solar crawdad

kevinmarshall · Mar 10, 2011

hey guys,i bought a coleman crawdad with a trailer. well due to some titling issues, the trailer will most likely be welding scrap. so i need to be as lightweight as possible with this boat as i will be loading on top of the explorer and carrying it it to the fishing holes. so the six horse chrysler i have is out the window, just put it on craigslist. so now the only option of propultion i have is my minn kota endura 30 lb trolling motor. anyways to the point. i am planning on modifying my coleman crawdad to be a self-sustaining, electricity producing boat(during the daytime anyway). i plan on integrating and hiding a small 10w solar panel in the design. i know 10 watts inst a lot, but i plan on spending most of my time fishing and not trolling(if the fish are biting), while letting the solar panel soak up the rays. also,i will be adding a floor. so anyways,i got me some carpet, plywood and solar panel, with 12v charge controller on the way, i plan to start tomorrow, i hope to have some pictures posted by the weekend.

i will attach some pictures of the boat and the solar panel i just ordered. hope this sparks some constructive criticism, as this is the first boat i will be modifying, and i am kinda nervous :? .

Jim · Mar 10, 2011

I have a crawdad. To be 100% honest with you.....try to find a cheap trailer. You will get tired very quickly of car topping that thing especially with a floor. Once, twicem maybe three times ok, but I can almost guarantee the hassle of "going fishing" with it......you will bank fish more often.

I hate my crawdad just because I have to have someone with me to throw it in the back of the pickup............

redbug · Mar 10, 2011

Jim said:
I have a crawdad. To be 100% honest with you.....try to find a cheap trailer. You will get tired very quickly of car topping that thing especially with a floor. Once, twicem maybe three times ok, but I can almost guarantee the hassle of "going fishing" with it......you will bank fish more often.

I hate my crawdad just because I have to have someone with me to throw it in the back of the pickup............

I agree with Jim, I also had a crawdad that I tried to car top and boy it was a real pain in the tail. Once yo add a floor you can forget about getting that thing up on the roof. they are a good boat for small ponds and will be fun to fish out of. the 30lb thrust motor we get you around the pond.
the solar charger will work to top the battery off but unfortunately it will not keep up with the battery drain from the motor. be sure to have a electric charger at home to charge the battery to full when you get home, leaving a battery uncharged is the fastest way to shorten the life of the battery.

What lakes do you fish in that area? I have a cabin near Marion Ill. that I go out to every june..

clarkbre · Mar 10, 2011

I'd keep the 6hp and forget about the solar charger. Realistically, it's not going to charge your battery enough to keep you going for the day. Doing a quick search online, those solar panels are in the mid $100's. For the money, you'd be better off saving another $100 and going to harbor freight and buying one of their 4'x8' utility trailers. No car topping, no selling the 6hp, and NO HASSLE.

The idea is good; however, I agree with the above posts. Car topping will get old fast and selling off your 6hp will leave you with a very limited range.

fender66 · Mar 10, 2011

Cool project.....

Agree with the trailer thoughts. About the only thing I would rooftop is a canoe....and I've done it for years.

Keep us posted as to how the solar panel works. I agree with redbug, but I still want a first hand report please.

poolie · Mar 10, 2011

I have to agree without everyone else. I don't think the solar panel will keep up a charge. I have a 30lb Prowler TM and marine battery from Walmart and it will push me around all day. I just have to remove both when putting the boat in the back of the truck.

Look at Harbor Freight for a cheap trailer. I know a couple people who have them and they're really not too bad. With a floor in my crawdad it's a handful just to get it in the back of the truck. I can't imagine picking it up and putting it on top of anything.

Otherwise it's a fun little boat.

richg99 · Mar 10, 2011

If you MUST cartop ( I agree with all of the advice that says you won't do it very long)...then find a lifting device that will help .....a lot. Youtube had a number of them. Most show their use on kayaks.

