Alaska Series tender with long-shaft outboard

P

pcg

Member
I’d like to hear from anyone who has experience using an Alaska Series tender style inflatable boat with a long shaft motor.

By tender style I mean the inflatables with continuous tubes all around that do not have a rigid transom. Alaska Series website calls these “tenders” and the boats with rigid transoms are called “sport boats”. I like the “tender” style because it’s substantially lighter and is more suitable for a life raft or just floating a river w/o a motor.

The website (http://www.alaskaseries.com/) says the 240 TDS and 270 TDS tenders are rated for 4hp and 5hp long-shaft motors, respectively. A Tohatsu 4hp is simply a de-tuned 6hp motor. So it seems to me I could use the 6hp long shaft Tohatsu (which I’m thinking of using as a kicker on my 22) on either of these boats?

I can’t imagine that mounting an outboard to an inflatable tube would be as secure as mounting it to a hard transom, although all the tender models come with “motor mounts”. Is this an awkward arrangement? How does the boat handle with this setup?

We (two people) plan on using the inflatable for grocery/garbage runs in marinas and for wildlife viewing excursions when anchored in remote locations.

Thank you.
 
HI Paul, You are looking at what was the most popular "tender" on the PNW C-Dorys for many years. They are stout, light and good on our not so sandy beaches in the area. I have had one for 13 years, and used it over the cockpit on a bracket I had built, aft, over the splash well. It served well as a sunshade, and rain cover and it was on my boat almost all the time for 1400 hours.

I did not use an outboard with it, so cannot directly answer your question, so I either rowed or paddled and often sculled it. It was reasonably light, easy to get on and off the C-Dory either on land or water, with minimal effort. It does not sin any races in rowing. I could imagine with the OB on the stern and the bow up a bit it would plane easily and be quite efficient.

With me and another person in the tender, it might draw 3-4 inches of water. That would put a longshaft OB prop down a long ways, keeping you from just stepping out onto a dry beach or even into ankle deep water. You may need waders instead. I would think a 6hp would be some what over kill, but you would certainly be able to make way against the tide or wind.

The motor mount on the dingy appeared to me to be on the light side, and it goes into rubber mounts that are glued onto the tubes. I didn't use the mount. (I did use the D rings for tying the tender up on top of my C-Dory and they pulled off, needing to be re-glued. That would/could be an awful thing to happen to someone scooting along with a 6hp OB wound up and pushing a couple folk along enjoying the scenery. Kind of a nasty surprise.

I think the Alaska Series is a great boat, but I would be cautious about how much power I put onto that transom mount.

Harvey
SleepyC :moon

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Well here are a couple of comments.

First, are you sure you need a long shaft motor? I had one on Journey On at the factory's guidance. When I put the Garelick motor mount down to use the outboard, it was too deep. We now have a standard length outboard and it works perfectly.

Mounting the long shaft outboard on the inflatable required me to build the outboard mount up to account for the difference in length. Before I raised the mounting, if the inflatable was over a couple of knots, water came up between the stern and the motor and all over the back. It may be easier for you to raise the mounting with a tender, as opposed to a sport boat, since the mount isn't part of the stern.

I think your idea of assuming that the motor size is determined by weight is a good one. If the 6 starts to overpower the tender, just turn your wrist the other way.

Boris
 
We had the 240 TDS on our boat for 12 years. It was a tough, stable dinghy. You can see it in my pics. It fit perfectly on the roof of our CD22.

We did use the motor bracket with a Suzuki 2.5hp. You're correct, it wasnt very stable, sometimes bending under due to the rubber inflatable tube not being solid like a transom. It worked but was barely adequate. Probably better to row. I don't think the Suzi shaft is long but I think the specs called for a long shaft.

Hope this helps.
 
