NuCanoe Unlimited

[NKlamerus]

No more dealing with Cabela's and ascend nuance's, I finally upgraded to something I can relax a little in - NuCanoe Unlimited. After hours of research, I decided to skip pedal drive altogether and jump straight to powered.

Being able to stand in a kayak and fish, there's no way I wanted to switch back to sitting only, and I couldn't find a great pedal drive with an open deck, that I could install a motor on, and just run a plug in the pedal drive spot if/when i wasn't using it. (Paddleboard hybrids were another option, but I still wanted gunnels)

I've seen nucanoes as an option for years, I love the open concept design and this year's model is nicely updated, the company is very active on their social media,they offer 3 years warranty on the hull and free lifetime replacement parts. Definitely took input from their users and fixed a lot of the little issues from previous models. And made in the USA!

Went with a motorguide Xi3 with gps, 55# thrust and a 36" shaft marketed for kayaks specifically. It's no MinnKota, but for the price, and still has pinpoint (spot lock) and gps tracking, its hard to beat.

Boat is 12'6" and 41" wide, I can walk around in it without stabilizers. (6'3 and 290lbs) seat swivels 360, and there's just over 22' of aluminum track in it.

Lots of rigging to do, still need get a lithium battery, and I'll need to register it.

So far I'm very happy with it, and glad I didn't go with a jon boat. Paddles way better than the ascend 128x I had previously.

 

[NKlamerus]

Wiring ran.

Definitely recommend the marineco 70a plug, way better construction than any of the attwood plugs or twist lock style plugs I've used in the past.

 

[rogerdodger]

Go with a good LiFePO4 battery and charger, you will not regret it.

 

[NKlamerus]

Definitely! Lead/ship times are pretty high at the moment, but I'm still deciding on size as well.

 

[fromthelogo]

Congrats on your new yak. That looks awesome. Does the trolling motor auto deploy?

 

[NKlamerus]

It does not, but there are kits available to do it with 2 tethers/pulls

One for the foot switch, the other that actually pulls the head up.

Fortunately the kayak is stable enough I can walk to the front and get it as well

 

[rogerdodger]

I went with the AmpereTime 200Ahr after watching a bunch of YouTube reviews, to run the Riptide i-Pilot on the bow of our PB. it also runs a portable freezer on week long road trips. so far, amazing. the only caution with this brand is to never recharge if the battery is below freezing, that's not an issue here on the coast. lol

 

[NKlamerus]

That's a biggin! I was contemplating a 100aH being too big.

Was going to try for ~80

 

[bass]

Sweet! Having spot lock will be incredible. I see a guy with an old town with spot lock on the Columbia some times and it is amazing to watch him just staying perfectly still in the current.

 

[rogerdodger]

That's a biggin! I was contemplating a 100aH being too big.

Was going to try for ~80

I think you are about right at 80Ahr. The 200Ahr is only 45 pounds and unlike any lead based battery (that get 'hurt' going past 50% discharge), LiFePO4 are good with almost 100% discharge...over and over again. This 200Ahr has enough juice to keep my chest freezer and house fridge running for 4 days easy in event of power outage here on the coast.

 

[NKlamerus]

Whelp. I bought an 100 aH Amped Outdoors battery.

Some guys were running all day with a 60, but they are probably smaller than me, and I'm usually covering water pretty fast.

The 60 was 13lbs
80 was 23lbs
100 was 24lbs

Same outside dimensions as the group 27 battery i have now, almost exactly half the weight.

For the extra 150$ and 1lb, why not never worry about it.

 

[NKlamerus]

I think you are about right at 80Ahr. The 200Ahr is only 45 pounds and unlike any lead based battery (that get 'hurt' going past 50% discharge), LiFePO4 are good with almost 100% discharge...over and over again. This 200Ahr has enough juice to keep my chest freezer and house fridge running for 4 days easy in event of power outage here on the coast.

What AC converter are you running?

 

[rogerdodger]

It's a 1500watt (continuous) full sign wave, can't remember the brand...

 

[bass]

Whelp. I bought an 100 aH Amped Outdoors battery.