One that I had years ago attached a vertical steel pole onto my hitch. It had a swiveling top. You lifted the boat up (pointed backward and upside down)...fastened the transom to the swivel; walked the boat around until it was next to the car/van...and then pushed the front of the boat onto your roof rack.

I did it on a 80 lb Wildflower for a while. Even in my youth, this process got old very quickly, especially after a hot day on the water.

Rich

richg99 · Mar 10, 2011

Here are a couple of Youtube LINKS for cartop loaders The second one looks like it would cost more than any boat, though. Perhaps you can adapt some of the ideas. Rich

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6jpXKqXiRTA&feature=related

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XGqt04oAPak&feature=related

kevinmarshall · Mar 10, 2011

wow guys thanks for all of the great advice. i will still press forward with integrating the solar panel, as it will prove useful for extended trips to some lakes i fish, when a battery charger isn't available.

as for the lakes i fish. Right now think the only one that will be any good is coffeen lake. not sure if i spelled it right. its a lake next to a power plant, so the water is warmer all year.

as for a trailer, looked at the harbor freight site and came up with this. https://www.harborfreight.com/600-lb-capacity-boat-trailer-with-8-inch-wheels-and-tires-5002.html

thanks again guys, i knew the solar panel wouldn't keep up with constant use. i just liked the idea of it, and found myself a project while i am currently unemployed.

justnortherns · Mar 10, 2011

kevinmarshall said:
hey guys,i bought a coleman crawdad with a trailer. well due to some titling issues, the trailer will most likely be welding scrap. so i need to be as lightweight as possible with this boat as i will be loading on top of the explorer and carrying it it to the fishing holes. so the six horse chrysler i have is out the window, just put it on craigslist. so now the only option of propultion i have is my minn kota endura 30 lb trolling motor. anyways to the point. i am planning on modifying my coleman crawdad to be a self-sustaining, electricity producing boat(during the daytime anyway). i plan on integrating and hiding a small 10w solar panel in the design. i know 10 watts inst a lot, but i plan on spending most of my time fishing and not trolling(if the fish are biting), while letting the solar panel soak up the rays. also,i will be adding a floor. so anyways,i got me some carpet, plywood and solar panel, with 12v charge controller on the way, i plan to start tomorrow, i hope to have some pictures posted by the weekend.

Interesting idea of solar charging, I'll try to take a stab at some back-of-the-envelope numbers for perspective.

Assuming you have a typical 12v deep cycle battery, which holds say 125 amp hours of charge, a typical minn kota 30 trolling motor will draw around 7 amps at the lowest speed and around 30 amps at the highest speed. So, quick estimate, it will take around an hour of solar charging with that particular solar panel to replace 5 minutes of use of the 12v battery at the lowest speed, and around 2.5 hours of solar charging to replace 5 minutes of use at the highest speed, assuming a very optimal nice and bright sunny day.

A fully discharged battery would take something like 4 full days of bright and sunny weather to charge, and you'd have to have the electronics there to also prevent the battery from discharging while it wasn't sunny.

However, as hard as this sounds, you could probably set up a bunch of the cheap solar panels - at home - in series and in parallel and accomplish the idea of self-sustaining electricity. I'd aim for them as a big bank of (cheap) panels at home and keep them away from the water. The battery will have enough capacity to get you through the day without worrying about very difficult logistics of keeping a trickle solar charger functioning while fishing.

If you try this, it would be great to keep us posted on how much electricity you can generate. Don't get too discouraged, you'll can still learn something on how it will all work..................!

However, I still agree with the prevailing opinions here..........get a trailer........

kevinmarshall · Mar 10, 2011

Interesting idea of solar charging, I'll try to take a stab at some back-of-the-envelope numbers for perspective.

