I would give just about anything to be able to see the faces of all the DMV departments across the nation, as people start bringing in pictures of their float tubes to register them for a motor! 
I had my laugh today when I registered my tube. I took in a picture of Sharkey, from last week and the very straight and uptight female DMV clerk got a case of bugeyes. Then she got a big smile and called over another clerk who is also a fisherman. I was delayed in getting my registration not because there was a big line but because I “had some ‘splainin’ to do.”
Fortunately, this clerk knew which buttons to push on the computer and the process was fairly painless. I can only imagine what can happen if you get a trainee or somebody who is not knowledgeable at all about watercraft…or fishing.
She DID agree that “perhaps” it is a bit extreme to register a 5 foot inflatable…just because it has an electric motor on it.
I did it for years till I stepped up to the Pontoon.
They had my donut as having a 3 hp motor and an inboard outboard…[crazy]
I saw a similar set up on a tube last night at Utah Lake. Unfortunately they were already to shore when I saw them so I didn’t get to see how it worked out on the water. It was a all pvc setup for his poles and motor.
Unfortunately the youth fishing club kids like all the boats got blown off the lake due to high winds. Hope to have better conditions for the kids next week.
That was DrVeha…the guy who stole/bought my beta test model. Got a PM from him this morning saying that it worked great and without it both he and Wagdog would still be kicking against the wind. He used it to tow in his partner.
Will be putting mine in the water at Willard tomorrow morning. Got some new wrinkles to show ya. (No…not in my skin. I know I am old.)
It is fairly easy to identify Dr. Veha and Wagdog. Both are short. Dr. Veha is slim and brown. Wagdog is fat and red (from sunburn). We are always (thanks to TubeDude) accompanied by our pimped out float tubes. The motor setup on the Doc’s craft worked great. He motored around the harbor until the harbor master yelled at him for making a wake [;)]. Once the wind kicked up yesterday, I chickened out and headed for the ramp. Dr. Veha was nice enough to tow me back in. His motor didn’t struggle at all. Feel free to holler at us next time. We try to harass Utah Lake on a weekly basis.
I missed you coming into the harbor as I was talking to some people on the North dike. I was commenting that I was glad I left my tube at home yesterday. Would have loved to see how it did outside the harbor with the waves. Did you have any luck fishing? Only people I could find in the harbor that caught anything had caught it in the morning.
Think those things would get us out to the “hot spot”?
You’re onto me now! This is my true purpose for motorizing my tube. I have spent many an hour day dreaming about being out there in my float tube. Even contemplated using the boat as a Taxi to get out there.
We could make it in the motorized tubes, and I would want to try it out. I have gotten tired of going out there in the boat, only to not have the control I love fishing from the tube. We’d just have to have a day with almost a guarantee of No Wind. Just in case something goes wrong with the motor setup. Plus, there are a lot of other places that need motorized crafts to access them, but when you get to them, you still have the same problem: your in a boat!
PLUS you can now do a good, steady troll on a crank bait. Don’t know how often I would use it, but it would be cool to try out. I gotta get mine setup.
Yours is a much simpler design than I had concocted in my head. Mine involved attachments to D Rings that would never really have played out. I have an inflatable raft that is designed to hook up a trolling motor to using conduit, hence my desire to use the same material on the tube. The feet under the seat, I never would have come up with on my own. All of a sudden, it’s an easy design that is easy to take on and off the tube. Very nice! I just might try the same thing with conduit, hammered flat, then dipped in that stuff you dip your pliers in so it won’t slip, or wear on the tube. Nice job!
I think that if I was to try to hit the “spot” I would want to take my “tube taxi” so that I could use the 115 AH battery I have. That will run almost 4 hours on high speed. That would get me out there and back and I can anchor it while not using it.
With your H3 you should be able to run a larger battery too. Shouldn’t take more than a half hour each way in calm conditions.
Make sure and bring a long rope for your anchor[;)]. Lets plan on it. I have a big battery in my garage that I’ll use on rojo. I’ll have to figure out how long it will last me on full speed to make sure I’ll be good to go..
This one will take a fair amount of planning, should be a lot of fun to put it all together and set sail. Yet another trip we can prove our masochism!
1/2 hr is nothing. It takes me longer than that to kick out to knoll point w/ out the motor. Now I need to decide if I go do yard-work, or explain the urgency of starting to work on rojo.
If you have your trolling motor manual it will tell you how many amps it sucks on high speed.
The formula for amphours to weight ration is batteries are about 65% in pounds of what their amp hour rating is…a 65 pound battery will be about 100 amp hours. Some variation by battery type, age, previous use, etc.
My motor is rated at 30 amps per hour consumption at high speed. That would be a little over 3 hours on a 100 AH battery. If you trolled on the way, at lower speed, you would not use as much juice getting there and back.