Some guys were running all day with a 60, but they are probably smaller than me, and I'm usually covering water pretty fast.

The 60 was 13lbs
80 was 23lbs
100 was 24lbs

Same outside dimensions as the group 27 battery i have now, almost exactly half the weight.

For the extra 150$ and 1lb, why not never worry about it.

I have an Amped Outdoors LiOn battery for my FF (30AH) and I have been very happy with it.

I have not taken out my Coleman Crawdad or Frontier in a long time (with the trolling motor) because I need a new battery but never got around to getting one - plus I like just taking the Hobie. I will have to think about purchasing a LiOn battery to use with my trolling motor. The nice thing is that I have the Amped Outdoors charger already. I have to say that I am tempted to pick up a cheaper brand from Amazon. They look to be about 1/2 the cost of the Amped Outdoors and it would not see a ton of use. Reviews look pretty good on most.

Did you consider any of the Amazon models?

 

[NKlamerus]

LiOn or LiFePO4?

I did quite a bit of shopping around and at least 12 hours of dedicated research across forums, Facebook, Instagram (for brands), and product sites

The Amazon batteries seem to be loved by some, but most of the Chinese brands change their name every few years, which means the warranty policy disappears. I've also seen a lithium fire in person, definitely could be deadly on a kayak, it would fall right through the bottom of the hull if you didn't notice it was melting everything.

Amped was a good middle ground between some of the higher end batteries, like BattleBorn or Ionic, and some of the "ebay" batteries, which might just have stacked lithium cells in them instead of real lithium packs.

The promo code "Jarrett" is 10% off your entire purchase at Amped, found it online.

Dakota Lithium is absolutely everywhere, so much so that it actually turned me away from purchasing one. Also looking at a 2-4 week lead time, and more cost up front without really gaining anything other than an 11 year warranty. (Which might be a replace once thing, can't remember)

I would have liked to see Bluetooth integration, but I ordered the seperate module so I could track the charge on my phone.

60aH would have been nice so I could bow mount the battery and remove the wires running from bow to stern......

 

[bass]

My battery is a LiFePO4 but I usually just type LiION because it is shorter

I agree that buying from someone like Amped is safer. I picked them because so many guys liked them on bassboatcentral. I was thinking though that for my trolling motor (which I rarely use) I might be willing to save money on one of the Chinese models since I doubt I will wear it out in my lifetime - I don't have that many cycles left myself

Hard to pass up a $350-$400 100AH LiFEPO4 battery on Amazon.

This one seems not to bad:

https://smile.amazon.com/LiFePO4-Ba...d=1633482138&sprefix=100A,aps,414&sr=8-3&th=1
This seller has a good fakespot rating:

https://smile.amazon.com/ECO-WORTHY...y&qid=1633482138&sprefix=100A,aps,414&sr=8-21
Maybe I will pull the trigger this fall or at some point over the winter.

 

[NKlamerus]

Yeah that's nothing! Half of what I paid for amped.

You could go smaller as well?

Probably 75% of the "motorized kayak group" on Facebook runs the 54/60aH for day trips, just depends on use

I'm expecting our moving water to burn a little more.

 

[Shaun Solomon]

That’s a nice looking setup!

I’m moderately interested in a powered kayak as a way to access backwater areas, so a setup like that looks appealing.

I got a paddle kayak a while back and came to the conclusion that paddling and fishing simultaneously was not something I wanted to deal with, a trolling motor with a foot control will ruin you for that sort of thing.

I’ll be curious to see how it suits you. BPS/Cabela’s is a joke, you did the right thing to divest yourself of that item.

Cheers!

 

[NKlamerus]

Been dealing with it for awhile lol!

Foot pedal is by far the best option out there, just don't have the stability in the kayak for it

Getting used to the remote control still, worried it might get in the way of some rod butts

I will give Cabela's credit for something, they are the only people with pool noodles right now in Eugene/Springfield

 

[NKlamerus]

Battery Tracker came in, Bluetooth link so I can watch voltages on my phone.

I'll leave it connected in whatever battery box I decide to go with, as well as the quick attach plug for the charger provided by Amped.