We also use the 240 TDS with the 2.5 Suzi. We have the 6hp Tohatsu long shaft mounted on the stern of our 22 without a kicker bracket. I have pondered being able to do double duty with one motor for the kicker and dingy. Unfortunately, the 2.5 Suzi is not adequate as a kicker and the 6 hp Tohatsu with long shaft would not work well on the dingy for reasons others stated. I think the Tohatsu would also be too heavy to wrestle onto the dingy without some mechanical advantage. I’m all ears to hear how others address this. Thanks for starting or continuing the discussion. Ken
 
Hi Ken- my name is Dan, and am new to the blog! Just bought a 240tds as well and saw your post. Are you still using the Suzuki 2.5? Like most, I am stuck but need to buy a kicker as we live in Haida Gwaii, BC and go to shore often. Sounds like the Suzuki is a better fit than most but Jim King mentioned the air cooled Honda. I’m also new to boating- the 22’ cruiser I just bought is my first boat! Anyways, let me know what you think (assuming this line of discussion is still going.....ha!
 
Hey Dan. Yes we are still using the Suzi 2.5. It is a very good fit for the dingy. It is easy to manually put on and off the dingy from our cdory Due to its light weight. It is always easy to start and very quiet running. I highly recommend it. If you could work it out for us to cross the border ai would be happy to demonstrate it. 🙂
 
I have owned "oval" tenders like the Alaska and 2 to 3 hp works well on them. I have owned both the air cooled Honda and the Suzuki 2.5 4 stroke (and a bunch of other small outboards). I think the Suzuki is a better motor than the Honda--personal opinion. I particularly did not like the "automatic clutch" of the Honda. You could not idle it down and go very slowly (and in a quieter mode).
 
What Bob said. Also, the Suzi 2.5 will be considerably quieter than the Air cooled Honda. FYI.

Harvey
SleepyC :moon

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The problem I have with any of the oval flat bottom dinghy is they are bitch to row or even motor in a straight line. regardless of brand I prefer the air floors with a air keel. tracks far better and far easier to row< which you will have to do at some point whether you like it or not> a little heavier but I lift mine by hand to the top of the 27 . not to hard if you have a technique
 
I bought an Alaska Series 240 to use on my 22 Cruiser, and continue to use it now that I have a Tomcat 255. For part of the time I had the 22, I used a 4-horse long shaft (20") Tohatsu as a kicker because I already had it. (Eventually, I upgraded to a Mercury 9.9 Command Thrust.)

I used that kicker on the dinghy a few times. It works. Long shaft is correct because the transom mount sits rather high, above the rear tube. The motor isn't super light, so it's not real easy to get it off the C-Dory and onto the squirrelly dinghy. I didn't do it often enough to develop a system, nor would I want to do it a lot.

The 2.3 Honda would be easier to put on and off, and would be plenty of power for the dinghy, but would not serve as a viable kicker for the C-Dory. The dinghy works great for us for getting people and the dog to and from shore, which is what we use it for, and oars are the easy and effective way to move it for that type of use.

I have been happy with the durability of the boat, and don't have worries about the transom mount, as long as you don't try to push the boat faster than it's really intended to go (not fast). We got the "grizzly claw" material on the bottom and have been sliding it over rocks and barnacles for years.

Be cautious if you use the kicker with only one person on board. Given the uplift in the stern, when you put all the weight in the back most of the forward part of the boat lifts out of the water. I had a young son one time run it that way for fun and I worried from afar that he was going to flip it over backwards.

I bought the boat directly from Jim King and he wisely recommended that instead of matching the dinghy color to the boat, I should get a color that shows up easily on the water so that when the kids are out on their own my wife and I can easily find them at a glance. We have been very happy with an orange dinghy on a blue boat..
 
Thanks for the feedback Ken! Appreciate it. Beard on the comments here- I’m going to row when I can, but am buying the Suzuki later this week! It doesn’t sound like there is a “perfect fit” out there for an inflatable like the Alaska Series 240, but Seeing as a local shop services and sells Suzuki over here in Haida Gwaii, it just seems like the best choice...
 
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