2020 - Volume #44, Issue #4, Page #02
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Kayak Powered By Outboard Motor
Slate says he is “too lazy to paddle” but the 18-year-old also felt a need for speed.
“It was a cheap kayak to start with that has a flat spot in the back so it was perfect to mount a motor,” he says.
He found an old outboard and attached the bottom gearbox and propeller to the bottom of his kayak.
“I cut a hole with a 4-in. hole saw and mounted it with four bolts, then sealed it with JB Weld and silicone,” he says.
The shaft goes through the area under the seat, and Slate ran garage door opener chain mounted on bicycle gears to the front of the kayak, adding a bike tensioner to smooth it out. He welded a drill bit onto a pedal crank that’s connected to the gear. When he wants to run the motor, he attaches a 20-volt Dewalt drill to it.
“I tried an impact driver but there’s not enough torque. Usually with a 9-amp battery I can go around a 10-acre lake,” Slate says, noting he usually takes five batteries when he wants to spend the day on the lake.
He made a rudder out of scrap aluminum and mounted it on a hinge so it can be folded out of the way during transport.
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Jonathan Slate, Richards Rd., New Hartford, Conn. 06057 (ph 860 709-1898).
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