Copperhead 12 horsepower (18 ft. lbs torque) surface drive motor

[mainer_in_ak]

I wanted to share a link of a recently viewed video of the new Copperhead. That phowler boat company makes a heavy duty duck boat that weighs about 370 lbs. With 3 obviously big and well-fed country boys, that motor is pushing a thousand lbs at 17 mph. A phowler boat dealer guy said that in his tests, the motor is comparable to speeds achieved by a traditional 15 horse outboard motor. This LCT motor is American designed, and is an American based company. They're made in China but aren't some Honda clone like some folks have rumored. Husqvarna is using this same motor in their biggest Snow Throwers. It's passed the 1000 hours test so should hold up well. This Copperhead motor weighs 120 lbs. but has a low center of gravity. It would be ideal on a 19 ft. Grumman, 17 ft. Osagian, 17.5 ft. Old Town Discovery Sport 17 ft. Esquif Cargo, or an 18 ft. Albany.

 

[Alaskacanoe]

I watched a few more of the videos with this motor on Youtube and funny that the motor will push a little jon boat faster than the canoe.
He had the motor on three different rigs and the canoe was the slowest.
but all within 3 mph of each other
15/17/18 mph

 

[mainer_in_ak]

Yes, those other videos were of their original 6.5 horse motor. It would certainly push the john boat faster because it's a planning hull that gets up on top of the water. The canoe is a displacement hull and the stern ends up digging too deep into the water when you attempt to get speed out of a canoe. BUT.......that jonn boat has far less capacity than the canoe shown. Some canoes don't dig in at all, like the James Bay with the wide stern that actually planes out. If he had that motor on a 15 ft. Grumman Sport boat (wide stern), it probably would have been just as fast as the small john boat.

Here's a picture of the actual duck boat that motor was pushing.....that's a lot of weight.

 

[FamilyMan]

It would be ideal on a ...18 ft. Albany.

That's what you need to convince my wife of. Please?

 

[KCB]

I admittedly don't have the canoe experience that ya'll have but I feel obligated to say this before someone forks out the $$$ for one of these motors to use on a narrow canoe. I put a 6.5 Scavenger motor on a 16" Pelican that was about 42" or 43" wide (can't remember). The Scavenger had a 72" tail. It was supposed to weigh about 70# but with fuel and oil it weighed over 90#. It was one of the most difficult motors to operate because you had to almost lay down in the canoe to keep it from tipping over. The motor and most of it's weight is above the transom and makes the canoe very tippy. If you have calm water things are OK. I was squeezing peach seeds every time I had to start or stop or mount or dismount the canoe. If the 12hp weighs 120# then I think it would be way too top heavy and tippy and way too cumbersome to operate on a fast snakey stream. I think it would be perfect for Familymans rig but not for anything less than 50" wide. Just my 2 cents.

 

[FamilyMan]

The motor and most of it's weight is above the transom and makes the canoe very tippy.

I don't think my Albany would have that problem. I over-motored it already with a 14HP 4 stroke, and sometimes I sit my 200pound butt on top of that (to lower the prop) and it still wasn't tippy at all.

 

[mainer_in_ak]

That's what you need to convince my wife of. Please?

Not a problem. I might have a plan, buy it without consulting her, and then avoid the subject and play dumb. It's just a theory, it might not work.