If you&#8217;re going in from the shore 2 can get it to the water easy enough. Off a boat just toss it in. When it comes time to recover it just grab the nose and pull it up and over the side. A hundred pounds is not that heavy.

The one that I call the F-14 has a closed ballast tank in the stern and a controllable ballast tank in the front. With the tanks closed off the kids can pull themselves around on the surface. With the front one fully flooded it is just a few ounces positive at the surface in fresh water. Give it a shove down and it takes its time coming back up.

These projects are a lot of fun if you keep them simple. Get them too complicated and you could have nightmares trying to get them to work right.

Here is a link that will show the weight of one brand: Exploration, sea scooters. Fort Lauderdale, FL.

Gary D.

 

[Thadmn]

I remember seeing the plans for this in Popular Science in the 1970's. Improved plans came out in a later issue having a light on the front.

 

[icepilot]

Gary, you still around? - if so, do you have an opinion on using "freshwater" vs "Saltwater" trolling motors for a scooter?