Assuming you have a typical 12v deep cycle battery, which holds say 125 amp hours of charge, a typical minn kota 30 trolling motor will draw around 7 amps at the lowest speed and around 30 amps at the highest speed. So, quick estimate, it will take around an hour of solar charging with that particular solar panel to replace 5 minutes of use of the 12v battery at the lowest speed, and around 2.5 hours of solar charging to replace 5 minutes of use at the highest speed, assuming a very optimal nice and bright sunny day.

A fully discharged battery would take something like 4 full days of bright and sunny weather to charge, and you'd have to have the electronics there to also prevent the battery from discharging while it wasn't sunny.

However, as hard as this sounds, you could probably set up a bunch of the cheap solar panels - at home - in series and in parallel and accomplish the idea of self-sustaining electricity. I'd aim for them as a big bank of (cheap) panels at home and keep them away from the water. The battery will have enough capacity to get you through the day without worrying about very difficult logistics of keeping a trickle solar charger functioning while fishing.

If you try this, it would be great to keep us posted on how much electricity you can generate. Don't get too discouraged, you'll can still learn something on how it will all work..................!

However, I still agree with the prevailing opinions here..........get a trailer........

wow excellent insight, i was wondering what those numbers would have been.

justnortherns · Mar 10, 2011

kevinmarshall said:
wow excellent insight, i was wondering what those numbers would have been.

Well, the numbers are estimated, at least you can get a general idea of charging time.

Also, I messed up on the time to charge a fully depleted battery......it would be closer to an average of 8 sunny days and not 4.......I (wrongly) assumed 24 hours of sun in a day..................

justnortherns · Mar 10, 2011

By the way, I wanted to add a couple of important points:

1. Follow redbug's advice and get an electric charger as the primary charger. A solar charger should be considered experimental and should not be considered operational, at least until you have some real experience working with it.

2. Electric chargers have some safety features, like built-in detection of reverse polarity, to keep the user from doing things that might lead to a dangerous situation (leading to a battery explosion, etc). The solar charger may have safety features, or (more likely) it may not. I'd recommend STRICTLY following safety procedures when handling 12v lead acid batteries, especially when connected to the solar charger.

kevinmarshall · Mar 10, 2011

Thanks for the heads up. I an aware of the potential dangers involved. I was a diesel mechanic for six years

justnortherns · Mar 10, 2011

kevinmarshall said:
Thanks for the heads up. I an aware of the potential dangers involved. I was a diesel mechanic for six years

Yeah, I just thought I'd mention it in case someone reads this thread and gets a similar idea to build their own charger.........I'd hate to encourage it and then neglect to mention the possible hazards.

MattR · Mar 10, 2011

Just a note for you regarding the solar panel. When disconnecting the battery wires from the panel, make sure you UNPLUG it by the solar panel first. At least mine had that option, hopefully yours does too. I forgot one day and the wires touched and the sun was shining nice and bright. Ended up replacing the charge controller because of the wires touching. I also did not have any fuse installed in my system either, which may have stopped the controller from frying on me. Just one mistake I made and hope by sharing you can avoid making the same.

Matt

Outdoorsman · Mar 10, 2011

If you do not have a titile for the trailer perhaps someome in S.E. Wisconsin who has a 10ft. Fiberglass Bass Tender (Similar to your boat) might be interested in it for the right price... We do not need titles for trailers in WI...

See my signiture (below) for reference to the above...

Outdoorsman

kevinmarshall · Mar 10, 2011

If you do not have a titile for the trailer pe someome in S.E. Wisconsin who has a 10 Fiberglass Bass Tender (Similar to your b be interested in it for the right price... We need titles for trailers in WI... See my signiture (below) for reference to above... Outdoorsman

the price would be free as it needs lights , fender, and paint. but i dont know if this trailer would be worth the gas money.

redbug · Mar 10, 2011

what price are you paying for the solar pannel? you might just want to purchase a second battery with the money.
This idea of a solar charger keeping you on the water longer has been tried many times with out success..

kevinmarshall · Mar 10, 2011

it was 49 bucks on amazon

solar crawdad

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